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Le et al. show that, in rodents, females have lower spatial learning threshold before puberty and that sex differences in synaptic plasticity and learning thresholds reverse in the transition to adult life.
Buchanan, Rupprecht, Kaelberer and colleagues show that the preference for sugar over sweetener in mice depends on gut neuropod cells. Akin to other sensor cells, neuropod cells swiftly communicate the precise identity of stimuli to drive food choices.
The authors uncovered the physiological mechanism underlying the functional role of melanin-concentrating hormone in the dorsolateral septum, a region involved in routing hippocampal firing rhythms and encoding spatial memory.
Xie et al. report that GABAergic neurons in the anterior hypothalamic nucleus control mechanically evoked defensive attack, an important survival behavior that is often the last line of defense against threatening stimuli (for example, predators).