Reviews & Analysis

Capillary endothelial cells sense neuronal activity-evoked increases in extracellular K⁺ via K_IR2.1 inwardly rectifying K⁺ channels. The ensuing hyperpolarization travels upstream along the vascular network, reaching arterioles and evoking vasodilation.

The consequences of spinal cord injury are often severe and irreversible; cell transplantation has emerged as a potential treatment. In this Review, the authors highlight mechanisms through which cell transplantation is thought to promote functional improvements and the obstacles to making cell transplantation a viable therapy.

Hippocampal place cells are traditionally thought to represent locations where animals currently are or predict where they are headed. However, new results reveal that place cells also represent distant places that are actively avoided.

Addictive substances hijack the reward system partly via synaptic plasticity onto dopamine neurons. Cadherins may contribute to cocaine-evoked adaptations, supporting the notion that drug addiction is a synaptic disease.

The rate of development of the brain connectome distinguishes adolescents with and without psychiatric symptoms. Those with symptoms exhibit delayed development of connectome distinctiveness as compared to healthy adolescents.

Reinforcement learning (RL) is the behavioral process of learning to associate rewards with actions or objects. Conceptual and theoretical accounts of RL have focused on the striatum. However, recent data shows that the amygdala also plays an important role in RL.

Many people still associate brain glucose metabolism with neurons. A new report shows that stimulation of astrocytic glutamate uptake increases glucose utilization, suggesting that astrocytes play a major role in the glucose uptake signal. However, this still reflects synaptic activity.

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

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.

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

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.

Pregnancy results in changes to maternal physiology and brain that may extend into older age. New results show that pregnancy-induced reductions in gray matter volume remain 2 years after childbirth in humans.

The biological drive to consume salt ensures that we consume adequate sodium for survival. In this issue of Nature Neuroscience, two articles provide insight into the neurons and circuits that regulate sodium appetite.

Many spatial correlates have been identified that form the neural basis for navigation. Two studies have now uncovered a new cell type: bidirectional cells, which fire when the head is pointing in one of two opposing directions.