Neurophysiology articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Somatostatin+ (SOM+ ) GABAergic interneurons are known to fine-tune synaptic plasticity as they inhibit dendritic spikes and burst firing. Here, the authors show that both SOM+ and NOS+ interneurons preferentially recruit nonlinear outward-rectifying GABA(A)R with alpha5 subunit, and that this inhibition with slow gating kinetics matches voltage and time-dependent activation of synaptic NMDARs, thereby controlling the generation of dendritic NMDA spikes.

    • Jan M. Schulz
    • , Frederic Knoflach
    •  & Josef Bischofberger

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Osmotic forces do not suffice to explain the rate of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) production. Here, the authors show that the Na+/K+/2Cl− cotransporter in the choroid plexus contributes substantially to CSF production via its inherent ability to cotransport water.

    • Annette B. Steffensen
    • , Eva K. Oernbo
    •  & Nanna MacAulay

  • Article
    | Open Access

    M-current is conveyed by voltage-sensitive KCNQ channels, which are enriched in GABAergic neurons and are activated by anticonvulsants such as retigabine. Here the authors show that GABA directly activates KCNQ3, at the residue required for its anticonvulsant activity.

    • Rían W. Manville
    • , Maria Papanikolaou
    •  & Geoffrey W. Abbott

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Zona incerta (ZI) is an inhibitory subthalamic nucleus with diverse connectivity yet its functional importance has not been extensively studied. Here the authors report that ZI receives mPFC input and can modulate both innate and learned defensive behaviors via its inhibitory projection to the PAG.

    • Xiao-lin Chou
    • , Xiyue Wang
    •  & Huizhong Whit Tao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Resting cortical activity fluctuates, but it is unclear what underlies these variations in activity. Here, the authors show that large-scale fluctuations in fMRI cortical activity are associated with momentary decreases in cortical arousal and opposite activity changes in the basal forebrain and thalamus.

    • Xiao Liu
    • , Jacco A. de Zwart
    •  & Jeff H. Duyn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The role of frontal lobes in speech perception is controversial. Here, the authors show that neurodegeneration of frontal speech regions delays prediction reconciliation in temporal cortex and results in inflexible prior expectations, indicating that fronto-temporal interactions determine predictive processes in speech.

    • Thomas E. Cope
    • , E. Sohoglu
    •  & James B. Rowe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Rod photoreceptors are thought to be saturated under bright light. Here, the authors describe the physiological parameters that mediate response saturation of rod photoreceptors in mouse retina, and show that rods can drive visual responses in photopic conditions.

    • Alexandra Tikidji-Hamburyan
    • , Katja Reinhard
    •  & Thomas A. Münch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Taste sensilla are Drosophila sensory organs containing taste neurons, which have differential tuning for bitter compounds. Here, the authors systematically examine what combinations of gustatory receptor genes confer a specific taste response profile in different bitter taste neurons.

    • Ha Yeon Sung
    • , Yong Taek Jeong
    •  & Seok Jun Moon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Opioid receptors are important modulators of nociceptive pain. Here the authors show that opioid receptor activation recruits peroxiredoxin 6 (PRDX6) to the receptor-Gαi complex by c-Jun N-terminal kinase, resulting in Gαi depalmitoylation and enhanced receptor-Gαi association.

    • Selena S. Schattauer
    • , Benjamin B. Land
    •  & Charles Chavkin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Functions of the embryonic brain prior to regulating behavior are unclear. Here, the authors use an amputation assay in Xenopus laevis to demonstrate that removal of the brain early in development alters muscle and peripheral nerve patterning, which can be rescued by modulating bioelectric signals.

    • Celia Herrera-Rincon
    • , Vaibhav P. Pai
    •  & Michael Levin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Axon-glial communication is important for myelination. Here the authors show that during postnatal development in rats, a subpopulation of pre-myelinating oligodendrocytes in the auditory brainstem receive excitatory inputs and can generate Nav 1.2-driven action potentials, and that such process promotes myelination.

    • Emmanuelle Berret
    • , Tara Barron
    •  & Jun Hee Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis regulates a wide range of physiological processes. Here the authors show that hypothalamic tanycytes play a role in the homeostatic regulation of the HPT axis; activation of TRH signaling in tanycytes elevates their intracellular Ca2+ via Gαq/11 pathway, ultimately resulting in reduced TRH release into the pituitary vessels.

    • Helge Müller-Fielitz
    • , Marcus Stahr
    •  & Markus Schwaninger

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hypothalamus is important for regulating feeding behaviour. Here the authors report genetic identification of neurons in the pretecto-hypothalamic circuit, and their causal involvement in prey detection and prey capture, using a combination of functional imaging and ablation studies in freely swimming zebrafish larvae.

    • Akira Muto
    • , Pradeep Lal
    •  & Koichi Kawakami

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Emerging evidence suggests that chemical and electrical synapses interact to regulate the strength of synaptic transmission. Liuet al. report that in a C. elegansescape circuit, functionally mixed electrical-chemical synapses exist between premotor interneurons and downstream motor neurons, and that the electrical synapse amplifies the chemical transmission between the neurons.

    • Ping Liu
    • , Bojun Chen
    •  & Zhao-Wen Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A point mutation in the gap-junction protein connexin 30 stops early onset age-related hearing loss. Here, the authors show that gap junctions contribute to cochlear micromechanics and that cochlear amplification is likely controlled by extracellular potentials in vicinity of the cochlear sensory cells.

