Neuronal physiology articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Neurons have complex dendritic trees but the rules governing the propagation of signals from dendrites to nuclei remain unclear. Here the authors combine diffusion-reaction modelling and live imaging to investigate the mechanisms regulating cAMP signalling in neurons and find that dendritic tree geometry shapes synapse-to-nucleus signalling.

    • Lu Li
    • , Nicolas Gervasi
    •  & Jean-Antoine Girault

  • Article |

    Cell-type diversity results from a series of binary cell fate decisions. Here, Matsuda et al.find that cells engineered with a Notch/Delta lateral inhibition circuit spontaneously bifurcate into Notch-active and Delta-positive subpopulations that are robust at the individual and population levels.

    • Mitsuhiro Matsuda
    • , Makito Koga
    •  & Miki Ebisuya

  • Article |

    Several K+ channels control neuronal excitability, but the function of KCNQ5 (Kv7.5), which displays wide expression in the brain, is not known. Here the authors show that KCNQ5 controls excitability and function of hippocampal networks through modulation of synaptic inhibition.

    • Pawel Fidzinski
    • , Tatiana Korotkova
    •  & Thomas J. Jentsch

  • Article |

    Cortical brain signals are often studied by predicting sensory inputs and behaviours from ensembles of neurons, but the uncertainty of these predictions is poorly understood. Graf and Andersen show that the level of uncertainty is reduced when populations of cortical neurons exhibit correlated variability.

    • Arnulf B. A. Graf
    •  & Richard A. Andersen

  • Article |

    Voltage-gated Na+ channel β-subunits are concentrated in the nodes of Ranvier and axon initial segments of myelinated axons and have a variety of functions. Here the authors show, using genetically modified mice, that this subunit is present in unmyelinated fibres in the striatum and is required for generation of resurgent Na+ current in striatal neurons.

    • Haruko Miyazaki
    • , Fumitaka Oyama
    •  & Nobuyuki Nukina

  • Article |

    Neurotransmitter release involves a fast synchronous component and a slower asynchronous phase, which is poorly understood. Evstratova et al.show that asynchronous release increases the precision of postsynaptic action potential firing in an activity-dependent manner, which is dependent on adaptor protein 3.

    • Alesya Evstratova
    • , Simon Chamberland
    •  & Katalin Tóth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The use of local field potential (LFP) brain signals may allow development of more efficient and robust neural prosthetic devices. Here, Hall et al. develop a method for estimation and biofeedback control of single-neuron firing rates using signals extracted from multiple low-frequency LFPs.

    • Thomas M. Hall
    • , Kianoush Nazarpour
    •  & Andrew Jackson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The neocortex contains a large diversity of interneurons but the subtype-specific roles of these cells in establishing excitatory and inhibitory circuits are not well understood. Here the authors genetically delete parvalbumin- and somatostatin-positive interneurons during mouse development and study the functional effects in postnatal cortical circuits.

    • Naoki Takada
    • , Hyun Jae Pi
    •  & Pavel Osten

  • 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 |

    An important goal for neuroscience tool development is improving the performance of genetically encoded voltage sensors. Here, the authors report two mutants of Arch, ‘Archers’, with high baseline fluorescence and sensitivity and show proof of principle for detecting voltage changes in response to sensory stimulus in live C. elegans.

    • Nicholas C. Flytzanis
    • , Claire N. Bedbrook
    •  & Viviana Gradinaru

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bistable visual perception requires changes in brain activity between different cortical areas. Here, Watanabe et al.demonstrate dynamic patterns of brain activity during bistable visual perception, which link behavioural variability and anatomical individual differences in focal brain regions.

    • Takamitsu Watanabe
    • , Naoki Masuda
    •  & Geraint Rees

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The GABAA receptor has an important role in brain function. Here Mortenson et al. design and synthesize photoactivatable compounds based on the GABAAantagonist gabazine and show that these can be used to inactivate the receptor, to identify new residues at the GABA binding site and can be adapted for trafficking studies.

    • Martin Mortensen
    • , Favaad Iqbal
    •  & Trevor G. Smart

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Microglia play essential roles in sculpting synaptic connections during brain development but their role in the adult brain is less clear. Here the authors show that activated microglia can prophylactically protect the adult rodent brain from injury by migrating to and displacing inhibitory synapses from cortical neurons.

