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Loss of inhibition in a circuit in the primary somatosensory cortex that controls the activity of layer 5 neurons drives pain hypersensitivity. Restoring this inhibition resets the inhibitory–excitatory balance, producing analgesia.
Most thalamic research has focused on sensory transmission. Now three independent groups reveal the thalamus to be critical in behaviors linked to frontal cortex and the maintenance of persistent cortical activity during delays.
Disruption of retinal direction selectivity reveals both peripheral and central computations contributing to direction selectivity in mouse visual cortex. These mechanisms work together to better encode motion directions and speeds.
The checkpoint pathway consisting of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and its receptor, PD-1, modulates immune function in cancer and infection, but unexpectedly, it also silences pain signals in nerves.
A computational model explains how memories of past rewards guide value-based choices. Incorporating behavioral and functional MRI evidence, the findings indicate that 'sampling' from individual memories of past rewards influences choices.
Keeping a picture in mind requires many brain cells to actively communicate ... or does it? There might be more to working memory than neuronal chatter, and silent processes could be hiding right beneath the surface.
Microglia are highly heterogeneous and plastic. However, the dynamics of their turnover have been difficult to visualize. A new multicolor reporter system reveals a plastic but stable network of microglia during health and disease.
Two groups demonstrate the importance of inputs from the amygdala to the medial prefrontal cortex for signaling aversion across a range of behaviors and motivational drives.
Manipulating the activity of a subpopulation of external globus pallidus neurons with optogenetic deep brain stimulation ameliorates motor deficits in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease.
Technical advances in calcium imaging enable the first tests of classic theories of cerebellar learning. Two independent groups reveal dense representation of surprising modalities in cerebellar granule cells.
A study combines monkey behavioral testing with electrical stimulation of face patches, located with functional MRI and studied electrophysiologically, to probe the behavioral relevance of the face patches' selectivity.
α-Synuclein is present at high levels in all neurons and their synapses. We now learn that this protein helps dilate the fusion pore, which forms transiently during vesicle exocytosis, promoting release of certain neurotransmitters.
Capillary endothelial cells sense neuronal activity-evoked increases in extracellular K+ via KIR2.1 inwardly rectifying K+ channels. The ensuing hyperpolarization travels upstream along the vascular network, reaching arterioles and evoking vasodilation.
Hippocampal place cells are traditionally thought to represent locations where animals currently are or predict where they are headed. However, new results reveal that place cells also represent distant places that are actively avoided.
Addictive substances hijack the reward system partly via synaptic plasticity onto dopamine neurons. Cadherins may contribute to cocaine-evoked adaptations, supporting the notion that drug addiction is a synaptic disease.
The rate of development of the brain connectome distinguishes adolescents with and without psychiatric symptoms. Those with symptoms exhibit delayed development of connectome distinctiveness as compared to healthy adolescents.
Many people still associate brain glucose metabolism with neurons. A new report shows that stimulation of astrocytic glutamate uptake increases glucose utilization, suggesting that astrocytes play a major role in the glucose uptake signal. However, this still reflects synaptic activity.
A catalog of the cells found in the hypothalamic arcuate–median eminence complex provides insights into genome-wide association studies of complex traits
To learn from others' experience, one must link environmental conditions with social cues. A specific amygdala circuit underlies social learning of fear, and targeted activation normalizes behavior in a rodent model of autism.
McHenry and colleagues delineate a neural circuit controlling female sexual behavior. These experiments shed light on how the brain optimizes reproductive behavior to coincide with phases of peak fertility.
