Articles in 2023

Griggs, Norman et al. demonstrate a closed-loop ultrasound-based brain–machine interface (BMI) in rhesus macaques. The ultrasound BMI is capable of controlling eight independent movement directions and is stable across months without retraining.

Li et al. developed a base-editing system to edit mutations linked to autism. Targeting a mutation in Mef2c restored Mef2c protein levels in several brain regions and reversed behavioral changes in Mef2c-mutant mice.

We show that genetic disruption of TFEB- and vacuolar ATPase-mediated lysosomal signaling leads to increased tau pathology and defective microglia activation. Our findings demonstrate an essential role of the lysosome in regulating microglia activity in tauopathy and Alzheimer’s disease.

We discovered expression of SYNGAP1, which encodes the ‘synaptic’ protein SYNGAP1, within human cortical progenitors. In an organoid model of SYNGAP1 haploinsufficiency, cortical neurogenesis and neuronal network activity were disrupted. This finding reveals an unknown function for SYNGAP1 at early stages of development, providing a new framework for understanding the pathophysiology of autism spectrum disorder.

Recent discoveries highlight the skull bone marrow, linked to the CNS via osseous channels, as a key neuroimmune compartment. Here, the authors discuss the anatomy, functions and implications of this immune reservoir on CNS health and disease.

The authors identify a cluster of ~160 peptidergic neurons in the mouse brainstem whose activity is necessary and sufficient for producing sound and controlling sound volume. These neurons form the final common pathway for vocalization.

The ENIGMA-ORIGINs group presents a large and globally diverse pediatric neuroimaging dataset from birth to age 6. They use this resource to study the effects of sociodemographics and adverse birth outcomes on trajectories of brain volumes and cognition.

Neuronal somata perform higher levels of aerobic glycolysis and lower levels of OXPHOS than terminals, which safeguards against oxidative damage.

Parker et al. recorded neural activity in V1 of freely moving mice and freely gazing marmosets. In both species, neurons respond to gaze shifts in a temporal sequence, such that new visual input is processed in a ‘coarse’ to ‘fine’ manner.

This paper characterizes two distinct philosophies underlying previous work on how Bayesian computations are linked to neural data, highlighting how different theories may be motivated by different tacit assumptions and thereby explain different data.

Stathmin-2 is lost in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Here the authors show that stathmin-2 has an essential role in the maintenance of axon structure, with its loss from adult motor neurons resulting in axonal collapse and muscle denervation.

Neuroscientists have long believed that hunger increases activity in agouti-related peptide (AgRP) neurons to regulate feeding-related behaviors and metabolism, but a new study shows that the story is much more complicated. Sayar-Atasoy and colleagues show that the time of day uncouples activity in AgRP neurons from hunger and demonstrate how daily feeding patterns influence future AgRP neuron activity.

Wang et al. showed that genetic disruption of TFEB and v-ATPase-mediated lysosomal signaling leads to increased tau pathology but defective microglia activation, demonstrating an essential role of the lysosome in regulating microglia activity.

Facemap is a data analysis framework for tracking keypoints on mouse faces and relating them to large-scale neural activity. Both of these steps use state-of-the-art convolutional neural networks to achieve high precision and fast processing speeds.

George Aghajanian died on July 4, 2023 in Guildford, Connecticut, at the age of 91. An electrophysiologist and innovator, George was a much-loved mentor, colleague and friend. His laboratory captured the first in vivo recordings of serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine neurons. For over half a century, George’s research at the Yale University School of Medicine opened new fields of discovery in neuroscience.

As Nature Neuroscience celebrates its 25th anniversary, we are having conversations with both established leaders in the field and those earlier in their careers to discuss how neuroscience has evolved, and where it is heading. This month, we are talking to Corey Harwell, Associate Professor of Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine. We spoke about the mentors who shaped his early interest in neuroscience, and how his lab lets their data lead them in interesting directions.

As Nature Neuroscience celebrates its 25th anniversary, we are having conversations with both established leaders in the field and those earlier in their careers to discuss how the field has evolved and where it is heading. This month, we are talking to Costantino Iadecola (Director and Chair of the Feil Family Brain & Mind Research Institute, Weill Cornell Medicine, NY, USA), a neurovascular biologist and physician interested in the roles of vasculature, hypertension and immune cells in ischemic stroke and neurodegenerative diseases.

This study by Zielinski et al. used cryo-EM to compare Aβ fibril structures from mouse models to those from patients with Alzheimer’s disease. It revealed that tg-APP_ArcSwe mice exhibit fibrils resembling those predominantly found in sporadic Alzheimer’s disease cases.