    • Zhihong Chen
    • , Walid Jalabi
    •  & Bruce D. Trapp

  • Article |

    Endocannabinoids affect neuronal differentiation, including directional axonal growth during brain development. Here the authors show that endocannabinoids can regulate Slit/Robo interactions during the establishment of forebrain axonal tracts by studying both mouse and human fetal brains.

    • Alán Alpár
    • , Giuseppe Tortoriello
    •  & Tibor Harkany

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The striatum is required for evoking contraversive movements from each brain hemisphere, but it is unclear how. Here, Tecuapetla et al.use optogenetics to inhibit direct and indirect downstream striatal projection pathways, and show that activity in both pathways is necessary for contraversive movements.

    • Fatuel Tecuapetla
    • , Sara Matias
    •  & Rui M. Costa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Inactivation of Shaker potassium channels is caused by one of the four cytoplasmic amino termini, termed the inactivation gate. Here, Venkataraman et al. show that a single gate threads through the intracellular entryway of its own subunit and interacts with all four subunits deeper in the pore, demonstrating the function of this N-terminus.

    • Gaurav Venkataraman
    • , Deepa Srikumar
    •  & Miguel Holmgren

  • Article
    | Open Access

    GABA receptors are implicated in neuronal postsynaptic long-term potentiation of inhibition (iLTP). Here, Petrini et al. show that iLTP depends on recruitment of the scaffold protein gephyrin at synapses, which is enhanced by CaMKII-dependent phosphorylation of a specific residue on GABAAreceptors.

    • Enrica Maria Petrini
    • , Tiziana Ravasenga
    •  & Andrea Barberis

  • 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

    Propagating waves of cortical neuronal activity are implicated in various cognitive processes and have been observed in anaesthetised animals. Here, the authors demonstrate the existence of propagating waves in awake monkeys during visual stimulation, and show that they are mediated by horizontal fibres in the cortex.

    • Lyle Muller
    • , Alexandre Reynaud
    •  & Alain Destexhe

  • Article |

    Genetically encoded optical voltage sensors measure the electrical activity of various tissues with limited effectiveness, due to the sensors’ suboptimal performance metrics. Gong et al.create a sensor with increased brightness, fast kinetics and improved dynamic ranges when compared with previous sensors.

    • Yiyang Gong
    • , Mark J. Wagner
    •  & Mark J. Schnitzer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cerebellar development involves activity-dependent strengthening of synaptic contacts between climbing fibres and Purkinje cells. Kawamura et al.show that temporally clustered multiple climbing fibre inputs contribute to characteristic burst spiking in immature Purkinje cells before specific contacts are strengthened.

    • Yoshinobu Kawamura
    • , Hisako Nakayama
    •  & Masanobu Kano

  • Article |

    Various homeostatic mechanisms have been implicated in regulating neuronal excitability. Kishore and Fetcho study homeostatic mechanisms in zebrafish and find they regulate topographic patterns of dendritic dynamics within pools of motoneurons, that map onto ordered patterns of recruitment during behaviour.

    • Sandeep Kishore
    •  & Joseph R. Fetcho

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The neurotrophic factor BDNF is implicated in striatal cell long-term survival. Besusso et al. selectively delete BDNF receptors in the striatal circuitry of mice and find that this leads to hyperlocomotion, which is associated with dopamine receptor-dependent increases in specific kinases.

    • Dario Besusso
    • , Mirjam Geibel
    •  & Liliana Minichiello

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The lateral hypothalamus is implicated in drug reward and addiction. Chen and colleagues find that in the lateral hypothalamus of mice, the proteoglycan syndecan-3 negatively regulates cocaine-seeking behaviour by modulating the effects of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor.

    • Jihuan Chen
    • , Vez Repunte-Canonigo
    •  & Pietro Paolo Sanna

  • Article |

    Caenorhabditis elegans studies using artificial stimulation suggest that synaptic transmission involves graded action potential generation. Liu et al. study synaptic transmission that occurs spontaneously and find that cholinergic postsynaptic currents occur in bursts to facilitate action potential firing.

