Anmar Khadra

Abstract Every moment, a spotlight of attention roams our visual field to enhance detection of salient stimuli. While recent work suggests how the brain selects salient relevant stimuli (attentional focus), it is unknown if there are mechanisms that modulate attention to suit fluctuating target salience or internal needs (attentional strength).

Abstract The specific T cell receptors (TCRs) present in an individual determine which antigens can be recognized, and hence a repertoire comprised of a vast number of unique TCRs ensures an effective T cell response can be mounted against a broad range of potential pathogens encountered. To evade the T cell response, pathogens, and viruses in particular, can accrue epitope escape mutations, establishing a host-pathogen 'tug-of-war' between T cell-mediated control and viral evolution.

Abstract Fast excitatory neurotransmission in the mammalian brain is mediated by cation-selective AMPA (α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid) receptors (AMPARs)1. AMPARs are critical for the learning and memory mechanisms of Hebbian plasticity2 and glutamatergic synapse homeostasis3, with recent work establishing that AMPAR missense mutations can cause autism and intellectual disability4,5,6,7.