Neuronal Response to Reward and Luminance in Macaque LIP During Saccadic Choice / 神经科学通报·英文版

Recent work in decision neuroscience suggests that visual saliency can interact with reward-based choice, and the lateral intraparietal cortex (LIP) is implicated in this process. In this study, we recorded from LIP neurons while monkeys performed a two alternative choice task in which the reward and luminance associated with each offer were varied independently. We discovered that the animal's choice was dictated by the reward amount while the luminance had a marginal effect. In the LIP, neuronal activity corresponded well with the animal's choice pattern, in that a majority of reward-modulated neurons encoded the reward amount in the neuron's preferred hemifield with a positive slope. In contrast, compared to their responses to low luminance, an approximately equal proportion of luminance-sensitive neurons responded to high luminance with increased or decreased activity, leading to a much weaker population-level response. Meanwhile, in the non-preferred hemifield, the strength of encoding for reward amount and luminance was positively correlated, suggesting the integration of these two factors in the LIP. Moreover, neurons encoding reward and luminance were homogeneously distributed along the anterior-posterior axis of the LIP. Overall, our study provides further evidence supporting the neural instantiation of a priority map in the LIP in reward-based decisions.

Diagnosis of acanthosis nigricans in a family by targeted sequencing / 中华皮肤科杂志

A pedigree with familial acanthosis nigricans presenting with atypical clinical symptoms was reported. The 4-year-old female proband began to develop black patches on the neck and abdomen since the age of 1 year, which had gradually spread to the lips and front of the trunk in recent years. Reflectance confocal microscopy of the abdominal skin showed downward extension and twisting of dermal papillary rings with formation of gully-like structures, and moderately to highly refractive particles in the dermal papillary rings. The proband′s father and grandmother had similar medical history, but the pigmentation spontaneously subsided with age, leaving only local thickened skin lines. Peripheral blood samples were collected from the proband, her parents and grandmother, and panel-based targeted sequencing of peripheral blood DNA was performed for the proband. Sequencing showed a missense mutation c.1949A>C (p.Lys650Thr) in exon 14 of the FGFR3 gene in the proband, and Sanger sequencing confirmed the presence of this mutation in the proband and her father and grandmother. A diagnosis of familial acanthosis nigricans was made.

JAK-STAT signaling pathway and its inhibitors in the treatment of atopic dermatitis / 中华皮肤科杂志

Janus kinase-signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) signaling pathway plays an important role in immune pathways in atopic dermatitis (AD) . Drugs that block the JAK-STAT signaling pathway, such as classic JAK inhibitors tofacitinib, ruxolitinib, etc., have been gradually applied to the treatment of AD in clinical trials, and good clinical efficacy has been achieved. In addition, other inhibitors of the JAK-STAT signaling pathway, such as apamin and dupilumab, also show some efficacy in the treatment of AD. This review summarizes recent studies on the JAK-STAT signaling pathway and its inhibitors.