Neuroscience 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

    Prokineticin-2 (PK2) is a secreted protein involved in a number of physiological functions. Here, the authors find that PK2 expression increases in surviving DA neurons from Parkinson's disease patients, and show it protects against dopaminergic degeneration in PD mouse models.

    • Richard Gordon
    • , Matthew L. Neal
    •  & Arthi Kanthasamy

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hypothalamic melanocortin-4-receptors (MC4R) regulate food preference in rodents, but their role in humans is unclear. Here, the authors perform food preference and liking tests in humans with MC4R mutations and find that they prefer fatty food more, but sweet food less, than people without MC4R mutations.

    • Agatha A. van der Klaauw
    • , Julia M. Keogh
    •  & I. Sadaf Farooqi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Integration of transplanted photoreceptors into the host retina has been assumed as the underlying mechanism for vision improvement in pre-clinical studies. Here, the authors show that the majority of transplanted photoreceptors do not structurally integrate but exchange intercellular material with host cells.

    • Tiago Santos-Ferreira
    • , Sílvia Llonch
    •  & Marius Ader

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Transplantation of healthy photoreceptor cells has been shown to rescue blindness. Here, the authors show that rather than donor cells integrating into the host retina, the predominant mechanism underlying this rescue involves exchange of cytoplasmic material between donor and host cells in vivo.

    • R. A. Pearson
    • , A. Gonzalez-Cordero
    •  & R. R. Ali

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Decline in sensorimotor skills with age may be due to an overreliance on the prediction of the sensory consequences of one’s actions. Here the authors show that sensorimotor attenuation increases with age, and that this is associated with structural and functional changes in frontostriatal circuits.

    • Noham Wolpe
    • , James N. Ingram
    •  & James B. Rowe

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Piezo ion channels transduce mechanical forces into biological signals. Here, the authors use magnetic tweezers to pull specific regions of Piezo1, identifying mechanically sensitive domains that are essential for channel activation and inactivation.

    • Jason Wu
    • , Raman Goyal
    •  & Jörg Grandl

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mosquitoes use olfactory cues to locate their host. Here, Riabinina et al. use genetic labelling of olfactory receptor neurons in the malaria vector Anopheles gambiaeto show that these neurons project to the antennal lobe, a known insect olfactory centre, and the subesophageal zone, a region previously linked to gustatory processing.

    • Olena Riabinina
    • , Darya Task
    •  & Christopher J. Potter

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Learning and memory are subject to circadian variation, though the molecular mechanisms behind this are unclear. Here, the authors show SCOP, a regulator of hippocampal memory, undergoes circadian changes in CA1 membrane raft dynamics and contributes to time-dependent changes in long-term memory.

    • Kimiko Shimizu
    • , Yodai Kobayashi
    •  & Yoshitaka Fukada

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Dopaminergic neurons are important for regulating energy homeostasis. Here, the authors show the transcription factor FoxO1 negatively regulates tyrosine hydroxylase expression in midbrain dopaminergic neurons, and plays an important role in regulation of glucose homeostasis, energy expenditure, and resistance to diet-induced obesity.

    • Khanh V. Doan
    • , Ann W. Kinyua
    •  & Ki Woo Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The neurotransmitter transporter SERT counter transport K+ to transport serotonin. Here the authors show that the activity of the prokaryotic orthologue LeuT is also modulated by this cation, suggesting a general regulatory role for K+on neutrotrasmitter:sodium symporters function.

    • Christian B. Billesbølle
    • , Jonas S. Mortensen
    •  & Claus J. Loland

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Kainate receptors are selectively found at CA3-mossy fibre synapses, although the mechanisms regulating this compartmentalisation have yet to be determined. Here, the authors find KAR segregation is dependent on the amount of GluK2a protein and an interaction between the GluK2 C-terminal domain and N-cadherin.

    • Sabine Fièvre
    • , Mario Carta
    •  & Christophe Mulle

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Immune system participates in the development of high blood pressure. Here the authors show that cholinergic-sympathetic pathway mediated by the α7nAChR receptor and the activation of splenic T cells prime immunity during hypertension and that selective splenic denervation protects against the onset of hypertension in mice.

