Featured
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News |
This fMRI technique promised to transform brain research — why can no one replicate it?
The DIANA technique sparked excitement from neuroscientists. But two new papers have cast doubt over the results.
- McKenzie Prillaman
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Editorial |
What happens when climate change and the mental-health crisis collide?
The warming planet is worsening mental illness and distress. Researchers need to work out the scale of the problem and how those who need assistance can be helped.
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Article |
Cell-type-resolved mosaicism reveals clonal dynamics of the human forebrain
Using mosaic variant barcode analysis, clonal dynamics of specific cell types are deconvolved in the human forebrain.
- Changuk Chung
- , Xiaoxu Yang
- & Joseph G. Gleeson
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News Feature |
Why loneliness is bad for your health
A lack of social interaction is linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia and more. Researchers are unpicking how the brain mediates these effects.
- Saima May Sidik
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Article
| Open AccessA brain-specific angiogenic mechanism enabled by tip cell specialization
A molecular mechanism for brain-specific angiogenesis operates under the control of Wnt7a/b ligands.
- Giel Schevenels
- , Pauline Cabochette
- & Benoit Vanhollebeke
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Article
| Open AccessAncestral allele of DNA polymerase gamma modifies antiviral tolerance
The POLG1 mutation p.W748S, which is associated with mitochondrial recessive ataxia syndrome, dampens innate immune responses by compromising mtDNA replisome stability, and this explains why a viral infection can trigger the development of the disease and contribute to its variable clinical manifestation.
- Yilin Kang
- , Jussi Hepojoki
- & Anu Suomalainen
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Research Briefing |
Mouse brains respond differently to observed threat and direct danger
Humans and other social animals are highly adept at learning by observing how others interact with the environment, especially when identifying potential sources of danger. In mice, a specific brain region acts as an information-processing hub that distinguishes between observed and directly experienced fear, and signals different behavioural responses accordingly.
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News & Views |
Innate immunity in neurons makes memories persist
A population of neurons that engages mechanisms of the innate immune system during memory formation has been uncovered in mice. Surprisingly, inflammatory signalling might pave the way for long-term memory.
- Benjamin A. Kelvington
- & Ted Abel
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News |
Memories are made by breaking DNA — and fixing it
Nerve cells form long-term memories with the help of an inflammatory response, study in mice finds.
- Max Kozlov
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Nature Podcast |
How climate change is affecting global timekeeping
Melting polar ice could delay major time adjustment, and the strange connection between brain inflammation and memory.
- Elizabeth Gibney
- & Nick Petrić Howe
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Article
| Open AccessFormation of memory assemblies through the DNA-sensing TLR9 pathway
Learning results in persistent double-stranded DNA breaks, nuclear rupture and release of DNA fragments and histones within hippocampal CA1 neurons that, following TLR9-mediated DNA damage repair, results in their recruitment to memory circuits.
- Vladimir Jovasevic
- , Elizabeth M. Wood
- & Jelena Radulovic
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Article
| Open AccessA brainstem–hypothalamus neuronal circuit reduces feeding upon heat exposure
In response to acute thermal challenge, thermosensing glutamatergic neurons of the parabrachial nucleus in mouse brain activate tanycytes, which reduce the excitability of Flt1-expressing dopamine and agouti-related peptide-containing neurons, thus suppressing appetite.
- Marco Benevento
- , Alán Alpár
- & Tibor Harkany
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Research Highlight |
A test for Alzheimer’s-disease stage predicts dementia risk
Levels of a host of molecules in the cerebrospinal fluid reliably assess development of the disease.
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Article |
Motor neurons generate pose-targeted movements via proprioceptive sculpting
Single motor neurons in Drosophila are stimulated to show that they direct head movements towards specific postures rather than generating fixed movement vectors, suggesting that the brain controls movements through a continuing proprioceptive–motor loop.
- Benjamin Gorko
- , Igor Siwanowicz
- & Stephen J. Huston
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News & Views |
Astrocyte cells in the brain have immune memory
The central nervous system’s astrocyte cells respond to injury and disease. The finding that they form molecular memories of certain responses, and that these modify inflammatory signalling, sheds light on autommunity.
- Michael V. Sofroniew
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Research Briefing |
Neuron migration to brain regions key to memory and navigation continues into childhood
This study identifies a major migratory route for young neurons in the brains of young children. This route forms during pregnancy and links the birthplace of these nerve cells to their destination in highly interconnected brain regions that are responsible for memory and spatial processing.
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News |
COVID’s toll on the brain: new clues emerge
A leaky blood–brain barrier and inflammation might account for some of the cognitive symptoms of COVID-19.
