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Huszár et al. show that hippocampal neurons born on the same day share physiological features, take part in the same neuronal assemblies during both waking and sleep and have overlapping place fields. Neurons that are born together, fire together.
Reinhart et al. show that repetitive transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) of unique combinations of rhythmic frequency and stimulation locations produces selective and long-lasting improvements in verbal working memory and long-term memory in older adults.
The structural and functional development of the human cerebellum is not well known. The cerebellum shows a gradient of tissue properties across its lobules, each of which develops at a unique rate and closely follows changes in function across childhood.
Using forward genetics, the authors identified the cholesterol regulator Ptchd1, which controls opioid tolerance by affecting desensitization and trafficking of opioid receptors.
Dräger et al. establish a rapid, scalable platform for iPSC-derived microglia. CRISPRi/a screens uncover roles of disease-associated genes in phagocytosis, and regulators of disease-relevant microglial states that can be targeted pharmacologically.
The mechanisms underlying neuron specification and maturation are unclear. Here the authors provide an integrated epigenomic and transcriptomic analysis of mouse and marmoset neocortical neuronal classes. Pan-neuronal programs active during early development are more evolutionary conserved but not neuron-specific, whereas pan-neuronal programs active during later stages of maturation are more neuron- and species-specific.
Bryois et al. mapped genetic variants regulating gene expression in eight major brain cell types. They found a large number of cell-type-specific genetic effects and leveraged their results to identify novel putative risk genes for brain disorders.
Consumption of excessive high-fat diet (HFD) induces compulsive feeding. Here the authors show HFD-induced microglia activation in the anterior paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus plays a crucial role in promoting compulsive eating behavior.
Mouse models expressing liver apoE in the absence of brain apoE reveal detrimental effects of peripheral apoE4 associated with Alzheimer’s risk on cognition and amyloid pathology through compromising vascular integrity and function.
Kutlu, Zachry, Melugin et al. show that dopamine in the nucleus accumbens core is evoked by novel, neutral stimuli and tracks stimulus familiarity in the absence of valence-based predictions. These signals influence the speed of future learning for familiar stimuli.
The whole-brain organization of functional MRI signals has been studied in myriad ways. An in-depth study of these signals suggests a parsimonious description with a small number of spatiotemporal patterns.
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a common early-onset dementia caused by heterozygous mutations in the progranulin gene (GRN). Gerrits et al. demonstrate blood–brain barrier dysfunction and a severely affected neurovasculature in FTD-GRN.
fMRI reveals similar topography, selectivity and inter-connectedness of language brain areas across 45 languages. These properties may allow the language system to handle the shared features of languages, shaped by biological and cultural evolution.
Kjaerby and Andersen et al. show that norepinephrine (NE) plays profound roles in shaping sleep micro-architecture. NE slowly oscillates during sleep, with NE oscillatory amplitude being a major determinant of spindle-dependent memory consolidation and awakenings.
The authors found that dopamine signals move gradually from time of reward to time of cue through intermediate timepoints, similarly to the evaluation signals used in temporal difference learning. These findings thereby fill a gap between computational theories and the brain.
This work shows a distinct involvement of the meningeal layers in CNS autoimmunity. In animal models and in patients with multiple sclerosis, the leptomeninges were highly inflamed and showed structural changes, while the dura was only marginally affected.
This paper describes a neurotechnology that interacts with neural circuits in the spinal cord to restore arm and hand control after injury. With this implant, monkeys with paralysis recovered the ability to reach and grasp just a few days after injury.
We identified an oligodendrocyte signature associated with brain pathology in the 5xFAD model of amyloidosis, which we termed disease-associated oligodendrocytes. This signature was found to be shared by oligodendrocytes across pathologies.
Single-cell analysis of immune cells from surgically resected human epileptic brain tissues showed heterogeneity and pro-inflammatory signaling in microglia and evidence for direct interaction of microglia with T cells.