    • Daniela Carnevale
    • , Marialuisa Perrotta
    •  & Giuseppe Lembo

  • 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

    The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is involved in changing behavioural strategies. Recording neural ensembles in rats, Powell and Redish find that the requirement for those changes is represented in mPFC before they manifest behaviourally, both in tasks that externally force a change and in tasks with self-determined change.

    • Nathaniel James Powell
    •  & A. David Redish

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Neurodegenerative lesions induce sprouting from surviving axons, but the patterns of re-innervation of these collaterals in relation to existing functional networks remains unclear. Here the authors performed long term in vivoimaging in mice, of sprouts from cerebellar climbing fibers after a lesion, and describe the patterns of connectivity relative to functionally active zones.

    • Matasha Dhar
    • , Joshua M. Brenner
    •  & Hiroshi Nishiyama

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cortical circuits receive simultaneous inputs from multiple pathways and are able to flexibly select the appropriate inputs for processing. Here the authors propose a network model in which dendritic branch-specific disinhibition established through synaptic plasticity achieves pathway-specific gating.

    • Guangyu Robert Yang
    • , John D. Murray
    •  & Xiao-Jing Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Behavioural adaptations in response to stress are thought to be regulated by rapid neurotransmitter action, followed by slower hormonal signalling. Here, using optogenetic approaches, the authors find corticotroph cell populations are capable of rapidly modulating avoidance behaviours immediately after the onset of stress.

    • Rodrigo J. De Marco
    • , Theresa Thiemann
    •  & Soojin Ryu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    α-synuclein, a protein associated to Parkinson's disease, is involved in synaptic vesicle interaction and assembly. Here, the authors use NMR spectroscopy and super-resolution microscopy to unveil the nature and molecular mechanism of α-synuclein-mediated synaptic vesicle clustering.

    • Giuliana Fusco
    • , Tillmann Pape
    •  & Alfonso De Simone

  • Article
    | Open Access

    How different sensory modalities interact to control feeding is poorly understood. Here, authors show that in Drosophila, activation of labellar mechanosensory neurons causes inhibition of sweet-sensing gustatory receptor neurons, as a result, Drosophilaprefer soft food at the expense of sweetness.

    • Yong Taek Jeong
    • , Soo Min Oh
    •  & Seok Jun Moon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The dorsal striatum (DS) is a brain region that is thought to aim actions at certain or known rewards. Here, the authors show that an internal-capsule bordering region of the primate DS signals the uncertainty of object-reward associations, suggesting a novel role for the DS in behavior under uncertainty.

    • J. Kael White
    •  & Ilya E. Monosov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Economic decisions are based on perceived reward value but it is unclear how individual neurons encode value estimates as input for decision mechanisms. Here authors show that dorsolateral prefrontal cortex uses a dynamic value code based on object-specific valuations by single neurons.

    • Ken-Ichiro Tsutsui
    • , Fabian Grabenhorst
    •  & Wolfram Schultz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bitter taste evokes aversive behaviour in animals, but little is known about the central nervous system mechanisms that convey this taste modality. Hückesfeld et al. identify a set of second order neurons in Drosophilathat contain hugin neuropeptide and are responsible for conveying bitter taste to the protocerebrum.

    • Sebastian Hückesfeld
    • , Marc Peters
    •  & Michael J. Pankratz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sensory cortices receive input from cortical cells and the thalamus, yet it is unknown how these inputs interact to generate synchronous activity. Here authors show that unlike cortical inputs, thalamic inputs are asynchronous, suggesting that cortical synchronization is due to intracortical coupling.

    • Katayun Cohen-Kashi Malina
    • , Boaz Mohar
    •  & Ilan Lampl

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Efficient coding suggests that adapting gain to match the varying stimulus statistics should help in optimizing behaviour. Here the authors show that adaptation in motion sensitive neurons maximizes information and improves movement accuracy in pursuit eye movements.

    • Bing Liu
    • , Matthew V. Macellaio
    •  & Leslie C. Osborne

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are differentially expressed across cortical layers, yet it is unclear whether they show layer-specific effects on synaptic plasticity in the prefrontal cortex. Here, the authors compare nAChRs across L6 and L2/3 in human and mouse cortex and find they mediate opposite effects on synaptic plasticity.

