Neuronal physiology articles within Nature Communications

Featured

  • Article
    | Open Access

    ‘Analogue’ modulation by somatic membrane potentials can modify ‘digital’ axonal action potentials. Here, the authors show that analogue modulation can occur in back-propagating dendritic action potentials and calcium signals, leading to signal enhancement or attenuation in a location-dependent manner.

    • János Brunner
    •  & János Szabadics

  • Article
    | Open Access

    FHFs are known to regulate voltage-gated sodium channels (NaVs). Here, the authors compare the role of FHFs in cerebellar granule cell propagation, and find NaVs in the distal axon function independently of FHFs, allowing for faster inactivation rates and reducing energy demands during repetitive spiking.

    • Katarzyna Dover
    • , Christopher Marra
    •  & Mitchell Goldfarb

  • 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

    Episodic ataxia type 1 is caused by mutations in the potassium channel Kv1.1, which is found in cerebellar basket cells. Here, the authors use electrophysiology techniques to characterize these mutant channels, and observe that the changes result in decreased spontaneous Purkinje cell firing with no evidence for developmental compensation.

    • Rahima Begum
    • , Yamina Bakiri
    •  & Dimitri M. Kullmann

  • 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

    Information seeking is thought to rely on the brain's frontal cortex but which regions specifically control this drive remains unknown. Here the authors show that monkeys deciding to seek information on the current state of the environment showed specific neural dynamics in the lateral prefrontal cortex and midcingulate cortex.

    • Frederic M. Stoll
    • , Vincent Fontanier
    •  & Emmanuel Procyk

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Animals exhibit a number of complex behaviours following stressful events, although the underlying circuitry is undetermined. Here, the authors use optogenetic targeting to identify a role for corticotrophin releasing hormone cells in the paraventricular nucleus in regulating such behavioural responses to acute stress.

    • Tamás Füzesi
    • , Nuria Daviu
    •  & Jaideep S. Bains

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Orai channels are well known to mediate store-operated calcium entry. Here authors show that in neurons of the Drosophilaflight circuit, Septin 7 acts as a negative regulator of Orai channels, surprisingly, by modulating store-independent calcium entry through Orai.

    • Bipan Kumar Deb
    • , Trayambak Pathak
    •  & Gaiti Hasan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Immature dentate gyrus neurons are highly excitable and are thought to be more responsive to afferent activity than mature neurons. Here, the authors find stimulation of the entorhinal cortex paradoxically generates spiking in mature rather than immature neurons due to low synaptic connectivity of immature cells.

    • Cristina V. Dieni
    • , Roberto Panichi
    •  & Linda Overstreet-Wadiche

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In neurons, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) transcription is activated by synaptic activity, in part by epigenetic regulation of its promoter regions. Here the authors characterize histone modifications in response to NMDA treatment that result in different kinetics of Bdnf activation from its different promoter regions.

    • Ernest Palomer
    • , Javier Carretero
    •  & Mauricio G. Martin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mitochondrial dysfunction occurs in Parkinson's disease, although the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here, the authors find necdin works to stabilise the mitochondrial regulator PGC-1α, and that overexpression of necdin protects against MPTP-mediated neurodegeneration both in vitro and in vivo.

    • Koichi Hasegawa
    • , Toru Yasuda
    •  & Kazuaki Yoshikawa

  • 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

    Dreaming occurs in REM sleep, yet the neural mechanisms involved in generating it are not understood. Here Cox and colleagues show that glutamatergic neurons in the dorsal pons are activated most during transition to REM sleep while GABAergic neurons are more active during waking state.

    • Julia Cox
    • , Lucas Pinto
    •  & Yang Dan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Differentiating neurons have an increased requirement for copper than their precursors, but the mechanism of altered copper homoeostasis is not known. Here, Hatori et al. show that neuronal differentiation is accompanied by an increased flux of copper through the secretory pathway, increasing supply to copper-dependent enzymes.

    • Yuta Hatori
    • , Ye Yan
    •  & Svetlana Lutsenko

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While gustatory systems have been extensively studied in adult Drosophila, not much is known about taste coding at the larval stage. Here, the authors investigate gustatory receptor neurons in larvae and find single neurons are capable of responding to more than one taste modality.

    • Lena van Giesen
    • , Luis Hernandez-Nunez
    •  & Simon G. Sprecher

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Replacing lost retinal ganglion cells is a potential treatment for optic neuropathies such as glaucoma. Here, the authors show that transplanted donor RGCs can successfully integrate into a mature host retina in vivo, projecting axons along the intact visual pathway and responding to light stimuli.

