Excitability articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Previous work has identified cells in L2/3 of auditory cortex which strongly respond with bursting to a specific learned chord, but not to single component tones in an auditory task. Here the authors show that these cells correlate with the behavioral relevance of the learned composite sounds.

    • Ruijie Li
    • , Junjie Huang
    •  & Hongbo Jia

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Predicting seizure onsets may allow for seizure prevention in patients. Here, authors show two distinct phases that always preceded temporal lobe seizures in mice, with activity confined within these two phases failing to progress into a seizure.

    • John-Sebastian Mueller
    • , Fabio C. Tescarollo
    •  & Hai Sun

  • Article
    | Open Access

    During hypoglycemia, glucagon secretion is part of the mechanism needed to restore normal blood glucose levels. Here, Strembitska et al. report that sensing of hypoglycemia by AgRP neurons requires Agpat5, an enzyme which prevents fatty acids from entering the mitochondria for ATP production, ensuring correct neuronal activation and glucagon secretion.

    • Anastasiya Strembitska
    • , Gwenaël Labouèbe
    •  & Bernard Thorens

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hippocampal pyramidal cells encode an animal’s location by single action potentials and complex spike bursts. The authors show that Kcnq3-containing M-channels synergistically with GABAergic inputs coordinate complex spike bursts during theta oscillations, which is a key mechanism for spatial coding by single spikes.

    • Xiaojie Gao
    • , Franziska Bender
    •  & Alexey Ponomarenko

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ataxia Telangiectasia and Rad3-related (ATR) is a key regulator of replication stress response; yet, mutations within the ATR gene cause human ATR-Seckel Syndrome associated with microcephaly and intellectual disability. Here, the authors show neuron-specific ATR deletion increases intrinsic neuronal and epileptiform activity, revealing a function of ATR beyond its role in DNA damage response.

    • Murat Kirtay
    • , Josefine Sell
    •  & Zhao-Qi Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    This study presents an anatomical, neurophysiological and functional characterization of four distinct prefrontal populations that project to striatal and thalamic sub-regions. The authors show that each of these populations have a discrete role in the regulation of cognitive control.

    • Sybren F. de Kloet
    • , Bastiaan Bruinsma
    •  & Huibert D. Mansvelder

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) can be unresponsive to treatment. Here, the authors show that treatment with D-Serine mitigates TLE and acts on neurons and glia, attenuating neuronal loss and reducing astro- and microgliosis in rodents.

    • Stephen Beesley
    • , Thomas Sullenberger
    •  & Sanjay S. Kumar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While autapses are synapses made by a neuron onto itself, its functional significance in pyramidal cells are not clear. Here, the authors show that in the mammalian neocortex, autapses of pyramidal cells can enhance burst firing and coincidence detection from other inputs.

    • Luping Yin
    • , Rui Zheng
    •  & Yousheng Shu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Current optogenetic inhibition methods like light-controlled ion pumps require high-intensity light and disrupt physiological ion gradients. Here, the authors somatically target the anion-conducting opsin GtACR to eliminate spiking in distal axons and improve photocurrents, thus enhancing its utility.

    • Mathias Mahn
    • , Lihi Gibor
    •  & Ofer Yizhar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Spike-frequency adaptation in thalamocortical (TC) neurons is important for sensory transmission though the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. Here, the authors identify a role for the calcium-activated chloride channel, ANO2, in mediating TC spiking adaptations and visceral pain response.

    • Go Eun Ha
    • , Jaekwang Lee
    •  & Eunji Cheong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Biological activity can be photoswitched by light-regulated drugs, but so far only diffusible ligands have been shown to work on endogenous receptors. Here the authors develop targeted covalent photoswitches that couple to a protein target by ligand affinity, and demonstrate photocontrol of GluK1-expressing neurons.

    • Mercè Izquierdo-Serra
    • , Antoni Bautista-Barrufet
    •  & Pau Gorostiza

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cognitive performance is impaired after prolonged wakefulness, yet the contribution of circadian rhythms for proper brain function remains unclear. Here the authors show that cortical excitability measured using TMS exhibits robust circadian dynamics which is correlated with cognitive performance.

    • Julien Q. M. Ly
    • , Giulia Gaggioni
    •  & Gilles Vandewalle

  • Article
    | Open Access

    BK potassium channels have been previously shown to mediate SCN circadian firing, although the precise mechanisms are unclear. Here, using knockout and rescue approaches, the authors find that the ß2 ‘ball-and-chain’ confers BK channel inactivation during the day, promoting SCN electrical upstate.

    • Joshua P. Whitt
    • , Jenna R. Montgomery
    •  & Andrea L. Meredith

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) plays a role in sexual differentiation and gonadal function, but extra-gonadal effects of AMH are not known. Here Cimino et al. show that AMH activates a subset of gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH)-releasing neurons, contributing to luteinizing hormone secretion from the pituitary gland.

    • Irene Cimino
    • , Filippo Casoni
    •  & Paolo Giacobini

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is widely used as a therapeutic tool yet its effect on inhibitory networks in the brain has not been studied. Here, the authors demonstrate that 10Hz rTMS specifically reduces dendritic inhibition onto pyramidal neurons accompanied by remodeling of postsynaptic gephyrin clusters.

    • Maximilian Lenz
    • , Christos Galanis
    •  & Andreas Vlachos

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Maintenance of proper membrane excitability is vital to neuronal function and in several neuronal types this relies on a balance between receptor-mediated excitation and inhibition. Here the authors report a crosstalk between excitatory kainate receptors and inhibitory glycine receptors that relies on the SUMOylation status of PKC.

    • Hao Sun
    • , Li Lu
    •  & Yong Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Neuronal adaptation to repetitive stimuli is required for the correct functioning of neuronal networks. Here, the authors show that rapid expansion of the axonal spike-initiation site accompanied by local spike deceleration is the cell adaptation mechanism that responds to repetitive excitatory inputs.

    • Ricardo S. Scott
    • , Christian Henneberger
    •  & Dmitri A. Rusakov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ambient levels of the neurotransmitter GABA tonically activate GABAA. Song et al.show that GABA can have both excitatory and inhibitory effects on hippocampal interneurons and find that low levels of GABA-mediated conductance are excitatory, whereas higher levels result in shunting inhibition.

    • Inseon Song
    • , Leonid Savtchenko
    •  & Alexey Semyanov

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