    • Matthijs B. Verhoog
    • , Joshua Obermayer
    •  & Huibert D. Mansvelder

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Humans can learn alone or by watching others, strategies which may depend on similar or different neural networks. This study shows that people watching other players in a card game used computations in neurons of their rostral anterior cingulate cortex to learn through observation.

    • Michael R. Hill
    • , Erie D. Boorman
    •  & Itzhak Fried

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Chromosome conformation is a dynamic process, especially in brain. Here, Mitchell and colleagues devise a method they call NeuroDam that can prospectively tag chromosome conformation in the mouse brain in vivo, and longitudinally assess long range chromosome looping weeks and months later.

    • Amanda C. Mitchell
    • , Behnam Javidfar
    •  & Schahram Akbarian

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Retinal waves are important for visual system development. However, the mechanism involved in their generation remains largely unknown. Here using in vivotwo-photon imaging the authors identify the presence of retinal waves in zebrafish larvae and find that they are initiated at bipolar cells via presynaptic NMDARs.

    • Rong-wei Zhang
    • , Xiao-quan Li
    •  & Jiu-lin Du

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mechanism by which adult-born neurons quickly adjust olfactory bulb network functioning is not understood. Here the authors describe a novel form of structural plasticity in which mature spines relocate toward active mitral cell dendrite along spine head filopodia via AMPA and BDNF mediated signalling.

    • Vincent Breton-Provencher
    • , Karen Bakhshetyan
    •  & Armen Saghatelyan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    As vesicles fuse to the plasma membrane, they form intermediate Ω-shaped structures followed by either closure of the pore or full merging with the plasma membrane. Here Wen et al. show that dynamic actin assembly provides membrane tension to promote Ω merging in neuroendocrine cells and synapses.

    • Peter J. Wen
    • , Staffan Grenklo
    •  & Ling-Gang Wu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Microglia contribute to shaping neural circuits in the developing brain. Here, the authors show that microglial contact with pyramidal neuron dendrites induces synapse formation in the developing somatosensory cortex, and ablation of microglia reduces synaptic connections from L4 to L2/3 neurons.

    • Akiko Miyamoto
    • , Hiroaki Wake
    •  & Junichi Nabekura

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Protein phosphatase1 (PP1), a signalling and transcriptional regulator, and epigenetic modulator is known to be a memory suppressor. Here the authors show that memory control by PP1 involves the microRNA cluster miR-183/96/182, and that this cluster is selectively regulated during memory formation in mice.

    • Bisrat T. Woldemichael
    • , Ali Jawaid
    •  & Isabelle M. Mansuy

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Humans as well as many other species have the ability to perceive the number of items, numerosity, but the mechanism by which this is achieved is unclear. Here the authors provide strong evidence in support of a spontaneous perception of numerosity without reliance on density and area estimation.

    • Guido Marco Cicchini
    • , Giovanni Anobile
    •  & David C. Burr

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Human mutations in the NDE1 gene have been associated with cortical malformations and severe microcephaly. Here, the authors show in embryonic rat brains that NDE1-depleted neural progenitors arrest at three specific cell cycle stages before mitosis, resulting in a severe decrease in neurogenesis.

    • David J. Doobin
    • , Shahrnaz Kemal
    •  & Richard B. Vallee

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sleep deprivation is believed to lead to homeostatic increases in synaptic strength and reduced inducibility of associative LTP, based mainly on findings from animal studies. Here, Kuhn et al. demonstrate similar sleep-dependent synaptic plasticity changes in humans along with altered plasma BDNF levels.

    • Marion Kuhn
    • , Elias Wolf
    •  & Christoph Nissen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The influence of context on value-based choice is well established but the neural correlates associated with this remain poorly understood. Here the authors perform fMRI in human subjects and find that the hippocampus and ventral tegmental area/substantia nigra are associated with the degree of influence of context on choice behaviour.

    • Francesco Rigoli
    • , Karl J. Friston
    •  & Raymond J. Dolan

Browse broader subjects

Browse narrower subjects

Browse Neuroscience across other nature.com journals