    • Praseeda Venugopalan
    • , Yan Wang
    •  & Jeffrey L. Goldberg

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Visual receptive fields are known to change positions around the time of a saccade, but the nature of this remapping is unclear. Here Neupane and colleagues show that neurons in area V4 of the visual cortex exhibit two types of remapping, one consistent with a role in maintaining perceptual stability, and a second that seems to reflect shifts of attention.

    • Sujaya Neupane
    • , Daniel Guitton
    •  & Christopher C. Pack

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Recent work has implicated hippocampal subfield CA2 in encoding social and contextual memory yet the neural mechanisms are not known. Here, Alexander and colleagues demonstrate that, compared to CA1 neurons, CA2 neurons modify their place fields when presented with social or novel stimuli.

    • Georgia M. Alexander
    • , Shannon Farris
    •  & Serena M. Dudek

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The molecular mechanism of axon regeneration after injury is poorly understood. Here the authors show that in C. elegans, the HIF-1 transcription factor induces ectopic synthesis of serotonin in severed ‘non-serotonergic’ neurons and that serotonin activates downstream signaling pathways leading to axon regeneration.

    • Tanimul Alam
    • , Hiroki Maruyama
    •  & Kunihiro Matsumoto

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Inter-areal oscillatory synchronization is constrained by anatomical connections, yet a fundamental principle linking functional and structural connectivity is lacking. Here, Atasoy and colleagues show that harmonic patterns in structural connectome can predict dynamics of resting state networks.

    • Selen Atasoy
    • , Isaac Donnelly
    •  & Joel Pearson

  • 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

    Cerebrospinal fluid-contacting (CSF-c) cells line the central canal of the vertebrate spinal cord yet their function remains unknown. Here, Javaland et al. show that CSF-c neurons in the lamprey respond to mechanical stimulation and lowered pH, effects likely mediated by ASIC3-channels.

    • Elham Jalalvand
    • , Brita Robertson
    •  & Sten Grillner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Kv3 potassium channels have an important role in the repolarization of action potentials in fast-spiking neurons. Here, the authors use electrophysiology and modelling to report on an interesting mechanism that might explain their gating behaviour.

    • Alain J. Labro
    • , Michael F. Priest
    •  & Francisco Bezanilla

  • Article
    | Open Access

    'Digital' spike-evoked transmission can be facilitated by slow subthreshold 'analogue' depolarisation of the presynaptic neuron. Here, the authors identify a novel, rapid form of digital-analogue facilitation in mammalian neurons whereby presynaptic hyperpolarisation enables de-inactivation of axonal Nav channels.

    • Sylvain Rama
    • , Mickaël Zbili
    •  & Dominique Debanne

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Animal body size is influenced by climate, but the cellular mechanisms regulating this response are unclear. Here, the authors identify a neuronal circuit composed of a group of cold-sensing neurons and insulin-producing cells that mediates the effects of temperature onDrosophilagrowth.

    • Qiaoran Li
    •  & Zhefeng Gong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A mutation in the sodium channel Nav1.9 has been identified in a family and shown to associate with cold-aggravated pain. Here, the authors characterize the electrophysiological consequences of this mutation and propose a mechanism for the pain that the individuals experience.

    • Enrico Leipold
    • , Andrea Hanson-Kahn
    •  & Ingo Kurth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Positive mood can occur as a result of a stimulus or spontaneously. Admon and Pizzagalli measure variations in neural responses to a positive stimulus over time, and identify cortico-striatal interactions associated with sustained positive mood which are reduced in individuals with a history of depression.

    • Roee Admon
    •  & Diego A. Pizzagalli

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding how ß-amyloid contributes to synapse loss and dysfunction is a central goal of Alzheimer’s disease research. Here, Leshchyns’ka et al.identify a novel mechanism by which Aß disassembles hippocampal glutamatergic synapses via cleavage of a neural cell adhesion molecule 2 (NCAM2).

    • Iryna Leshchyns’ka
    • , Heng Tai Liew
    •  & Vladimir Sytnyk

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Synaptic assembly depends on trans-synaptic Neurexin/Neuroligin signalling. Here, Muhammad et al. show that Spinophilin, a pre-synaptic scaffolding protein, interacts with Neurexin, in competition with Syd-1, to regulate the formation and function of synaptic active zones at Drosophilaneuromuscular junctions.

