Neuroscience articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    STDP is dependent on the timing of pre- and post-synaptic activity. Here, the authors describe a symmetric STDP induction rule at CA3-CA3 synapses, which induces LTP over a broad range of paring intervals. Modelling suggests that this STDP rule may enhance storage capacity and pattern completion in the CA3 cell network.

    • Rajiv K. Mishra
    • , Sooyun Kim
    •  & Peter Jonas

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Physiological effects of psychological stress and infection in mothers can increase the incidence of anxiety and psychiatric diseases in offsprings and in subsequent generation. Here, Miklos Toth and colleagues show that intergenerational inheritance of neurological traits is propagated across multiple generations independently by parallel non-genetic mechanisms involving independent segregation of epigenetic specific loci.

    • Emma Mitchell
    • , Shifra L. Klein
    •  & Miklos Toth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Satellite oligodendrocytes (s-OLs) are characterised by their close proximity to neocortical pyramidal cells. Here, the authors find that s-OLs myelinate axons and activity of host neurons evokes inward K+ currents in s-OLs which may work to modulate action potential burst firing by buffering extracellular K+levels.

    • Arne Battefeld
    • , Jan Klooster
    •  & Maarten H. P. Kole

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Acid-sensing ion channel 3 (ASIC3) is known to play a role in nociception, but its role in low threshold neurosensory mechanotransduction is unclear. Here, the authors target ASIC3 expression in dorsal root ganglion parvalbumin positive neurons and find ASIC3 contributes to dynamic proprioception responses.

    • Shing-Hong Lin
    • , Yuan-Ren Cheng
    •  & Chih-Cheng Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The extent to which non-cerebellar pathways can refine motor performance is debated. Here, the authors demonstrate behaviourally relevant patterns of activation evoke rapid plasticity within direct and indirect vestibulo-ocular reflex pathways in vivo, leading to changes in evoked eye movements.

    • Diana E. Mitchell
    • , Charles C. Della Santina
    •  & Kathleen E. Cullen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    F1FO ATP synthase is a critical enzyme for the maintenance of mitochondrial function. Here the authors demonstrate that loss of the F1FO-ATP synthase subunit OSCP and the interaction of OSCP with Aβ peptide in Alzheimer’s disease patients and mouse models lead to F1FO-ATP synthase deregulation and disruption of synaptic mitochondrial function.

    • Simon J. Beck
    • , Lan Guo
    •  & Heng Du

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Neuropeptide research is challenged by technical difficulties in identifying new bioactive peptides. Here the authors present an analytical pipeline for large-scale peptidomics applied to the rat hypothalamus, identifying thousands of endogenous neuropeptides and their post-translational modifications.

    • Anna Secher
    • , Christian D. Kelstrup
    •  & Jesper V. Olsen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Imaging cellular activity in mouse spinal cord has been historically difficult. Here the authors develop cellular resolution fluorescence imaging approaches in the spinal cord of behaving mice, and report distinct activity patterns of neurons and astrocytes in response to different sensory inputs.

    • Kohei J. Sekiguchi
    • , Pavel Shekhtmeyster
    •  & Axel Nimmerjahn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Humans are often biased in estimating the precise influence of probabilistic events on their decisions. Here, Khorsand and colleagues report a behavioural task that produces these biases in inference and describe a biophysically-plausible model that captures these behavioural deviations from optimal decision making.

    • Alireza Soltani
    • , Peyman Khorsand
    •  & Janet Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hypothalamic neurons expressing melanin-concentrating-hormone (MCH) maintain body weight by orchestrating behaviour and metabolism, but little is known about their intrinsic regulation. Here, Gonzalez and colleagues reveal their behaviour-related dynamics during wakefulness, and map their brain-wide neural inputs.

    • J. Antonio González
    • , Panagiota Iordanidou
    •  & Denis Burdakov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Adult and fetal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (AChRs) have different functional requirements and affinity for ACh. Here, the authors use molecular dynamics and electrophysiology to investigate this affinity, and identify four amino acids that when swapped exchange function between adult and fetal AChRs.

    • Tapan Kumar Nayak
    • , Srirupa Chakraborty
    •  & Anthony Auerbach

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Whole tissue RNA profiling can help identify altered molecular pathways underlying neurodegenerative disease, but often masks cell type-specific transcriptional changes. Here, the authors compare transcriptomes of neurons, astrocytes, and microglia from Alzheimer's disease model brains and identify hundreds of cell-type specific changes.

