News & Comment

Resident astrocytes in the adult mouse brain can be reprogrammed to generate neuroblasts, which in turn can form functional neurons.

Immunoglobulin-like receptor PIRB and its human homologue LILRB2 are high-affinity receptors for amyloid-β oligomers, and PIRB–amyloid-β interactions regulate synaptic plasticity.

A boost to sonic hedgehog signalling alleviates structural and cognitive deficits in a mouse model of Down syndrome.

The coordinated action of oxytocin and serotonin systems in the nucleus accumbens encodes social reward, shedding new light on the mechanisms underlying social dysfunction.

Inhibiting the expression of a histone-binding protein that declines with age in the human dentate gyrus in young mice leads to memory deficits that are similar to those of aged wild-type mice.

A new study characterizes a neuromodulatory circuit in worms that regulates opposing foraging behavioural states.

A new study shows that increased β-calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase type II expression in the lateral habenula is both sufficient and necessary for the expression of depression-like behaviour in rodents.

Neuroectoderm derived from human pluripotent stem cells can self-organizein vitrointo a three-dimensional brain-like structure.

Different sets of proteins regulate the fast and slow components of neurotransmitter release at the neuromuscular junction of worms.

Two new studies reveal a wiring plan that enables motion discrimination in the fly's visual system.

Two new studies in mice show that fibroblast growth factor 21 acts at the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus and the dorsal vagal complex of the hindbrain to regulate various adaptive responses to nutritional deprivation.

A new study shows that the switch of sonic hedgehog from an attractive to a repulsive signal for commissural axon navigation involves the heparan sulphate proteoglycan glypican 1 and induction of Hedgehog-interacting protein expression.

Direct electrophysical recordings reveal the presence of grid cells in the human brain.

The combined action of three transcription factors regulates mechanosensory neuron fate and branching in nematodes.

Two new studies expand the optogenetic repertoire by showing light-induced inhibition of synaptic release and control of gene transcription and chromatin modifications.

The location of glia is a key factor that determines synapse location during postembryonic growth inCaenorhabditis elegans.

A new study reveals a signalling pathway that stabilizes the expression of a single olfactory receptor by an olfactory sensory neuron.

Stopping a movement involves a race between distinct pathways through the basal ganglia that converge on the same neurons.

Oligodendrocytes support neurons by releasing exosomes that are internalized by neurons, and the cargo that they contain is shown to provide metabolic support under conditions of cellular stress.

Cheng and Ji show that in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, new spatial memory formation by hippocampal place cells is disrupted by an inability to encode external environmental information and by dominating internally generated brain activity.