    • Victoria A. Lukashkina
    • , Snezana Levic
    •  & Ian J. Russell

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Frontal eye fields (FEF) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) are coactivated during cognitive tasks, but the precise format of their interaction is not known. Here the authors show that phase coupling between ACC -FEF in theta and beta frequency bands better predicts behavioural performance.

    • Sahand Babapoor-Farrokhran
    • , Martin Vinck
    •  & Stefan Everling

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Asthma is characterized by abnormal airway hyperresponsiveness. Here the authors identify BPIFA1 as a factor secreted by airway epithelial cells, and show that it regulates contractility of airway smooth muscle cells by binding to and regulating the Orai1 Ca2+channel.

    • Tongde Wu
    • , Julianne Huang
    •  & Robert Tarran

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Here, the authors combinein vivopatch-clamp recordings and optogenetics to show that balanced dendritic excitation and inhibition provides a sensitive ‘push-pull’ mechanism that generates the bidirectional modulation of Purkinje cell SSp output necessary for normal locomotor behaviour.

    • Marta Jelitai
    • , Paolo Puggioni
    •  & Ian Duguid

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The stress-reducing effects of social bonds have been hypothesized to accrue either during stressful events or across daily affiliations. Here, Wittiget al. show that the presence of social partners reduces levels of stress hormones in wild chimpanzees beyond stressful contexts, supporting the latter hypothesis.

    • Roman M. Wittig
    • , Catherine Crockford
    •  & Klaus Zuberbühler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    FHFs are known to regulate voltage-gated sodium channels (NaVs). Here, the authors compare the role of FHFs in cerebellar granule cell propagation, and find NaVs in the distal axon function independently of FHFs, allowing for faster inactivation rates and reducing energy demands during repetitive spiking.

    • Katarzyna Dover
    • , Christopher Marra
    •  & Mitchell Goldfarb

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Growing evidence from neuroimaging studies suggests that the brain is dynamically organized into functionally connected networks. Here, the authors develop a new technique for decomposing spontaneous activity into temporally overlapping building blocks that assemble standard functional networks.

    • Fikret Işik Karahanoğlu
    •  & Dimitri Van De Ville

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The evolution of neuropeptide signalling in insects is poorly understood. Here the authors map renal tissue architecture in the major insect Orders, and show that while the ancient neuropeptide families are involved in signalling in nearly all species, there is functional variation in the cell types that mediate the signal.

    • Kenneth A. Halberg
    • , Selim Terhzaz
    •  & Julian A. T. Dow

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Inhibitory neurons in the visual cortex alter the computations of target cells by exerting division or subtraction effects, but what determines these different functions is not clear. Here the authors use visual stimuli and optogenetics to show that the effects mediated by somatostatin-expressing and parvalbumin-expressing neurons are driven by their response mode and timing.

    • Sami El-Boustani
    •  & Mriganka Sur

  • Article |

    Capillaries are thought to be the main suppliers of oxygen to tissues. Here the authors challenge this view by showing that, at baseline brain activity, half of blood oxygen is extracted from arterioles, whereas capillaries supply an oxygen reserve when neuronal activity is high or cerebral blood flow is decreased.

    • Sava Sakadžić
    • , Emiri T. Mandeville
    •  & David A. Boas

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Pyramidal cells in superficial layers of neocortex form a lateral network of synaptic bouton clusters, but its functional implication remains unclear. Here the authors overlaid activity maps of orientation preference in cat visual cortex with single-cell anatomy and observed projections to multiple functional domains.

    • Kevan A. C. Martin
    • , Stephan Roth
    •  & Elisha S. Rusch

  • Article |

    Orbitofrontal cortex neuronal activity is thought to represent expected outcomes based on inferred states. Here, the authors show definitively that orbitofrontal cortex activity represents features of expected outcomes through inferred rather than experienced information, which is not dependent on the outcome value.

    • Thomas A. Stalnaker
    • , Nisha K. Cooch
    •  & Geoffrey Schoenbaum

  • Article |

    Findings from ex vivo studies suggest that gap junctional coupling contributes to hormone release in neuroendocrine/endocrine tissues. Here, the authors provide in vivo evidence that direct communication between adrenal chromaffin cells viagap junctions contributes to catecholamine secretion.

    • Michel G. Desarménien
    • , Carole Jourdan
    •  & Nathalie C. Guérineau

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The protein spinster is implicated in Drosophilacourtship behaviour. Sakurai and colleagues identify two clusters of spinster-expressing interneurons, and show that these cells are required for female receptivity to male advances.

    • Akira Sakurai
    • , Masayuki Koganezawa
    •  & Daisuke Yamamoto

  • Article |

    Vesicle trafficking in the cell is likely to involve a tug-of-war between motor proteins of opposing directionality. Guet al. use high-speed single-particle tracking in neurons to uncover rotation of paused cargo vesicles, providing insight into the changing forces as the vesicles change direction.

    • Yan Gu
    • , Wei Sun
    •  & Ning Fang

  • Article |

    Vocal communication is relatively common among fish: the midshipman being an example with a particularly wide dynamic range. In this paper, the authors demonstrate that different populations of hindbrain neurons are responsible for the frequency and duration of these calls.

    • Boris P. Chagnaud
    • , Robert Baker
    •  & Andrew H. Bass

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Circadian rhythm is controlled by the suprachiasmatic nucleus and the mechanisms that control the rhythm are largely undiscovered. In this study, a G protein regulator, RGS16, is shown to be involved in the production of cyclic AMP that is required for the suprachiasmatic nucleus to maintain rhythm

    • Masao Doi
    • , Atsushi Ishida
    •  & Hitoshi Okamura

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