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The exact embryonic origins of forebrain oligodendrocytes have been unclear. A new study addresses the question with elegant genetic fate mapping, and concludes that oligodendrocytes are generated in three distinct waves. Oligodendrocytes from later waves eventually replaced those generated in earlier waves, but if one wave was lost, the other waves could compensate.
Alpha-fetoprotein binds estrogens in the developing brain. A new paper shows that inhibiting estrogen rescues the brain masculinization found in female mice lacking this gene, suggesting that alpha-fetoprotein inhibits estrogen activity in females.
The Cav1.3 calcium channel is found on striatopallidal neurons expressing the D2 dopamine receptor. A new study finds that in an animal model of Parkinson disease, this channel is involved in degeneration of dendritic spines on striatal projection neurons.
Visual attention in primates is influenced by microstimulation of the frontal eye fields. A study in Nature now reports similar effects on auditory information processing after microstimulation of a region of the forebrain that controls gaze direction in barn owls.
Increased local blood flow in response to neural activity is critical for brain function and the basis for functional imaging. Takano et al. now show that in vivo, astrocytes are central in translating neural activity into vasodilation via a mechanism involving COX1 metabolites.
Food intake and energy expenditure were thought to be simultaneously controlled by the same group of neurons, but now new evidence shows that they are independently regulated by an anatomically distinct set of melanocortin neurons.
The opioid receptor–like receptor inhibits the Cav2.2 calcium channel even without the receptor ligand, nociceptin. A new study finds that long-term exposure to nociceptin causes internalization of the receptor-channel complex.
Our understanding of the complexity of the mammalian brain is limited by our inability to identify and classify its many different cell types. A new study in this issue uses a functional genomics approach to uncover the molecular basis of neuronal identity.
A familial form of ALS is caused by mutations in the superoxide dismutase (SOD1) gene. A new paper shows that mutant SOD1 binds chromogranins in secretory vesicles and that its release promotes microgliosis and motor neuron death.
Prairie voles form lasting pair bonds with their mating partners after a single experience of sexual activity, and this reward-related learning depends on dopamine. A new paper reports that two dopamine receptor subtypes contribute differently to the initial formation of pair bonds and to their maintenance by the promotion of selective aggression toward alternative mates.
