Articles in 2017

A catalog of the cells found in the hypothalamic arcuate–median eminence complex provides insights into genome-wide association studies of complex traits

The validity of conclusions drawn from functional MRI research has been questioned for some time now. Nature Neuroscience and Nature Communications are committed to working with neuroimaging researchers to improve the robustness and reproducibility of their work.

To learn from others' experience, one must link environmental conditions with social cues. A specific amygdala circuit underlies social learning of fear, and targeted activation normalizes behavior in a rodent model of autism.

McHenry and colleagues delineate a neural circuit controlling female sexual behavior. These experiments shed light on how the brain optimizes reproductive behavior to coincide with phases of peak fertility.

We present a special issue highlighting considerations and recent developments in noninvasive techniques that improve our understanding of neural measurements in humans, bridging the gap between human and animal research in neuroscience.

Responding to widespread concerns about reproducibility, the Organization for Human Brain Mapping created a working group to identify best practices in data analysis, results reporting and data sharing to promote open and reproducible research in neuroimaging. We describe the challenges of open research and the barriers the field faces.

Cognitive activity requires the collective behavior of cortical, thalamic and spinal neurons across large-scale systems of the CNS. This paper provides an illustrated introduction to dynamic models of large-scale brain activity, from the tenets of the underlying theory to challenges, controversies and recent breakthroughs.

A revolution is underway in cognitive neuroscience, where tools and techniques from computer science and the tech industry are helping to extract more meaningful cognitive signals from noisy and increasingly large fMRI datasets. In this paper, the authors review the cutting edge of such computational analyses and discuss future opportunities and challenges.

Network neuroscience tackles the challenge of discovering the principles underlying complex brain function and cognition from an explicitly integrative perspective. Here, the authors discuss emerging trends in network neuroscience, charting a path towards a better understanding of the brain that bridges computation, theory and experiment across spatial scales and species.

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) tracks the millisecond electrical activity of the brain noninvasively. This review emphasizes MEG's unique assets, especially in terms of imaging and resolving the mechanisms underlying the apparent complexity of polyrhythmic brain dynamics. It also identifies practical challenges and clarifies misconceptions about the technique.

Neuroimaging and pattern recognition are being combined to develop brain models of clinical disorders. Such models yield biomarkers that can be shared and validated across populations, narrowing the gap between neuroscience and clinical applications. The authors summarize 475 translational modeling studies, highlighting challenges and ways to improve biomarker development.

The study of neuroanatomy using MRI enables key insights into how our brains function, are shaped by genes and environment, and how they change with development, aging and disease. The authors provide an overview of the methods for measuring the brain and also describe key artifacts and confounds

How hippocampal place cells participate in fear memory retrieval is unknown. Wu et al. show that, when rats retrieve prior shock experience prompting them to avoid a shock zone, precise place cell activity patterns encoding paths from animals’ current locations to the shock zone are replayed in association with high-frequency ripple oscillations.

This study on neurodevelopment of functional networks reveals a network tuning process that transforms the human connectome into a stable, individualized wiring pattern. Delay in this tuning was associated with disordered mental health, revealing the detrimental paths that brain plasticity can take during adolescence, when initial symptoms of mental illness occur.

Using single-neuron recordings in the human brain during a working-memory task, the authors show both stimulus-specific and nonspecific types of persistent activity in neurons of the medial frontal and medial temporal lobes. Persistent activity in hippocampus and amygdala was predictive of memory content and displayed dynamic attractor patterns.

The authors use fiber-based fabrication to create flexible biocompatible probes with integrated optical, electrical and microfluidic capabilities. Functionality is demonstrated by characterizing the temporal dynamics of opsin expression following viral delivery, long-term tracking of individual neuron action potentials and modulation of neural circuits in the context of mouse behavior.

Nusinersen (Spinraza) is a recently approved drug for treating spinal muscular atrophy. Approval of nusinersen may signal new opportunities for using antisense oligonucleotides as treatments for devastating neurological diseases.

The authors show that activation of GluK2-containing kainate receptors on hippocampal neurons, by either agonist application or high-frequency synaptic stimulation, leads to a new form of NMDA-receptor-independent LTP. Induction of this form of plasticity requires the metabotropic action of postsynaptic kainate receptors, which triggers spine growth and potentiation of AMPA-receptor-mediated transmission.

The authors use a variety of techniques to isolate and manipulate retinal inputs to direction-selective neurons in the mouse superior colliculus. They show that these cells inherit their selectivity from the retina by combining inputs from similarly tuned ganglion cells, which are further amplified in the colliculus without altering selectivity.

Drugs of abuse alter the strength of synaptic connections within the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system. The current study demonstrates that this is dependent on the recruitment of cadherin to the synaptic membrane. Increased cadherin at dopaminergic synapses impairs cocaine-induced synaptic plasticity, resulting in a reduction in cocaine preference.