Browse Articles

Multimodal transcriptomics unveil the molecular dynamics of neural stem cells and their surrounding niche in the aging mouse hippocampus and provide a resource to understand age-related molecular changes.

Nguyen et al. identify TDP-43 and METTL3 as key regulators of disrupted RNA splicing in Huntington’s disease, offering insight into how TDP-43 mislocalization and aberrant m6A RNA modification and localization relate to disease pathogenesis.

The brain uses different valuation schemes across contexts. Elston and Wallis show this is supported by hippocampal encoding of context that is broadcast to prefrontal value subcircuits via theta synchronization.

Hehlert et al. report that the gating spring that pulls open mechanosensitive NOMPC channels is not their helical ankyrin tether, but instead an elastic hinge that suspends that tether on the channel gate.

This article discusses a puzzling issue in brain pathology: why brain-resident microglia are insufficient for protection, and why myeloid cells are needed from the periphery. Several strategies are proposed to enhance their recruitment to the brain.

Microglia are proposed to have a role in brain development through synaptic engulfment and paracrine signaling. O’Keeffe et al. show that certain neurodevelopmental processes attributed to microglia can proceed normally even in the absence of these cells.

Mice react differently to others’ stress depending on their own past experience of the same (but not different) stress. Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) neuron activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) specifically modulates the influence of affective past experience on emotional reactions to others, which was estrus-dependent in females and dominance-dependent in males.

Simultaneous intracranial electroencephalographic recordings from individuals playing a dynamic cooperation game reveal unique neural profiles of high-gamma intra-brain activity and inter-brain synchronization in the temporoparietal junction and the amygdala.

This study shows that cerebellar Bergmann glia process noxious stimuli by integrating signals from the locus coeruleus. This mechanism modulates pain-related behaviors. These findings provide insight into cerebellar involvement in pain processing.

Individual variability in behavior is influenced by social identities. Here, Dhamala et al. discuss the need to incorporate social identities in neuroimaging studies of behavior and explore how to foster inclusivity in research.

Mice expressing humanized mutant tau exhibit synaptic loss and behavioral abnormalities in the absence of abnormal tau conformers, suggesting that hyperphosphorylated tau can be pathological, at least in tauopathies caused by tau isoform imbalance.

The trans-Tango genetic strategy, which mediates signaling across synapses, was adapted to identify neural connections in a vertebrate nervous system, with synaptic partners confirmed in the retina and spinal cord of larval zebrafish.

In recent years, valuable mRNA-based developmental atlases of the mouse brain have been made available. Here, the authors use single-cell mass cytometry to build a protein-based single-cell profiling of the developing embryonic and postnatal mouse brain.

Methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2) is a chromatin regulator whose loss of function causes Rett syndrome. It has been unclear how the gene-expression changes caused by loss of MeCP2 relate to the protein’s DNA-binding sites. New work uses the ‘CUT&RUN’ technique to identify DNA-binding sites that are largely devoid of methylation — a modification known to recruit MeCP2 to DNA.

After long-term heat exposure, a discrete group of hypothalamic neurons in the anterior ventromedial preoptic area become hyperactive and acquire temperature sensitivity. This reversible plasticity mechanism renders mice heat tolerant, meaning they can keep their body temperature within physiological limits when ambient temperatures are high.

Using intracranial recordings in pairs of humans cooperating in interactive games, this study shows fine-grained cooperation dynamics featured by state-dependent motives and the intrabrain and interbrain profiles of high-gamma activity in the amygdala and temporoparietal junction.

This comprehensive review of amygdala intercalated cells (ITCs) proposes a revised model of ITCs as a highly coordinated system that integrates diverse inputs to orchestrate brain-wide networks and shape behavioral states.

Duplication of the MECP2 gene (encoding methyl-CpG-binding protein 2) causes MECP2 duplication syndrome. Here the authors develop a Cas13Y system capable of targeting the MECP2 mRNA for degradation and reducing protein levels in the brain of humanized MECP2-transgenic mice and nonhuman primates.