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Deletion ofDgcr8in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome leads to decreased processing of miR-338-3p, leading to an upregulation of thalamic dopamine D2 receptors and auditory thalamocortical deficits that might be associated with antipsychotic-sensitive auditory hallucinations.
A brain–spine interface that uses decoded neural activity from motor cortex delivered to an electrical stimulation system in the spine was used to restore locomotor function in a monkey whose leg was paralyzed by spinal injury.
The genetic programmes involved in axonal pruning during development are poorly elucidated but are shown to involve a balance between the anti-apoptotic protein DUSP16 and the pro-degenerative protein PUMA.
Glucocorticoids, which are released in response to stress, modulate the consolidation, retrieval and extinction of memories. In this Review, de Quervainet al. suggest that, in fear-related disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder, targeting glucocorticoid signalling to attenuate fear memories has therapeutic potential.
The mechanisms that underlie the transition of acute pain to a chronic intractable disorder are not well understood. In this Review, Kuner and Flor discuss how structural plasticity and reorganisation in somatosensory and emotional networks can contribute to chronic pain, integrating information available from animal models and human patients.
Emerging evidence suggests that astrocytes may be as diverse in their physiological and functional characteristics as neurons. Ben Haim and Rowitch describe astrocyte heterogeneity, consider the mechanisms by which such diversity may arise and discuss the consequences of its disruption in disease.
Our ability to use conceptual knowledge to support various behaviours is termed semantic cognition. In this Review, Lambon Ralphet al. argue that this ability arises from two interacting neural systems, one for representation and one for control.
The anatomical complexity and location of the human subcortex render it difficult to study by MRIin vivo. Here, Forstmann et al. argue that understanding subcortex function may be facilitated by combining in vivoand post-mortem ultra-high field MRI, post-mortem histology and modelling approaches.