Research Briefing |
Featured
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Nature Podcast |
Audio long read: Why loneliness is bad for your health
New research is revealing the mechanisms linking loneliness and conditions like dementia, depression and cardiovascular disease.
- Saima May Sidik
- & Benjamin Thompson
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News |
Rat neurons repair mouse brains — and restore sense of smell
Scientists develop hybrid mice by filling in missing cells and structures in their brains with rat stem cells.
- Sara Reardon
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Article
| Open AccessAntisense oligonucleotide therapeutic approach for Timothy syndrome
Antisense oligonucleotides effectively decrease the inclusion of exon 8A of CACNA1C in human cells both in vitro and in rodents transplanted with human brain organoids, and a single intrathecal administration rescued both calcium changes and in vivo dendrite morphology of patient neurons.
- Xiaoyu Chen
- , Fikri Birey
- & Sergiu P. Pașca
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Article
| Open AccessWhole-cortex in situ sequencing reveals input-dependent area identity
BARseq interrogates the expression of 104 cell-type marker genes in 10.3 million cells over nine mouse forebrain hemispheres to reveal the role of peripheral inputs on cortical area development.
- Xiaoyin Chen
- , Stephan Fischer
- & Anthony M. Zador
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News |
How to freeze a memory: putting worms on ice stops them forgetting
The model organism Caenorhabditis elegans is quick to forget a notable odour — unless it is chilled or given lithium.
- Julian Nowogrodzki
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News |
Your perception of time is skewed by what you see
Features of a scene such as size and clutter can affect the brain’s sense of how much time has passed while observing it.
- Lilly Tozer
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News |
Do insects have an inner life? Animal consciousness needs a rethink
A declaration signed by dozens of scientists says there is ‘a realistic possibility’ for elements of consciousness in reptiles, insects and molluscs.
- Mariana Lenharo
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News |
Why queasiness kills hunger: brain circuit identified
Feelings of hunger, nausea and fullness seem to be governed by separate brain circuits, finds a study in mice.
- Gillian Dohrn
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Article
| Open AccessControl of working memory by phase–amplitude coupling of human hippocampal neurons
Hippocampal theta–gamma phase–amplitude coupling integrates cognitive control and working memory storage across brain areas in humans.
- Jonathan Daume
- , Jan Kamiński
- & Ueli Rutishauser
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News & Views |
Coupled neural activity controls working memory in humans
How does the human brain temporarily store information without losing track of it? Neuroscientists have discovered that neurons in the frontal and temporal lobes work together to hold information in working memory.
- Ziv Williams
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News & Views |
The sympathetic nervous system arose in the earliest vertebrates
The sympathetic nervous system, which enables the fight-or-flight response, was thought to be present only in jawed vertebrates. Analysis of a jawless vertebrate suggests that this system might be a feature of all animals with a spine.
- Uwe Ernsberger
- & Hermann Rohrer
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Article
| Open AccessNetwork-level encoding of local neurotransmitters in cortical astrocytes
A study investigates subcellular, single-cell and network-level comunication within the astrocyte network in response to the two major neurotransmitter inputs.
- Michelle K. Cahill
- , Max Collard
- & Kira E. Poskanzer
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Article
| Open AccessControl of neuronal excitation–inhibition balance by BMP–SMAD1 signalling
Signalling by the developmental morphogen BMP2 through the transcription factor SMAD1 has a key role in controlling the glutamatergic innervation of parvalbumin-expressing interneurons and maintaining the balance between excitation and inhibition in the mammalian cortex.
- Zeynep Okur
- , Nadia Schlauri
- & Peter Scheiffele
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Article |
Machine learning reveals the control mechanics of an insect wing hinge
Measurements of fly muscle activity using a genetically encoded calcium indicator and high-speed imaging of wing movement were used to construct a model of the insect wing hinge and the role of steering muscles in flight control.
- Johan M. Melis
- , Igor Siwanowicz
- & Michael H. Dickinson
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Nature Podcast |
Keys, wallet, phone: the neuroscience behind working memory
Brain areas work in tandem to temporarily store important information, and an aurora on a cool brown dwarf.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Noah Baker
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Technology Feature |
A milestone map of mouse-brain connectivity reveals challenging new terrain for scientists
A pioneering ‘connectomics’ collaboration has successfully reconstructed one cubic millimetre of brain tissue, but researchers are still just scratching the surface of the complexity it contains.