    • Ping Liu
    • , Bojun Chen
    •  & Zhao-Wen Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Gamma oscillations act to synchronize neuronal activity and are implicated in cognitive processing. Using in vivo electrophysiology, Shinohara et al. find that gamma oscillations and associated structural changes are greater in right-sided hippocampi of enriched environment-reared rats.

    • Yoshiaki Shinohara
    • , Aki Hosoya
    •  & Hajime Hirase

  • Article |

    The arrival of action potentials at nerve terminals often leads to synchronous neurotransmitter release. Medrihan and colleagues use electrophysiology on mouse hippocampal neurons to show that the vesicle protein Synapsin II promotes GABAergic asynchronous release by interacting with calcium channels.

    • Lucian Medrihan
    • , Fabrizia Cesca
    •  & Fabio Benfenati

  • Article
    | Open Access

    During rest, the different regions of the human brain still carry out complex interactions. In this study, a pairwise maximum entropy model is used to quantify the complexity of these interactions during rest, showing that the model is able to capture the structure of the resting-state human brain networks.

    • Takamitsu Watanabe
    • , Satoshi Hirose
    •  & Naoki Masuda

  • Article |

    Studies in animals have shown that the inferior colliculus of the auditory pathway is tonotopically organized. This fMRI study in humans reveals a low-to-high frequency gradient in the inferior colliculus that is tonotopically oriented, as well as spectral selectivity based on responses to natural sounds.

    • Federico De Martino
    • , Michelle Moerel
    •  & Elia Formisano

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Inorganic polyphosphates have been identified in the central nervous system. Holmström and colleagues examine neuroglial cultures in vitro and cardiorespiratory responses in vivo, and find that inorganic polyphosphates trigger calcium-dependent activation of astrocytes and increase cardiorespiratory activity.

    • Kira M. Holmström
    • , Nephtali Marina
    •  & Andrey Y. Abramov

  • Article |

    Adult neurogenesis in the mammalian brain is implicated in the storage and processing of memories. Vivaret al.label afferents to new dentate gyrus granule cells and find that they receive direct input from the perirhinal and lateral entorhinal cortex and that these inputs enable spatial pattern separation.

    • Carmen Vivar
    • , Michelle C. Potter
    •  & Henriette van Praag

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Seizure activity in the brain is characterized by the recruitment of cortical neuronal activity. Schevon and colleagues study seizure activity in human subjects and find that the recruitment of neurons is hypersynchronous and that there is an intrinsic restraint on the propagation of this activity.

    • Catherine A. Schevon
    • , Shennan A. Weiss
    •  & Andrew J. Trevelyan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The kinase PINK1 is mutated in Parkinson's disease and accumulates in defective mitochondria, where it recruits Parkin. Here, PINK1 is shown to be autophosphorylated and this is required for the localization of PINK1 to mitochondria with a reduced membrane potential, and for the recruitment of Parkin.

    • Kei Okatsu
    • , Toshihiko Oka
    •  & Noriyuki Matsuda

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Experience-dependent plasticity and functional adaptation are thought to be restricted to the central nervous and immune systems. This study shows that long-lasting experience-dependent plasticity is a key feature of endocrine cell networks, allowing improved tissue function and hormone output following repeat demand.

    • David J. Hodson
    • , Marie Schaeffer
    •  & Patrice Mollard

  • 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

  • Article |

    The spinal V2a interneurons control left–right limb alternation during mouse locomotion, but only at high frequencies. In this study, the authors show that only half of these neurons are active during locomotion, and that they receive increasing synaptic drive to increase their activity as locomotion accelerates.

    • Guisheng Zhong
    • , Kamal Sharma
    •  & Ronald M. Harris-Warrick

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In neurons, GABAA receptors mediate feed-forward inhibition by shunting excitatory currents and hyperpolarizing neurons. Here, the authors show that the hyperpolarization-activated mixed cation current is critical for determining the resting membrane potential and reversal potential for GABAA-mediated currents.

    • Ivan Pavlov
    • , Annalisa Scimemi
    •  & Matthew C. Walker

  • Article |

    Interfacing neurons with artificial functional materials could aid the development of neurological prosthetic devices. Here, primary neurons are incorporated into a polymer layer without adversely affecting their properties; the advance may contribute to the development of artificial retinas.

    • Diego Ghezzi
    • , Maria Rosa Antognazza
    •  & Guglielmo Lanzani

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