Review Articles

The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) has long been thought to track value, but new data implicate the OFC in the representation of cognitive maps of associative relationships. Here, Knudsen and Wallis review these hypotheses and examine how they might be reconciled.

In this Review, Siddiqi et al. examine causal approaches to mapping human brain function. They provide a definition of causality for translational research, propose a framework for assessing causality strength in brain mapping studies and cover advances in techniques and their use in developing treatments for brain disorders.

A large number of genes have been associated with risk of developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this Review, State and colleagues examine the genetics and genomics of ASD and discuss findings from convergent neuroscience approaches that aim to understand how such genes may contribute to ASD pathobiology.

In this Review, Arber and Costa discuss the anatomical and functional specificity of circuitry essential for executing diverse body movements. They focus on specific neuronal populations in the brainstem and the basal ganglia, and the integration of these circuits into systems-level networks that afford flexibility and learning.

During brain development, cortical circuits form in a stepwise manner through self-organization and activity-dependent adjustment. Cossart and Garel describe the stages that characterize this process and highlight the crucial contributions made by cortical neurons that adopt multiple cellular functions as their development progresses.

Prioritization of visual inputs manifests itself in different behavioural signatures. In this Review, Rust and Cohen describe these signatures and their neural correlates and suggest that the brain uses a unified priority signal from which downstream areas can decode different types of priority.

The levels of neurotransmitters and neuromodulators have been difficult to track. In this Review, Wu et al. give an overview of conventional and modern tools and imaging methods for monitoring neurochemicals, with a focus on genetically encoded sensors.

People may respond to listening to music by physically moving or feeling emotions. In this Review, Peter Vuust and colleagues discuss how music perception and related actions, emotions and learning are associated with the predictive capabilities of the human brain, with a focus on their predictive coding of music model.

Genetic mosaicism has provided a new conceptual framework for the study of the human brain. In this Review, Bizzotto and Walsh discuss mechanisms of brain somatic mutations, what they reveal about development and pathology, and the major associated technical challenges.

There is a dichotomy in human neuroscience research between task-based cognition and characterization of intrinsic neural patterns (for example, resting-state networks), In this Review, Liu and colleagues discuss a new paradigm for bridging this gap based on decoding of task-related representations.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder affecting both upper and lower motor neurons. Various genes have been linked to ALS, leading to the generation of many rodent models of this disease. In this Review, Todd and Petrucelli provide a broad overview of these models.

Impaired insulin signalling is now established as a key component of Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology. In this review, De Felice and colleagues discuss the contribution of impaired insulin signalling and allostatic load in AD and highlight the potential of social and lifestyle interventions to preserve brain health and ward off AD.

Local activation of presynaptic receptors alters neurotransmitter release, modulating effects of somatic action potentials. In this Review, Lovinger et al. discuss the role of presynaptic receptors in regulating synaptic transmission and directions for future research aimed at determining the in vivo roles of presynaptic receptors.

Crosstalk between the peripheral nervous system and the immune system coordinates responses to external and internal threats, including pathogens and tissue damage. Chiu and colleagues review our current understanding of the mechanisms by which sensory, sympathetic, parasympathetic and enteric neurons modulate immune cell function.

Ingestive and digestive processes are initiated and regulated by mechanosensory signals along the digestive tract. In this Review, Kim, Heo and Kim discuss recent discoveries of specific mechanoreceptors, contributing ion channels and well-defined circuits underlying gut mechanosensation, focusing on the oral and pharyngeal cavities, oesophagus, stomach and intestines.

Stress, a key risk factor for many neuropsychiatric disorders, drives a range of maladaptive physiological changes from genetic to behavioural levels. In this review, Sanacora et al. discuss the mechanisms underlying susceptibility and resilience to acute and chronic stress.

The translation of analgesic drug candidates to the clinic relies upon successful preclinical pain modelling. In this Review, Stucky and colleagues describe recent trends in the methods used to model pain in laboratory animals and provide recommendations for experimental designs that may increase translational success.

Numerous energy-demanding cellular processes contribute to synaptic activity and function. Li and Sheng describe the mechanisms that regulate presynaptic energy supply to ensure that neurons can meet these demands and maintain their functions during periods of intensive synaptic activity.

Synaptic dysfunction is a key feature of Alzheimer disease. In this Review, Padmanabhan, Kneynsberg and Götz examine insights provided by super-resolution microscopy into synaptic architecture and organization in Alzheimer disease, focusing on amyloid-β and tau, thought to be two key players in the pathophysiology of the disease.

Hands enable us to interact with objects in precise and versatile ways. In this Review, Sobinov and Bensmaia discuss aspects of mundane and expert manual behaviours, the anatomical complexity of the human hand and neural mechanisms that underlie manual dexterity.