Biology subjects

Jeurissen, D.

Publications and source records attributed to Jeurissen, D..

5 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

HazardPyMatch: A Tool for identifying reproductive and other hazards in scientific laboratories

Understanding and mitigating laboratory hazards is essential for fostering safe and inclusive research environments. However, conducting risk assessments can be challenging and time-consuming, especially for scientists who have new or specific concerns about hazard susceptibility, such as pregnant women. In response, using reproductive hazards as our primary example, we developed HazardPyMatch, a laboratory hazard screening tool designed to be implemented in laboratories across scientific disciplines to support efficient hazard management. HazardPyMatch is an accessible and user-friendly tool that enables scientists to quickly and easily systematically identify chemical hazards in laboratory chemical inventories and categorize these hazards in laboratory protocols. MotivationA publicly accessible and easy-to-use resource did not exist to identify reproductive hazards in neuroscience laboratories. In response we developed the python workflow HazardPyMatch to address the need for a data-driven tool to catalog hazardous materials in laboratory settings.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2022

A neural mechanism for terminating decisions

The brain makes decisions by accumulating evidence until there is enough to stop and choose. Neural mechanisms of evidence accumulation are well established in association cortex, but the site and mechanism of termination is unknown. Here, we elucidate a mechanism for termination by neurons in the primate superior colliculus. We recorded simultaneously from neurons in lateral intraparietal cortex (LIP) and the superior colliculus (SC) while monkeys made perceptual decisions, reported by eye-movements. Single-trial analyses revealed distinct dynamics: LIP tracked the accumulation of evidence on each decision, and SC generated one burst at the end of the decision, occasionally preceded by smaller bursts. We hypothesized that the bursts manifest a threshold mechanism applied to LIP activity to terminate the decision. Focal inactivation of SC produced behavioral effects diagnostic of an impaired threshold sensor, requiring a stronger LIP signal to terminate a decision. The results reveal the transformation from deliberation to commitment.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2021

Deficits in decision-making induced by parietal cortex inactivation are compensated at two time scales

Perceptual decisions arise through the transformation of samples of evidence into a commitment to a proposition or plan of action. Such transformation is thought to involve cortical circuits capable of computation over time scales associated with working memory, attention, and planning. Neurons in the lateral intraparietal area (LIP) are thought to play a role in all of these functions, and much of what is known about the neurobiology of decision making has been influenced by studies of LIP and its network of cortical and subcortical connections. However a causal role of neurons in LIP remains controversial. We used pharmacological and chemogenetic methods to inactivate LIP in one hemisphere of four rhesus monkeys. Inactivation produced clear biases in decisions, but the effects dissipated despite the persistence of neural inactivation, implying compensation by other unaffected areas. Compensation occurs on a rapid times scale, within an experimental session, and more gradually, across sessions. The findings resolve disparate studies and inform interpretation of focal perturbations of brain function.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2020

Multiple decisions about one object involve parallel sensory acquisition but time-multiplexed evidence incorporation

The brain is capable of processing several streams of information that bear on different aspects of the same problem. Here we address the problem of making two decisions about one object, by studying difficult perceptual decisions about the color and motion of a dynamic random dot display. We find that the accuracy of one decision is unaffected by the difficulty of the other decision. However, the response times reveal that the two decisions do not form simultaneously. We show that both stimulus dimensions are acquired in parallel for the initial ~0.1 s but are then incorporated serially in time-multiplexed bouts. Thus there is a bottleneck that precludes updating more than one decision at a time, and a buffer that stores samples of evidence while access to the decision is blocked. We suggest that this bottleneck is responsible for the long timescales of many cognitive operations framed as decisions.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2018

Focal optogenetic suppression in macaque area MT biases direction discrimination and choice confidence, but only transiently

Insights from causal manipulations of brain activity depend on targeting the spatial and temporal scale most relevant for behavior. Using a sensitive perceptual decision task in monkeys, we examined the effects of randomly-interleaved, rapid, reversible inactivation on a spatial scale previously achieved only with electrical microstimulation. Inactivating neurons in area MT with consistent direction tuning produced systematic effects on choice and confidence. Behavioral effects were attenuated over the course of each session, suggesting compensatory adjustments in the downstream readout of MT over tens of minutes. Compensation also occurred on a sub-second time scale: behavior was largely unaffected on trials with visual stimuli (and concurrent suppression) longer than [~]350ms. These trends were similar for choice and confidence, consistent with the idea of a common mechanism underlying both measures. The findings demonstrate the utility of hyperpolarizing opsins for linking neural population activity at fine spatial and temporal scales to cognitive functions in primates.

neuroscience↗