    • Karpagam Srinivasan
    • , Brad A. Friedman
    •  & David V. Hansen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Inputs to functionally related synapses have been suggested to show cooperative summation, although the rules governing these interactions are unclear. Here, Weber et al. uncover non-linear interactions dependent on NMDAR signalling that vary across the proximal-distal axis of individual dendrites.

    • Jens P. Weber
    • , Bertalan K. Andrásfalvy
    •  & Judit K. Makara

  • 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

    The molecular mechanisms determining the temporal identity patterns of self-renewing progenitors during cerebral development are largely unclear. Here, using single cell transcriptome analyses, the authors find progenitor temporal identity arises independent of cell-cycle progression and Notch activation.

    • Mayumi Okamoto
    • , Takaki Miyata
    •  & Ayano Kawaguchi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Future dramatic rises in dementia are widely reported, assuming no change in incidence. Matthews and colleagues report that, in contrast to such statements, age-specific incidence has dropped over 20 years, with overall incidence of dementia remaining stable in a large multi-site population study from England.

    • F. E. Matthews
    • , B. C. M. Stephan
    •  & G. Forster

  • Article
    | Open Access

    FLRT proteins are known to interact with Lphns and Unc5s, mediating cell adhesion and repulsion respectively. Here the authors use crystallography, native mass spectrometry, molecular dynamics simulations and cell-based assays to show that these three proteins form large super-complexes with functions distinct from their smaller subcomplexes.

    • Verity A. Jackson
    • , Shahid Mehmood
    •  & Elena Seiradake

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The molecular dynamics associated with neuronal activation patterns in vivo are unclear. Lacar et al. perform single-nuclei RNA-sequencing of hippocampal neurons from mice exposed to a novel environment, and identify large-scale transcriptome changes in individual neurons associated with the experience.

    • Benjamin Lacar
    • , Sara B. Linker
    •  & Fred H. Gage

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Surprising events affect ongoing behaviour and cognitive processing, yet the underlying neural mechanisms remain unclear. Wessel and colleagues show that surprise recruits a motor suppression mechanism which may be implemented via the sub-thalamic nucleus and interrupts working memory performance.

    • Jan R. Wessel
    • , Ned Jenkinson
    •  & Adam R. Aron

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The neural mechanisms underlying efficient coding of natural sensory stimuli have yet to be fully determined. Here, monitoring sensory pyramidal cells in weakly electric fish, the authors find SK channels are necessary for matching the responsiveness of neurons to natural stimuli and subsequent behavioural responses.

    • Chengjie G. Huang
    • , Zhubo D. Zhang
    •  & Maurice J. Chacron

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Protein aggregation plays a crucial role in several neurodegenerative diseases. Here the authors demonstrate that phosphorylation of β-amyloid aggregates—the pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease—can change the molecular properties of aggregates, suggesting how phosphorylation contributes to disease progression.

    • Nasrollah Rezaei-Ghaleh
    • , Mehriar Amininasab
    •  & Markus Zweckstetter

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The zero-determinant (ZD) strategies discovered by Press and Dyson overturned several decades of consensus about the iterated prisoner's dilemma. Here, the authors provide the first empirical evidence in support of Press and Dyson’s theory, by showing that knowledge of the opponent and the length of the interaction can facilitate the Generous and Extortionate ZD strategies as predicted.

    • Zhijian Wang
    • , Yanran Zhou
    •  & Bin Xu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Huntington disease (HD) has been linked via biochemical uptake assays to impaired glutamate clearance and resultant excitotoxicity. Here, utilizing a fluorescent reporter, the authors measure real-time glutamate dynamics in mouse model HD brain slices and find normal or even accelerated glutamate clearance.

    • Matthew P. Parsons
    • , Matthieu P. Vanni
    •  & Lynn A. Raymond

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Gliomas are diagnosed by sampling a small portion of the tumour. Here, using multiple samples from tumours, the authors analyse the spatial and temporal distribution of driver mutations revealing that H3K27M mutations arise first in tumorigenesis followed by a specific invariable sequence of driver mutations, which are homogeneously distributed across the tumour mass.

    • Hamid Nikbakht
    • , Eshini Panditharatna
    •  & Javad Nazarian

  • Article
    | Open Access

    There is limited evidence linking learning related changes in hippocampal representations and memory interference. Here Favila and colleagues demonstrate that learning reduces overlap in hippocampal activity patterns corresponding to similar events, which benefits subsequent learning by preventing interference.

