Review Articles

Fang and Creed review and synthesize recent studies of the striatum and pallidal complex. Based on connectivity and organization of striatal–pallidal pathways in rodents, they propose how these structures coordinate learning and flexible behavior.

This Review explains how the neural coding of uncertainty is theoretically conceived and empirically tested. It compares the approaches of two largely separate research communities and proposes goals for the field that combine these approaches.

Engelen et al. review in animals and humans how the CNS senses cardiac, respiratory and gastric rhythmic activity, and detail the range of cognitive functions impacted, from perceptual detection up to the sense of self.

This Review provides a comprehensive overview of the neuronal heterogeneity, circuit architecture and functional roles of the external globus pallidus, with emphasis on how the latest data deviate from traditional views of the basal ganglia.

The immune system plays a critical role in neurodegenerative diseases. Resident and peripheral immune cells contribute to disease progression. Here, the authors review the role of peripheral immune cells both when infiltrating the CNS or when remaining in the periphery.

In this Review, Villeda and colleagues describe blood-to-brain communication from a systems physiology perspective, with an emphasis on blood-derived signals as potent drivers of both age-related brain dysfunction and brain rejuvenation.

Single-cell genomics reveal that Alzheimer’s dementia involves the complex interplay of virtually every major brain cell type. Cell-type-specific molecular perturbations modulate signaling pathways related to lipid handling, immune signaling and metabolic reprogramming.

Sulaman et al. detail the neuronal underpinnings of sleep–wake states and discuss their intersection with hunger, fear and thermoregulatory circuits. They propose a de-arousal model for sleep initiation and highlight lingering questions in the field.

The authors summarize changes in circuits after spinal cord injury and current strategies to target these circuits in order to improve recovery, but also advocate for new concepts of reorganizing circuits informed by multi-omic single-cell atlases.

Psychedelics are serotonergic drugs that have therapeutic potential. This Review article provides an integrative perspective on the basic neurobiology underlying the actions of psychedelics and highlights open questions in the field.

This Review organizes models of cognitive maps into a clear ontology. This ontology reveals parallels between existing empirical results and implies new approaches to understand hippocampal–cortical interactions and beyond.

Moscarello and Penzo propose that mutually inhibitory circuits within the central nucleus of the amygdala implement a ‘winner-takes-all’ mechanism that guides transitions across defensive modes defined by threat-imminence theory.

This Review provides a comprehensive overview of presynaptic applications of optogenetic tools, including the associated challenges, current limitations and future directions for this approach.

Eating disorders are prevalent and, in far too many cases, fatal. This review covers advances in genetics, neuroimaging, and animal models, and encourages a more unified science of eating disorders.

Roy, Zhang et al. discuss how modern neuroscience is revealing underappreciated heterogeneity in thalamic cell types, which leads to the idea that ‘thalamic subnetworks’ provide a more appropriate level of functional description than thalamic nuclei.

Neuroscientists can measure activity from more neurons than ever before, garnering new insights and posing challenges to traditional theoretical frameworks. New frameworks may help researchers use these observations to shed light on brain function.

This Review discusses evidence from human studies and mouse models that cortical interneurons are involved in the pathophysiology of autism and that parvalbumin cell hypofunction may be a primary driver of circuit dysfunction in autism.

Myelin is traditionally perceived as inert and immutable, but this notion is now being challenged. de Faria et al. discuss how myelin changes throughout life and in response to experience, and consider the functional implications of these changes.

Multiphoton holographic optogenetics is opening the era of ‘tailored’ optogenetics. The authors review the underlying technology and discuss how it can be used to bridge the gap between experimental and theoretical neuroscience.

Schaeffer and Iadecola review the anatomical, molecular and functional heterogeneity of the neurovasculature and highlight the coordinated interaction of factors intrinsic and extrinsic to the brain in its dynamic regulation and role in disease.