News & Comment

Attention increases synaptic efficacy and improves signal-to-noise processing at thalamocortical synapses.

A study reveals a signalling pathway in the mouse cortex that immobilizes mitochondria at nascent presynaptic sites in developing axons and thereby promotes terminal axon branching.

A new study reveals that an interaction between Ca²⁺/calmodulin and the vesicle-priming protein MUNC13-1 has a crucial role in replenishment of the presynaptic readily releasable pool of vesicles after depletion by high-frequency stimulation.

A new study provides evidence that around 1,400 dentate gyrus cells are born in the adult human brain every day.

Two studies use optogenetics to explore the contribution of corticostriatal circuit dysfunction to compulsive behaviour.

Parvalbumin-expressing interneurons and a subtype of somatostatin-expressing interneurons in the anterior cingulate cortex have different network effects and behavioural correlates.

The balance between the aggregation and dissociation of presynaptic proteins during their trafficking regulates presynaptic patterning.

Paternal exposure to stress influences offspring stress responsiveness, probably through changes in the microRNA content of sperm.

A histone deacetylase inhibitor triggers pair-bonding in female prairie voles in the absence of mating.

A new study shows that temporal coding is involved in the transmission of information from the olfactory bulb to the cortex.

Increased levels of Down syndrome cell adhesion protein, a common feature in Down syndrome and fragile X syndrome, cause synaptic targeting errors and impaired perception of mechanical stimuli in flies.

Chuiet al. reveal a novel mechanism by which activity-evoked calcium transients in dendritic spines are regulated in a highly compartmentalized manner by somatostatin-expressing interneurons.

Corticostriatal neuronal activity in the auditory cortex is necessary to drive behavioural choices in an auditory discrimination task.

The gene encoding trace amine-associated receptor 4 (TAAR4) is essential for the detection of aversive odours in mice, demonstrating the importance of an individual receptor gene for odour perception.

Exposure to different day–night cycles leads to a change in the expression of neurotransmitters and behaviour in adult rats.

Rats may use sequences of activity in hippocampal place cells to plan a route to a remembered location.

Circadian corticosterone fluctuations support learning and memory by promoting learning-associated spine formation and elimination.

A new study shows that a subtype of dorsal root ganglion sensory neurons that express calcitonin gene-related peptide-α are involved in sensing heat but also indirectly modulate cold-sensing neurons.

Stress induces a metaplastic signal at GABA synapses in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus that can account for both the early sensitization and the delayed inhibition of responses to subsequent stressors.

In the primary visual cortex in mice, stimulus feature-selective neocortical microcircuits exist before eye opening, but preferential local connectivity between neurons responding to similar stimulus features does not develop until the onset of vision.