Volume 19 Issue 5, May 2018

A study of post-mortem brains from individuals of difference ages suggests that hippocampal neurogenesis in humans decreases during childhood and is absent in adults.

In the spinal cord and thalamus of mice, astrocyte-generated interleukin-33 instructs microglia to engulf synapses and thus regulates neural circuit development.

This study shows that human neural stem cell grafts re-establish a neuronal relay across spinal cord injury in rhesus monkeys.

Two studies provide insight into the neural circuits integrating competing threat signals, such as pain and hunger.

Advanced recording techniques have enabled the identification of travelling waves of neuronal activity in different areas of the cortex. Sejnowski and colleagues review these findings, consider the mechanisms by which travelling waves are generated and evaluate their possible roles in cortical function.

Animals exhibit a variety of different responses to threatening stimuli, including both innate and instrumental behaviours. LeDoux and Daw describe a new taxonomy of defensive behaviours and review what we know about the underlying neural circuits and computational processes.

Fibrinogen enters the brain in a wide range of brain diseases that involve blood–brain barrier disruption. In this Review, Petersen et al. discuss recent evidence that fibrinogen causes damage that contributes to the pathology of a range of neurological disorders and discuss therapeutic implications.

The extent and contribution of maternal influence to the developing hypothalamus to later feeding behaviour remain controversial. In this Opinion, Zeltser proposes that crosstalk between developing circuits regulating different modalities of food intake shapes susceptibility to environmental challenges.