J. Elliott Robinson: Favorite neuroscience paper

J. Elliott Robinson, Assistant Professor, Rasopathy Program, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, made the following post on LinkedIn:

“A student recently asked me if I had a favorite neuroscience paper. While there are many influential studies I could list, this one from Tiago Branco’s group is probably my favorite (link below). I love it because the authors elegantly show how computations within a simple neural circuit rapidly control an evolutionarily conserved defensive behavior in mice (escape from an aerial predator).

Evans et al.’s findings guide my lab’s studies of neurofibromatosis, because we’ve found that mice modeling NF1 and other Rasopathy syndromes have exaggerated responses to looming discs that mimic predator approach from above. We think these behaviors could mimic sensory hypersensitivity experienced by some NF patients with autism and may involve evolutionarily old brain systems that control emotional responses to sensory information. I’ll post more about our findings in the near future!”

Read the paper.
Source: J. Elliott Robinson/LinkedIn