- Claudia López Lloreda
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Article |
The hidden fitness of the male zebra finch courtship song
A detailed analysis of male song structure in zebra finches shows how females use particular features of songs as indicators of male quality in species that learn only one song.
- Danyal Alam
- , Fayha Zia
- & Todd F. Roberts
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Article |
Disease-associated astrocyte epigenetic memory promotes CNS pathology
In an experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis model in mice, a subset of astrocytes retains an epigenetically regulated memory of past inflammation, causing exacerbated inflammation upon subsequent rechallenge.
- Hong-Gyun Lee
- , Joseph M. Rone
- & Francisco J. Quintana
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Correspondence |
Three reasons why AI doesn’t model human language
- Johan J. Bolhuis
- , Stephen Crain
- & Andrea Moro
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News & Views |
From the archive: constantly quivering eyes, and chemistry troubles
Snippets from Nature’s past.
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Article |
Structural insights into vesicular monoamine storage and drug interactions
Monoamines and neurotoxicants share a binding pocket in VMAT1 featuring polar sites for specificity and a wrist-and-fist shape for versatility, and monoamine enrichment in storage vesicles arises from dominant import via favoured lumenal-open transition of VMAT1 and protonation-precluded binding during its cytoplasmic-open transition.
- Jin Ye
- , Huaping Chen
- & Weikai Li
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Career Feature |
The neuroscientist formerly known as Prince’s audio engineer
Susan Rogers worked with the legendary singer-songwriter before earning a PhD in her 50s on auditory memory and how we listen to music throughout life.
- Anne Gulland
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Nature Index |
Researchers call for a major rethink of how Alzheimer’s treatments are evaluated
An approach that aims to quantify how long a drug can delay or halt the progression of disease is gathering steam.
- Esther Landhuis
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Article
| Open AccessAPOE4/4 is linked to damaging lipid droplets in Alzheimer’s disease microglia
A microglial state, featuring lipid droplets and secretion of neurotoxic factors, is shown to be most prominent in people with Alzheimer’s disease who have the APOE4 genotype.
- Michael S. Haney
- , Róbert Pálovics
- & Tony Wyss-Coray
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Article
| Open AccessMitochondrial complex I activity in microglia sustains neuroinflammation
Blocking mitochondrial complex I in pro-inflammatory microglia protects the central nervous system against neurotoxic damage and improves functional outcomes in vivo in an animal disease model.
- L. Peruzzotti-Jametti
- , C. M. Willis
- & S. Pluchino
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Article |
Neural signatures of natural behaviour in socializing macaques
Single-neuron and population activity in the macaque prefrontal and temporal cortex robustly encodes 24 species-typical behaviours, reciprocity in social interactions and social support.
- Camille Testard
- , Sébastien Tremblay
- & Michael L. Platt
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Obituary |
Roger Guillemin (1924–2024), neuroscientist who showed how the brain controls hormones
Nobel prizewinner whose discovery of how the brain drives hormone production had far-reaching impacts on studies of metabolism, reproduction and growth.
- Greg Lemke
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Outlook |
Could the gut give rise to alcohol addiction?
Microorganisms in the gut might make a person more vulnerable to substance-use disorders.
- Tammy Worth
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Career Feature |
Communication barriers for a Deaf PhD student meant risking burnout
Megan Majocha is gearing up to complete her PhD. But developing a sign-language lexicon to help her succeed took an immense toll during her scientific research.
- Jyoti Madhusoodanan
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Article
| Open AccessA concerted neuron–astrocyte program declines in ageing and schizophrenia
A synaptic neuron and astrocyte program (SNAP) varies among healthy humans, may shape interindividual differences in synapses and plasticity, and is undermined in schizophrenia and with advancing age.
- Emi Ling
- , James Nemesh
- & Steven A. McCarroll
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Article |
Collective sensing in electric fish
Through modelling, neural recordings and behavioural experiments, a study shows that individual electric fish use electrical pulses of conspecifics to extend their electrolocation range, discriminate objects and increase information transmission.
- Federico Pedraja
- & Nathaniel B. Sawtell
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Article
| Open AccessSubicular neurons encode concave and convex geometries
Longitudinal calcium imaging reveals the ability of corner cells to synchronize their activity with the environment, with the results implying the potential of the subiculum to contain the information required to reconstruct spatial environments.
- Yanjun Sun
- , Douglas A. Nitz
- & Lisa M. Giocomo
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Article
| Open AccessA vagal reflex evoked by airway closure
A specific neural reflex of the vagus nerve is identified that induces gasping in response to airway closure.
- Michael S. Schappe
- , Philip A. Brinn
- & Stephen D. Liberles
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Article
| Open AccessThe molecular basis of sugar detection by an insect taste receptor
A study reports structures of an insect taste receptor in the absence and presence of different sugars, providing details on the molecular basis of sugar detection and selectivity in insects.
