Neuroscience articles within Nature

Featured

  • Article |

    Colour perception arises from the comparison of signals from different cone types, but how these inputs are combined by ganglion cells, which transmit the output of the retina, has been an issue of contention. Using large-scale multi-electrode arrays and fine-grained visual stimulation, these authors map out the locations and types of single-cone inputs to entire populations of ganglion cells, resulting in input–output maps at an unprecedented resolution and scale.

    • Greg D. Field
    • , Jeffrey L. Gauthier
    •  & E. J. Chichilnisky

  • Muse |

    The emotions teeming inside the works of the Romantic composers may have neurological explanations, as a recent meeting explored. Philip Ball tuned in.

    • Philip Ball

  • Letter |

    In the adult brain, neural stem cells (NSCs) and neural progenitor cells (NPCs) are maintained in the subventricular zone. There, the Notch protein regulates the identity and self-renewal of NSCs, while epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) affects NPC proliferation and migration. Now it is found that these signalling pathways interact to maintain the balance between NSC and NPC populations.

    • Adan Aguirre
    • , Maria E. Rubio
    •  & Vittorio Gallo

  • News |

    Repetitive neural responses may enhance recall of faces and words.

    • Janelle Weaver

  • Letter |

    In eukaryotic cells, a subset of microtubules undergo post-translational modifications such as acetylation, which alters microtubule dynamics and trafficking of motors. These authors identify MEC-17 as the enzyme that directly acetylates α-tubulin in vitro and in vivo and in both invertebrates and vertebrates. This is the identification of the long-sought enzyme that acetylates microtubules.

    • Jyothi S. Akella
    • , Dorota Wloga
    •  & Jacek Gaertig

  • News Feature |

    Can epigenetics underlie the enduring effects of a mother's love? Lizzie Buchen investigates the criticisms of a landmark study and the controversial field to which it gave birth.

    • Lizzie Buchen

  • Column |

    Whether money can bring contentment depends on your definition of 'happy', says Philip Ball.

    • Philip Ball

  • Article |

    Neurons of the peripheral nervous system need survival factors to prevent their death during development. Most in the central nervous system do not. Why are peripheral neurons so needy? Here it is shown that the neurotrophin receptors TrkA and TrkC, expressed at high levels by many peripheral nervous system neurons, behave as dependence receptors: they instruct neurons to die if there is no ligand around. By contrast, TrkB, expressed mainly in the central nervous system, does not signal death in the absence of ligand.

    • Vassiliki Nikoletopoulou
    • , Heiko Lickert
    •  & Yves-Alain Barde

  • Article |

    The causes of the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are poorly understood, although the protein TDP-43 seems to be involved. These authors show that the polyglutamine-containing protein ataxin 2 interacts with TDP-43 and is a potent modifier of TDP-43 toxicity. Moreover, intermediate-length polyglutamine expansions in the ataxin 2 gene significantly associate with ALS. These data establish the ataxin 2 gene as a new and relatively common ALS disease susceptibility gene.

    • Andrew C. Elden
    • , Hyung-Jun Kim
    •  & Aaron D. Gitler

  • News & Views |

    Coat proteins of vesicles involved in intracellular membrane trafficking have closely related molecular architectures. The structure of COPI extends known similarities, and strengthens the case for a common evolutionary origin.

    • Stephen C. Harrison
    •  & Tomas Kirchhausen

  • News & Views |

    Aggregates and mutations of the proteins ataxin-2 and TDP-43 have been implicated in distinct neurodegenerative disorders. An interplay between these proteins is now reported for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

    • Clotilde Lagier-Tourenne
    •  & Don W. Cleveland

  • Letter |

    Mapping disease loci that underlie putative Mendelian forms of malformations of cortical development is complicated by genetic heterogeneity, small family sizes and diagnostic classifications that may not reflect molecular pathogenesis. These authors use whole-exome sequencing to identify recessive mutations in WDR62 as the cause of a wide spectrum of severe cerebral cortical malformations. WDR62's nuclear localization to germinal neuroepithelia indicates that cortical malformations can be caused by events during progenitor proliferation and neurogenesis.

    • Kaya Bilgüvar
    • , Ali Kemal Öztürk
    •  & Murat Günel

  • Brief Communications Arising |

    • Nina Veselka
    • , David D. McErlain
    •  & M. Brock Fenton

  • Brief Communications Arising |

    • Juha Laurén
    • , David A. Gimbel
    •  & Stephen M. Strittmatter

  • News & Views |

    Some people are naturally more anxious than others. A brain-imaging study in monkeys provides surprising insights into which brain regions are under the influence of genes in this phenomenon and which are not.

    • Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg

  • News & Views |

    Some genes exclusively express only their maternal or paternal copy. Studies of the brain extend the list of such imprinted genes by an order of magnitude, highlighting their spatial and temporal regulation.

    • Eric B. Keverne

  • News |

    Canadian scientists vindicated after being accused of mistreating laboratory animals.

    • Janelle Weaver

  • Letter |

    LRRK2 activity is dysregulated in Parkinson's disease, but how it contributes to the pathogenesis is unknown. These authors show that Drosophila LRRK2 interacts with the Argonaute component (dAgo1) of the RNA-induced silencing complex. This is associated with reduced levels of dAgo1, interaction between phospho-4E-BP1 and hAgo2, and impairment of microRNA-mediated repression. This leads to overexpression of the cell cycle genes e2f1 and dp, and consequent degeneration of dopaminergic neurons.

    • Stephan Gehrke
    • , Yuzuru Imai
    •  & Bingwei Lu

  • Article |

    The appropriate initiation and termination of behavioural action sequences is imperative, but the neural mechanisms underlying the learning and execution of fixed behavioural patterns are poorly understood. Here the authors reveal start/stop neuronal activity in basal ganglia circuits that emerge during task training in mice. Genetically altering these circuits disrupted the activity and impaired performance, providing evidence for a causal relationship between the specific neuronal activity and task learning.

    • Xin Jin
    •  & Rui M. Costa

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