Using the chronic brain recordings in the anterior cingulate cortex and orbitofrontal cortex in four participants with intractable chronic pain, this study identified objective neural biomarkers of subjective pain experience.

Increased neuronal activity and reduced sleep quality emerge in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Calafate et al. show that the sleep–active hypothalamic MCH system is involved in neuronal homeostasis but fails in the early stages of AD.

By reconstructing the complete dendrites and axons for nearly 2,000 neurons in PFC, Gao et al. comprehensively classified dendrite morphology, revealed the relationship between dendrites and axons and mapped the mesoscopic PFC neural network.

Using depth electrodes in human patients, scientists at the Mayo Clinic found that the map of the body in motor cortex extends deep into the central sulcus. Unexpectedly, the nonsomatotopic ‘Rolandic motor association’ (RMA) area interrupts this organization.

Vasek et al. demonstrate that distal processes of microglia locally translate specific mRNAs including those related to immunity and phagocytosis. They then show that local protein synthesis is necessary for microglial process-initiated phagocytosis.

Moliner et al. show that psychedelics directly bind to the BDNF receptor TrkB with high affinity and promote BDNF-mediated plasticity and antidepressant-like effects, whereas their hallucinogenic-like effects are independent of TrkB binding.

Geva-Sagiv et al. performed real-time closed-loop intracranial stimulation in human sleep. Brief prefrontal pulses, precisely timed with MTL slow-wave active periods, led to correlated enhancements in sleep oscillation coupling and memory accuracy.

Holstein-Rønsbo et al. show that functional hyperemia increases glymphatic CSF inflow and clearance. Direct stimulation of vascular smooth muscle cells, in the absence of neuronal activation, similarly enhances glymphatic flow.

Sun et al. analyzed 22,514 human brain vascular single-nucleus transcriptomes from 428 individuals and uncovered AD-related gene expression and cell–cell interaction linked to genetics, as well as vascular dysfunction in APOE-associated cognitive decline.

Zhao et al. identified β₂-microglobulin (β₂M) as an essential factor driving β-amyloid (Aβ) neurotoxicity and cognitive impairment in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and implicated targeting β₂M–Aβ coaggregation as a strategy for AD therapeutics.

As Nature Neuroscience celebrates its 25th anniversary, we are having conversations with both established leaders in the field and those earlier in their careers to discuss how the field has evolved and where it is heading. This month we are talking to Carla Shatz, who is the Sapp Family Provostial Professor, Catherine Holman Johnson Director of Stanford Bio-X, and Professor of Biology and Neurobiology at Stanford University. Her work has illuminated mechanisms of visual system development and plasticity and has focused more recently on synaptic pruning mechanisms.

As Nature Neuroscience celebrates its 25th anniversary, we are having conversations with both established leaders in the field and those earlier in their careers to discuss how the field has evolved and where it is heading. This month we are talking to Klaus-Armin Nave (Director at the Max Planck Institute for Multidisciplinary Sciences, Germany), a glia researcher and molecular biologist who is interested in glia–neuron interactions and a pioneer in the study of the ability of myelinating cells to metabolically support axons.

As Nature Neuroscience celebrates its 25th anniversary, we are having conversations with both established leaders in the field and those earlier in their careers to discuss how neuroscience has evolved and where it is heading. This month, we are talking to Lucina Q. Uddin, professor-in-residence at Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the University of California Los Angeles and the 2022–2023 Chair of the Diversity & Inclusivity Committee for the Organization for Human Brain Mapping. She uses neuroimaging to study brain networks that support behavior in typically developing children and children with autism. She spoke with me about how she became interested in neuroscience, her career trajectory, and personal experiences that led to her efforts in promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.