Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Charlet, Grinevich et al. show that social touch between female rats activates parvocellular oxytocin neurons; these neurons control social behavior by coordinating the responses of the much larger population of magnocellular oxytocin neurons.
Yamaguchi et al. identify a little-known amygdalar region, the posterior amygdala, as a key node in male mouse social behaviors. Two largely non-overlapping subpopulations in the posterior amygdala form parallel projections to distinct hypothalamic regions to regulate mating and fighting.
Giovannoni et al. report that the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a novel host factor exploited by Zika virus and dengue virus to evade the immune response. AHR is a candidate target for the treatment of Zika virus congenital syndrome and dengue fever.
Tamaki et al. measured MRS changes in sleeping humans trained on a visual task. During NREM sleep, learning gains were associated with enhanced visual cortical plasticity that was also seen independent of learning. REM sleep stabilized plasticity only after pre-sleep learning.
The complement–microglia pathway is a key mediator of synapse elimination in development and disease. Cong et al. show that neurons endogenously express a complement inhibitor, SRPX2, that regulates synapse elimination in development.
Kelly et al. describe two cerebellum–thalamus–mPFC pathways in mice that regulate social and repetitive behavior. PC activation in Rcrus1 and posterior vermis improved social and reduced repetitive behaviors, respectively, in PC-Tsc1 mutant mice.
Most studies of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have focused on neuronal mechanisms. Here, the authors describe vascular impairments in a mouse model of 16p11.2 deletion syndrome using physiological and genetic approaches to examine endothelial-dependent phenotypes.
Microglia refine the developing CNS by engulfing excess neurons and synapses. Hughes and Appel here show that microglia also prune myelin sheaths in a neuronal activity-regulated manner to sculpt developmental myelination.
Laszlovszky et al. demonstrate the presence of two types of cholinergic neurons that differ in cellular physiology, coupling with cortical oscillations, synchrony within each group, behavior performance correlates and anatomical distribution.
Lovett-Barron et al. register in situ gene expression to cellular-level neural dynamics in behaving zebrafish and find threat-selective populations spanning multiple hypothalamic peptidergic neuron classes, which converge on brainstem defensive action premotor neurons.
Barbosa, Stein et al. show that rather than operating independently, PFC persistent activity and ‘activity-silent’ mechanisms interact dynamically to produce serial effects in working memory, consistent with attractor models with synaptic plasticity.
Using data from top neuroscience journals, this study finds that women-led work tends to be undercited relative to expectations. This imbalance is driven largely by the citation practices of men and is increasing over time as the field diversifies.
Soden et al. use cell-type-specific retrograde tracing to identify neurotransmitter-specific inputs to the ventral tegmental area, uncovering an underappreciated number of GABAergic inputs with diverse innervation patterns and behavioral functions.
Sasaki et al. demonstrate that neurons in the macaque parietal cortex (ventral intraparietal area) flexibly represent object motion in either a head-centered or world-centered reference frame depending on the requirements of the task.
Mice with AD-like pathology and memory impairments surprisingly have memory engrams in their hippocampus. However, interference with novelty-like cells prevents proper recall, erroneously letting mice perceive a previously learned context as novel.
Andreone, Przybyla et al. used induced pluripotent stem cell-derived human microglia to show that TREM2-dependent phagocytosis and lipid metabolism require the Alzheimer’s risk factor PLCγ2, which can also mediate TREM2-independent inflammatory signaling via Toll-like receptors.
Wimmer et al. show that successful recall of an extended episode of experience in humans is associated with temporally compressed replay of neural patterns associated with the memory, and that the direction of replay depends on task goals.
Cellular imaging reveals that visual cue-evoked activity patterns in visual association cortex are reactivated during subsequent quiet waking. Reactivation rates scale with cue salience and predict next-day changes in functional connectivity and behavior.
An et al. discovered a new brain pathway in mice that conveys light signals from the retina to mood-relevant subcortical nuclei under circadian gating and thereby mediates depressive-like behaviors induced by abnormal nighttime light exposure.
This study elucidates how long-range chromatin loops are altered during short- and long-term changes in neural activity, and analyzes the interplay between the 3D genome and the linear epigenome during activity-dependent transcriptional responses.