News & Comment

Species-dependent regulation of plexin A1 signalling may underlie the elimination and retention of cortico–motor neuronal contacts in developing mice and in developing primates, respectively.

Hypothalamic neural stem cells may be important regulators of the speed at which ageing proceeds in mice.

The likelihood of winning a bout of competitive behaviour is increased by past wins, and the neural circuitry underlying this crucial determinant of social rank in a group of mice is identified as a projection from the mediodorsal thalamus to the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex.

This study provides evidence for a role for the thalamus in the synchronization of brain rhythms that drive memory consolidation during sleep.

Two major components of depression-like behaviour in mice — social avoidance and helplessness — are mediated by distinct circuits that include parvalbumin-expressing neurons in the ventral pallidum.

In mice, hypothalamic agouti-related peptide-expressing neurons modulate food-cue-associated insular cortex activity to influence behaviour.

The development of chronic neuropathic pain is associated with cortical hyperexcitability and a marked decrease in inhibition, particularly from cortical somatostatin-expressing interneurons.

Enterochromaffin cells in the gut epithelium act as chemosensors and can modulate neural function in response to intestinal signals.

In mice, postnatal stress leads to long-lasting changes in transcription in the ventral tegmental area, sensitizing the brain to stress later in life.

Calcitonin gene-related peptide-expressing neurons in the external parabrachial nucleus can drive cancer-induced anorexia in mice.

Fragments of the protein α-synuclein, which accumulates in substantia nigra neurons in Parkinson disease, are expressed on the surface of these substantia nigra neurons and induce a form of autoimmunity that could account for the degeneration of these cells in the disease.

Water in the external environment is detected by acid-sensing taste receptor cells via a carbonic anhydrase 4-mediated pH change.