    • Serra E. Favila
    • , Avi J. H. Chanales
    •  & Brice A. Kuhl

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding the basis of odour perception and discrimination is a challenging task, due to the inherent complexity of the olfactory system. Here, the authors use a medicinal chemistry approach to derive biologically relevant rules for odorant classification.

    • Erwan Poivet
    • , Zita Peterlin
    •  & Stuart Firestein

  • Article
    | Open Access

    This study presents gene expression responses of cultured brain cells to hundreds of chemicals found in the environment and in food. The authors identified chemicals that induce transcriptomic profiles that overlap those seen in human brains affected with autism, aging, and neurodegeneration.

    • Brandon L. Pearson
    • , Jeremy M. Simon
    •  & Mark J. Zylka

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Acute stress has broad physiological and behavioural consequences, yet the precise factors that generate stress responses are not known. Here, de Berker and colleagues demonstrate that acute stress responses dynamically track environmental uncertainty and predict ability to learn under uncertain threat.

    • Archy O. de Berker
    • , Robb B. Rutledge
    •  & Sven Bestmann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Epileptic brains display inhibitory restraint as manifested by the spread of synchronized activities being delayed in timing. Here, Elliot Smith and colleagues show fast-moving traveling wave that originates from the edge of ictal wavefront with subsequent depolarization and multiunit firing in the seizing brain regions in epileptic patients.

    • Elliot H. Smith
    • , Jyun-you Liou
    •  & Catherine A. Schevon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    BRAG1 mutations are linked to synaptic deficits and X-chromosome linked intellectual disability. Here, the authors show that BRAG1 mediates activity-dependent removal of synaptic AMPA receptors via Arf-GEF activity and PDZ interactions, and is required for maintaining AMPAR-mediated synaptic transmission.

    • Joshua C. Brown
    • , Amber Petersen
    •  & Nashaat Z. Gerges

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Auditory brainstem response (ABR) is used to study temporal encoding of auditory information in music and language. This study utilizes magnetoencephalography to localize both cortical and subcortical origins of the sustained frequency following response (FFR), the ABR component that encodes the periodicity of sound.

    • Emily B. J. Coffey
    • , Sibylle C. Herholz
    •  & Robert J. Zatorre

  • 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

    Synaptotagmin contains tandem Ca2+-binding C2-domains that interact with target membranes to trigger exocytosis. Here, Bai et al. manipulate the relative orientation of these two domains using a synthetic polyproline linker and show that a parallel orientation is most effective for membrane interaction and exocytosis.

    • Hua Bai
    • , Renhao Xue
    •  & Edwin R. Chapman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Astrocytes in the brain are derived from neural precursor cells (NPCs). Here, Motoshi Nagao and colleagues show that the transcription repressor Zbtb20 regulates astrocyte specification in the mouse neocortex.

    • Motoshi Nagao
    • , Toru Ogata
    •  & Yukiko Gotoh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Exposure to childhood trauma is a major risk factor for the development of almost all psychiatric disorders. By epigenome-wide studies, here, Houtepen et al. show that DNA methylation at a locus in the Kit ligand gene (KITLG) mediates the relationship between childhood trauma and cortisol stress reactivity.

    • Lotte C. Houtepen
    • , Christiaan H. Vinkers
    •  & Marco P. M. Boks

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Dentate gyrus (DG) is critical for memory formation in the hippocampus but its role in memory retrieval is unclear. Here, Gross and colleagues, show that granule cells in DG are not required for memory retrieval but for maintenance, and inhibiting them with a drug leads to rapid loss of memory.

    • Noelia Madroñal
    • , José M. Delgado-García
    •  & Agnès Gruart

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Anterior insula (AI) and medial anterior cingulate cortex (mACC) are activated by self and vicarious pain, disgust and fairness, yet the overlap of these representations are not known. Here the authors provide evidence for shared neural codes in the left AI and mACC and distinct codes in the right AI.

    • Corrado Corradi-Dell’Acqua
    • , Anita Tusche
    •  & Tania Singer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The molecular underpinning of autism is unclear. Here the authors show PX-RICS deficient mice exhibit autism-like social behavioural abnormalities and impaired GABAA receptor trafficking, and enhancing inhibitory synaptic transmission with a GABAAreceptor agonist ameliorate the behavioural deficits.

    • Tsutomu Nakamura
    • , Fumiko Arima-Yoshida
    •  & Tetsu Akiyama

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