Articles in 2016

Adhesion G protein-coupled receptors (aGPCRs) have diverse functional roles in the nervous system. In this Review, the authors discuss the roles of these proteins in neural development, including cortical patterning, dendrite and synapse formation, and myelination.

Mossy cells are a major subpopulation of glutamatergic principal neurons within the dentate gyrus; however, their roles in hippocampal circuitry are poorly understood. Scharfman describes how new techniques to probe mossy cell function are shedding light on their contribution to hippocampal function and behaviour.

The development of alcohol use disorder involves a transition from the moderate use to the excessive, uncontrolled consumption of alcohol. Focusing on findings in rodents, Ron and Barak review the intracellular signalling cascades that underlie this transition and the molecular mechanisms that act against it.

In stellate cell axons, axon potential width is determined in a synapse-specific manner by the compartmentalized clustering of Kv3 channels.

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which is expressed in the hypothalamus and activated by fasting, is shown to increase the phosphorylation of p21-activated kinase 2 (PAK2), and induce spinogenesis and an increase in excitatory neurotransmission in hypothalamic AgRP neurons.

In mice, maternal obesity induces differences in the gut microbiota of the offspring that can affect the development of social behaviour.

Developmental dysfunction in peripheral somatosensory neurons causes altered responses to tactile stimuli and other behavioural deficits in mouse models of autism spectrum disorder.

A disinhibitory circuit involving the central nucleus of the amygdala, inhibitory and excitatory neurons in the ventrolateral periaqueductal grey and premotor neurons in the medulla controls freezing behaviour in response to threat.

Although both cocaine and morphine administration induce silent synapses in dopaminergic medium spiny neurons and produce similar behavioural changes, they do so through different mechanisms and by affecting different neuronal sub-populations.

The proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells in the embryonic and adult brain are influenced by various processes, including epigenetic regulation. Song and colleagues review the epigenetic regulation of neurogenesis in health and in various brain disorders, placing their focus on DNA and histone modifications.

Evidence suggests that activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) contributes to acute and chronic pain. In this article, Zhuo and colleagues review the different types of synaptic plasticity observed in the ACC and the implications of these forms of plasticity for pain processing.