Volume 19 Issue 2, February 2018

In mice, projections from the prelimbic cortex to the nucleus accumbens encode a combination of social and spatial information and may promote 'social investigation' behaviour by enabling social–spatial learning.

Microglial surveillance of the brain is dependent on maintenance of microglia membrane potential by the K⁺channel THIK1, which is potentiated by ATP released at sites of tissue injury acting on P2Y12 receptors.

Amyloid-β (Aβ)-induced proteotoxicity is linked to a mitochondrial stress response that may be conserved across species, and promoting mitochondrial proteostasis counteracts Aβ aggregation in worms and an Alzheimer disease mouse model.

Mitochondria may be actively recruited to presynapses to supply energy, buffer calcium and, potentially, fulfil other functions. In this Review, Devine and Kittler examine the importance of this presynaptic population of mitochondria in the maintenance of neuronal homeostasis and how dysfunctional presynaptic mitochondria might contribute to neurodegenerative diseases.

Eating patterns in modern societies often preclude the metabolic switch from utilization of glucose to ketones as a cellular energy source. In this Review, Mattson and colleagues discuss how intermittent metabolic switching impacts brain function and vulnerability to injury and disease.

Although leptin administration decreases food intake and body weight in lean mice, it has no effect in obese mice. In this Review, Pan and Myers discuss how leptin action becomes dysfunctional in obesity and suggest that elevated leptin levels promote processes that limit leptin action.

During low-vigilance states, thalamic neurons exhibit diverse rhythmic activities that contribute to specific parts of the electroencephalogram rhythm. In this perspective, Crunelli and colleagues propose that thalamic oscillations of these low-vigilance states also have a plasticity function that modifies the strength of excitatory and inhibitory synapses in local neuronal assemblies.