- João Victor Gomes
- , Shivinder Singh-Bhagania
- & Joel A. Butterwick
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Correspondence |
Why can’t researchers agree about consciousness? Because it’s all in the mind
- Jose Luis Perez Velazquez
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Article
| Open AccessMultisensory gamma stimulation promotes glymphatic clearance of amyloid
Audio and visual stimulation at 40 Hz promote cerebrospinal and interstitial fluid flux in mouse brain and result in amyloid clearance via the glymphatic system in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease.
- Mitchell H. Murdock
- , Cheng-Yi Yang
- & Li-Huei Tsai
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Article
| Open AccessCrym-positive striatal astrocytes gate perseverative behaviour
In mice, a population of astrocytes in the central striatum, characterized by expression of μ-crystallin, has a role in perseveration phenotypes that are often associated with human neuropsychiatric disorders.
- Matthias Ollivier
- , Joselyn S. Soto
- & Baljit S. Khakh
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News & Views |
Non-neuronal brain cells modulate behaviour
A single gene in astrocytes can constrain repetitive behaviours, indicating that these cells are regulators of behavioural disruption in conditions such as Huntington’s disease and obsessive–compulsive disorder.
- Anna Kruyer
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Research Briefing |
Mechanisms guiding the slow pace of maturation in human neurons uncovered
Nerve cells in the human brain take a remarkably long time to mature. This study identifies an epigenetic ‘barrier’ in neural precursor cells that determines the rate of neuronal maturation and is slowly released during the process. Inhibition of the barrier is shown to accelerate maturation in multiple human stem-cell-based models.
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News & Views |
Synchronized neuronal activity drives waste fluid flow
Active neurons can stimulate the clearance of their own metabolic waste by driving changes to ion gradients in the surrounding fluid and by promoting the pulsation of nearby blood vessels.
- Lauren Hablitz
- & Maiken Nedergaard
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Article |
Neuronal dynamics direct cerebrospinal fluid perfusion and brain clearance
Rhythmic neural activity drives cerebrospinal fluid perfusion through brain parenchyma to enhance brain cleansing.
- Li-Feng Jiang-Xie
- , Antoine Drieu
- & Jonathan Kipnis
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Article |
A patterned human neural tube model using microfluidic gradients
Newly developed microfluidic neural tube-like and forebrain-like structures based on human pluripotent stem cells can model pivotal aspects of neural patterning along both the rostral–caudal and dorsal–ventral axes.
- Xufeng Xue
- , Yung Su Kim
- & Jianping Fu
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Article |
Synaptic wiring motifs in posterior parietal cortex support decision-making
Excitatory pyramidal neurons preferentially target inhibitory interneurons with the same selectivity and, in turn, inhibitory interneurons preferentially target pyramidal neurons with opposite selectivity, forming an opponent inhibition motif that supports decision-making.
- Aaron T. Kuan
- , Giulio Bondanelli
- & Wei-Chung Allen Lee
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Article
| Open AccessWNT signalling control by KDM5C during development affects cognition
The demethylase KDM5C, mutations in which often lead to intellectual disability, is identified as a crucial player in regulating the precise timing of neurodevelopment together with the WNT signalling pathway.
- Violetta Karwacki-Neisius
- , Ahram Jang
- & Yang Shi
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Article
| Open AccessB cells orchestrate tolerance to the neuromyelitis optica autoantigen AQP4
The immune system is tolerized against the neuromyelitis optica autoantigen AQP4 by thymic B cells, which present their endogenous AQP4 to AQP4-reactive thymocytes.
- Ali Maisam Afzali
- , Lucy Nirschl
- & Thomas Korn
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News Feature |
Mind-reading devices are revealing the brain’s secrets
Implants and other technologies that decode neural activity can restore people’s abilities to move and speak — and help researchers to understand how the brain works.
- Miryam Naddaf
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Article
| Open AccessVisuo-frontal interactions during social learning in freely moving macaques
Behavioural tracking and wireless neural and eye-tracking recordings show that freely moving macaques learn to cooprate using visually guided signals along the visual-frontal cortical network.
- Melissa Franch
- , Sudha Yellapantula
- & Valentin Dragoi
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Article
| Open AccessA model of human neural networks reveals NPTX2 pathology in ALS and FTLD
A neural stem cell culture system derived from induced pluripotent stem cells forms a network of synaptically connected and electrophysiologically active neurons that were used as a model system to identify a mechanism of TDP-43-induced neurodegeneration.
- Marian Hruska-Plochan
- , Vera I. Wiersma
- & Magdalini Polymenidou
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