Kanghoon Jung

Abstract Spatial memories guide navigation efficiently toward desired destinations. However, the neuronal and circuit mechanisms underlying the encoding of goal locations and its translation into goal-directed navigation remain unclear. Here we demonstrate that mice rapidly form a spatial memory of a shelter during shelter experiences, guiding escape behavior toward the goal location—a shelter—when under threat.

Abstract The structural plasticity of synapses is crucial for regulating brain functions. However, currently available methods for studying synapse organization based on split fluorescent proteins (FPs) have been limited in assessing synaptic dynamics in vivo due to the irreversible binding of split FPs. Here, we develop ‘SynapShot’, a method for visualizing the structural dynamics of intact synapses by combining dimerization-dependent FPs (ddFPs) with engineered synaptic adhesion molecules.

Abstract Oxytocin is a neuropeptide that is important for maternal physiology and childcare, including parturition and milk ejection during nursing1,2,3,4,5,6. Suckling triggers the release of oxytocin, but other sensory cues—specifically, infant cries—can increase the levels of oxytocin in new human mothers7, which indicates that cries can activate hypothalamic oxytocin neurons.