    • Karzan Muhammad
    • , Suneel Reddy-Alla
    •  & Stephan J. Sigrist

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hippocampal theta oscillations support encoding of spatial information during navigation, yet their role in locomotion is poorly understood. Here the authors demonstrate that hippocampal theta oscillations regulate the speed of locomotion in rodents through a hippocampo-lateral septal-hypothalamic pathway.

    • Franziska Bender
    • , Maria Gorbati
    •  & Alexey Ponomarenko

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The medial temporal lobe (MTL) in the primate brain is known to alter its response when learning new information. Here, Reddy et al.record the activity of single neurons from human subjects, and show that learning a sequence of events can increase MTL neuronal firing rates in anticipation of the upcoming events.

    • Leila Reddy
    • , Marlene Poncet
    •  & Pieter R. Roelfsema

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mathematical learning disabilities (MLD) affect up to 20% of children and are linked to poorer socioeconomic and health outcomes in adulthood. Here, Iuculano et al. show that tutoring induced functional changes in multiple brain systems underlie remediation of poor maths skills in children with MLD.

    • Teresa Iuculano
    • , Miriam Rosenberg-Lee
    •  & Vinod Menon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    How taste information is encoded and transmitted from the periphery to the cortex is not well understood. Here the authors provide evidence for population-based coding of taste by demonstrating that more than half of individual geniculate ganglion neurons are broadly tuned to basic taste stimuli.

    • An Wu
    • , Gennady Dvoryanchikov
    •  & Stephen D. Roper

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A key question in neuroscience is understanding how the brain distinguishes self-generated motion from motion in the external world. Here the authors demonstrate that the response of primary visual cortical neurons to a moving stimulus depends on whether the motion was self- or externally generated.

    • Xoana G. Troncoso
    • , Michael B. McCamy
    •  & Susana Martinez-Conde

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In online experiments with monkeys the authors demonstrate, for the first time, that incorporating neural dynamics substantially improves brain–machine interface performance. This result is consistent with a framework hypothesizing that motor cortex is a dynamical machine that generates movement.

    • Jonathan C. Kao
    • , Paul Nuyujukian
    •  & Krishna V. Shenoy

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sensory cortical tuning is shaped by experience to facilitate coding of features that are predictive of behaviourally relevant outcomes. Here the authors demonstrate that rapid behaviourally driven retuning of human visual cortex involves top–down projections as well as local inhibitory interactions.

    • Lisa M. McTeague
    • , L. Forest Gruss
    •  & Andreas Keil

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Primary cilia are essential conveyors of signals underlying major cellular functions but their role in brain development is not completely understood. Here the authors compiled a shRNA library targeting ciliopathy genes known to cause brain disorders, and used it to query how ciliopathy genes affect distinct stages of mouse cortical development.

    • Jiami Guo
    • , Holden Higginbotham
    •  & E.S. Anton

  • Article |

    Retracted neurites and disorganized actin filaments are major components of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles—hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. Here the authors show that soluble ß-amyloid impairs action potential firing by disrupting actin and microtubule filaments through the inhibition of HDAC6 and activation of RhoA.

    • Hanako Tsushima
    • , Marco Emanuele
    •  & Evelina Chieregatti

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Several prominent cognitive theories propose that in situations affording more than one action strategy, the brain prepares multiple competing movements prior to selecting one. Here the authors provide direct experimental evidence for this provocative but largely untested notion.

    • Jason P. Gallivan
    • , Kathryn S. Barton
    •  & J. Randall Flanagan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Specific peripheral sensory neurons respond to increases in extracellular osmolality but the mechanism responsible for the neuronal excitation is unknown. Here the authors show that the cold-activated ion channel, TRPM8, also acts as an osmosensor in vivo, in cultured mouse sensory neurons and when heterologously expressed in cells.

    • Talisia Quallo
    • , Nisha Vastani
    •  & Stuart Bevan

  • Article |

    During development, neurons prune their axons and dendrites to eliminate excessive or inappropriate connections initially formed but the mechanistic details of the pruning process are not completely understood. Here the authors visualize pruning events in dendritic branches in Drosophilaand study the role of calcium transients and endocytosis in this process.

    • Takahiro Kanamori
    • , Jiro Yoshino
    •  & Kazuo Emoto

Browse broader subjects

Browse narrower subjects

Browse Neuronal physiology across other nature.com journals