Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
The homeostatic CNS environment is maintained by the function of the blood–blood barrier and neurovascular coupling. Kaplan, Chow and Gu describe how neural and vascular activity act on one another with regard to the blood–blood barrier and neurovascular coupling.
Ageing is the main risk factor for Alzheimer disease (AD), but the mechanisms connecting ageing to this disease remain incompletely understood. In this Review, Saez-Atienzar and Masliah examine whether cellular senescence may have a role in linking ageing and AD.
The human motor cortex is selectively vulnerable in numerous neurodegenerative diseases. In this Review, McColgan et al. integrate layer-specific physiology with pathobiology in the motor cortex, thereby generating hypotheses that can be tested in humans using ultra-high-resolution neuroimaging techniques.
There have been a number of recent advances in the use of transplanted cells to enable functional recovery in animal models of spinal cord injury. Fischer and colleagues review this work and describe the use of neural progenitor cell transplants to restore connectivity in key neural systems following spinal damage.