Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
This study shows that, rather than causing inhibition, axonal GABAA receptors often facilitate sodium channel activation and prevent spike propagation failure at branch points of myelinated spinal cord sensory neuron axons.
This study tracked the initial self-assembly, oligomerization and structural conversion of α-synuclein inside neurons. Early seeding events occur on mitochondrial membranes, where oligomerization induces mitochondrial dysfunction and neuronal loss.
Caldwell et al. provide a resource of astrocyte-secreted proteins from models of neurodevelopmental disorders and use this to identify upregulated levels of the IGF inhibitor Igfbp2 as contributing to neural developmental deficits in Rett syndrome.
To behave flexibly, animals must form new memories and retrieve them later. Li et al. reveal an integrated (molecular-, structural- and circuit-based) system by which the ventral orbitofrontal cortex forms memory for adaptive actions and choice.
Georgiou et al. found that the sex of the person performing experiments affects mouse behavior, including responses to stress and ketamine. This effect was mediated by corticotropin-releasing factor neurons in the entorhinal cortex that project to CA1.
The authors identify neurons in primary somatosensory cortex that do not encode the stimulus, but rather the decision of the mouse, and show that this signal can drive behavior.
Huszár et al. show that hippocampal neurons born on the same day share physiological features, take part in the same neuronal assemblies during both waking and sleep and have overlapping place fields. Neurons that are born together, fire together.
Reinhart et al. show that repetitive transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) of unique combinations of rhythmic frequency and stimulation locations produces selective and long-lasting improvements in verbal working memory and long-term memory in older adults.
Using forward genetics, the authors identified the cholesterol regulator Ptchd1, which controls opioid tolerance by affecting desensitization and trafficking of opioid receptors.
Dräger et al. establish a rapid, scalable platform for iPSC-derived microglia. CRISPRi/a screens uncover roles of disease-associated genes in phagocytosis, and regulators of disease-relevant microglial states that can be targeted pharmacologically.
The mechanisms underlying neuron specification and maturation are unclear. Here the authors provide an integrated epigenomic and transcriptomic analysis of mouse and marmoset neocortical neuronal classes. Pan-neuronal programs active during early development are more evolutionary conserved but not neuron-specific, whereas pan-neuronal programs active during later stages of maturation are more neuron- and species-specific.
Mouse models expressing liver apoE in the absence of brain apoE reveal detrimental effects of peripheral apoE4 associated with Alzheimer’s risk on cognition and amyloid pathology through compromising vascular integrity and function.
Kutlu, Zachry, Melugin et al. show that dopamine in the nucleus accumbens core is evoked by novel, neutral stimuli and tracks stimulus familiarity in the absence of valence-based predictions. These signals influence the speed of future learning for familiar stimuli.
The whole-brain organization of functional MRI signals has been studied in myriad ways. An in-depth study of these signals suggests a parsimonious description with a small number of spatiotemporal patterns.
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a common early-onset dementia caused by heterozygous mutations in the progranulin gene (GRN). Gerrits et al. demonstrate blood–brain barrier dysfunction and a severely affected neurovasculature in FTD-GRN.
Kjaerby and Andersen et al. show that norepinephrine (NE) plays profound roles in shaping sleep micro-architecture. NE slowly oscillates during sleep, with NE oscillatory amplitude being a major determinant of spindle-dependent memory consolidation and awakenings.
The authors found that dopamine signals move gradually from time of reward to time of cue through intermediate timepoints, similarly to the evaluation signals used in temporal difference learning. These findings thereby fill a gap between computational theories and the brain.
This work shows a distinct involvement of the meningeal layers in CNS autoimmunity. In animal models and in patients with multiple sclerosis, the leptomeninges were highly inflamed and showed structural changes, while the dura was only marginally affected.
This paper describes a neurotechnology that interacts with neural circuits in the spinal cord to restore arm and hand control after injury. With this implant, monkeys with paralysis recovered the ability to reach and grasp just a few days after injury.