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While effectively doubling the number of known odorant-to-receptor pairings in human olfaction, researchers explain a portion of perceptual variability that stems from genetic variability.
A study shows that when mice are taught to fear an odor, both their offspring and the next generation are born fearing it. The gene for an olfactory receptor activated by the odor is specifically demethylated in the germ line and the olfactory circuits for detecting the odor are enhanced.
Long-term exposure to females reduces aggression of male fruit flies. The mechanism involves contact-dependent pheromone sensing and the activation of a small group of GABAergic inhibitory neurons unique to the male brain.
A study finds that immune factors transmitted through breast milk regulate the cognitive function of offspring. Changes in milk composition alter hippocampal development and have effects on memory that last into adulthood.
From FM dyes, cypHers, pHluorin and Q-dots to electron tomography and super-resolution microscopy, Kavalali and Jorgensen present a critical survey of the optical paraphernalia currently available to investigate presynaptic function, highlighting the specific strengths and limitations inherent to these various approaches.
In this review, the authors examine how the identification and analysis of genes associated with ALS have begun to provide insight into the onset and pathology of this motor disease. In addition, they discuss some emerging themes that are poised to inform future efforts to identify further gene targets.
The cerebellum, with its stereotypic anatomy, has served as an engine of discovery for developmental neurobiologists and cancer biologists alike. However, new findings reported in this issue of Nature Neuroscience suggest that its anatomy and cellular specification, and by extension, its tumor biology, may be less simple than previously believed.
In synaptic integration, timing is everything. A new study demonstrates that voltage-activated ion channels transform spatially distributed synaptic input into a coherent neuronal output by countering time delays in the dendritic tree.
Errors are typically followed by more cautious responses. A study now provides evidence that remarkably conserved neural dynamics underlie these post-error adjustments to behavior in rodents and humans.
A study in this issue of Nature Neuroscience demonstrates that astrocytic transforming growth factor-β facilitates complement-mediated removal of weak synapses by microglia during the synaptic pruning period.
In this review, the author brings together research on the neuro-computational basis of decision-making and the homeostatic regulation of feeding behavior, emphasizing what is unique about feeding decisions, and how homeostatic signals influence the decision-making circuitry.
A study now identifies an unexpected function of the D2 dopamine receptor in synapse maturation during a critical period in mice. The findings may have implications for the onset of schizophrenia in humans.
Each olfactory sensory neuron in mice is defined by which of the ∼1,000 odorant receptor genes that it expresses. Using optogenetics, a study finds that mice can perceive stimulation of only a single class of olfactory sensory neuron.
Two studies emphasize similarities in the developmental origin of cortical interneurons across mammals. They suggest that most interneurons in humans and macaques have a subcortical origin.
We know that humans are capable of learning during sleep. Research now shows that they are also capable of unlearning during sleep, and in a way that alters the neural representation of a feared stimulus: re-exposure to an odor during slow-wave sleep promotes extinction of an aversive visual association learned in that odor context.
Brain enriched RNA editing of Adenosine-to-Inosine (A-to-I) increases the amount of information encoded in the genome and diversifies the transcriptome. Here the authors discuss how recent technological and analytical developments may facilitate the discovery of RNA editing sites and the understanding of their functions and regulation.
This review article by Peter McKinnon discusses the latest progress in understanding the complexity of DNA damage and related repair pathways in the nervous system. The piece highlights DNA damage/repair in both normal course of brain development and in aging, and discusses possible dysfunction of this mechanism in disease as uniquely faced by postmitotic neurons in the brain.
Here the authors review emerging evidence from circadian systems, indicating an important role for post-transcriptional regulation, from splicing, polyadenylation and mRNA stability to translation and noncoding functions exemplified by microRNAs. They hypothesize that post-transcriptional control confers to circadian clocks enhanced robustness as well as the ability to adapt to different environments.
Mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) integrates a variety of inputs and regulates diverse cellular functions. In this review, the authors discuss recent studies implicating mTOR signaling in neurodevelopmental and psychiatric diseases, and the mechanisms that may underlie these effects.
