Central nervous system articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Studies in animal models have visualized drainage of interstitial or cerebrospinal fluid via lymphatic vessels, but there is limited data on in humans. Here, the authors non-invasively visualize lymphatic structures in the human brain, including evidence of lymphatic flow from cranial nerves to cervical lymph nodes, and differences by age and sex, without use of contrast agents.

    • Mehmet Sait Albayram
    • , Garrett Smith
    •  & Onder Albayram
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The authors introduce PharmacoSTORM single-molecule imaging that uses fluorescent ligands and immunolabeling for cellular and subcellular nanoscale molecular pharmacology. They demonstrate its capabilities by visualizing cariprazine binding to D3 dopamine receptors on Islands of Calleja granule cell axons.

    • Susanne Prokop
    • , Péter Ábrányi-Balogh
    •  & István Katona
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Differences in thalamic structure have been observed in several psychiatric disorders, but the genetic overlap has not been explored. Here, the authors perform a genome-wide association study on thalamic nuclei volume and find genetic loci in common between thalamic volumes and brain disorders.

    • Torbjørn Elvsåshagen
    • , Alexey Shadrin
    •  & Tobias Kaufmann
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Extravasated erythrocytes in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) contribute to the pathogenesis of subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH). Here, the authors show that meningeal lymphatics drain extravasated erythorcytes and that blockage of this drainage aggravates SAH severity.

    • Jinman Chen
    • , Linmei Wang
    •  & Yongjun Wang
  • Article
    | Open Access

    The evolution of the brain in Old World monkeys (cercopithecoids) is poorly understood. Here the authors describe a complete endocast of Victoriapithecus, a 15 Myr old cercopithecoid, which shows that the brain size was much smaller and the olfactory bulbs much larger than in any extant catarrhine primate.

    • Lauren A. Gonzales
    • , Brenda R. Benefit
    •  & Fred Spoor
  • Article |

    Encephalization—increase of brain size relative to body size—has occurred in two distinct evolutionary lineages; Neanderthals and modern humans. However, the 3D endocranial surface shape analysis reported here reveals unique structures at the base of the brain inHomo sapiens, which may have contributed to learning and social capacities.

    • Markus Bastir
    • , Antonio Rosas
    •  & Jean-Jacques Hublin
  • Article |

    Vocal communication is relatively common among fish: the midshipman being an example with a particularly wide dynamic range. In this paper, the authors demonstrate that different populations of hindbrain neurons are responsible for the frequency and duration of these calls.

    • Boris P. Chagnaud
    • , Robert Baker
    •  & Andrew H. Bass
  • Article
    | Open Access

    Circadian rhythm is controlled by the suprachiasmatic nucleus and the mechanisms that control the rhythm are largely undiscovered. In this study, a G protein regulator, RGS16, is shown to be involved in the production of cyclic AMP that is required for the suprachiasmatic nucleus to maintain rhythm

    • Masao Doi
    • , Atsushi Ishida
    •  & Hitoshi Okamura
  • Article |

    Pair-wise electrophysiology is difficult inCaenorhabditis elegansbecause the recordings are relatively short-lived. In this study, the authors investigate the synaptic currents associated with escape responses by immobilizing worms on a micropatterned agar substrate and stimulating neurons using channelrhodopsin-2.

    • Theodore H. Lindsay
    • , Tod R. Thiele
    •  & Shawn R. Lockery
  • Article |

    The spinal V2a interneurons control left–right limb alternation during mouse locomotion, but only at high frequencies. In this study, the authors show that only half of these neurons are active during locomotion, and that they receive increasing synaptic drive to increase their activity as locomotion accelerates.

    • Guisheng Zhong
    • , Kamal Sharma
    •  & Ronald M. Harris-Warrick