- Michael Eisenstein
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News |
This fMRI technique promised to transform brain research — why can no one replicate it?
The DIANA technique sparked excitement from neuroscientists. But two new papers have cast doubt over the results.
- McKenzie Prillaman
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Editorial |
What happens when climate change and the mental-health crisis collide?
The warming planet is worsening mental illness and distress. Researchers need to work out the scale of the problem and how those who need assistance can be helped.
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Article |
Cell-type-resolved mosaicism reveals clonal dynamics of the human forebrain
Using mosaic variant barcode analysis, clonal dynamics of specific cell types are deconvolved in the human forebrain.
- Changuk Chung
- , Xiaoxu Yang
- & Joseph G. Gleeson
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News Feature |
Why loneliness is bad for your health
A lack of social interaction is linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia and more. Researchers are unpicking how the brain mediates these effects.
- Saima May Sidik
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Article
| Open AccessA brain-specific angiogenic mechanism enabled by tip cell specialization
A molecular mechanism for brain-specific angiogenesis operates under the control of Wnt7a/b ligands.
- Giel Schevenels
- , Pauline Cabochette
- & Benoit Vanhollebeke
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Article
| Open AccessAncestral allele of DNA polymerase gamma modifies antiviral tolerance
The POLG1 mutation p.W748S, which is associated with mitochondrial recessive ataxia syndrome, dampens innate immune responses by compromising mtDNA replisome stability, and this explains why a viral infection can trigger the development of the disease and contribute to its variable clinical manifestation.
- Yilin Kang
- , Jussi Hepojoki
- & Anu Suomalainen
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Research Briefing |
Mouse brains respond differently to observed threat and direct danger
Humans and other social animals are highly adept at learning by observing how others interact with the environment, especially when identifying potential sources of danger. In mice, a specific brain region acts as an information-processing hub that distinguishes between observed and directly experienced fear, and signals different behavioural responses accordingly.
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News & Views |
Innate immunity in neurons makes memories persist
A population of neurons that engages mechanisms of the innate immune system during memory formation has been uncovered in mice. Surprisingly, inflammatory signalling might pave the way for long-term memory.
- Benjamin A. Kelvington
- & Ted Abel
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News |
Memories are made by breaking DNA — and fixing it
Nerve cells form long-term memories with the help of an inflammatory response, study in mice finds.
- Max Kozlov
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Nature Podcast |
How climate change is affecting global timekeeping
Melting polar ice could delay major time adjustment, and the strange connection between brain inflammation and memory.
- Elizabeth Gibney
- & Nick Petrić Howe
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Article
| Open AccessFormation of memory assemblies through the DNA-sensing TLR9 pathway
Learning results in persistent double-stranded DNA breaks, nuclear rupture and release of DNA fragments and histones within hippocampal CA1 neurons that, following TLR9-mediated DNA damage repair, results in their recruitment to memory circuits.
- Vladimir Jovasevic
- , Elizabeth M. Wood
- & Jelena Radulovic
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Article
| Open AccessA brainstem–hypothalamus neuronal circuit reduces feeding upon heat exposure
In response to acute thermal challenge, thermosensing glutamatergic neurons of the parabrachial nucleus in mouse brain activate tanycytes, which reduce the excitability of Flt1-expressing dopamine and agouti-related peptide-containing neurons, thus suppressing appetite.
- Marco Benevento
- , Alán Alpár
- & Tibor Harkany
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Research Highlight |
A test for Alzheimer’s-disease stage predicts dementia risk
Levels of a host of molecules in the cerebrospinal fluid reliably assess development of the disease.
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Article |
Motor neurons generate pose-targeted movements via proprioceptive sculpting
Single motor neurons in Drosophila are stimulated to show that they direct head movements towards specific postures rather than generating fixed movement vectors, suggesting that the brain controls movements through a continuing proprioceptive–motor loop.
- Benjamin Gorko
- , Igor Siwanowicz
- & Stephen J. Huston
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News & Views |
Astrocyte cells in the brain have immune memory
The central nervous system’s astrocyte cells respond to injury and disease. The finding that they form molecular memories of certain responses, and that these modify inflammatory signalling, sheds light on autommunity.
- Michael V. Sofroniew
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Research Briefing |
Neuron migration to brain regions key to memory and navigation continues into childhood
This study identifies a major migratory route for young neurons in the brains of young children. This route forms during pregnancy and links the birthplace of these nerve cells to their destination in highly interconnected brain regions that are responsible for memory and spatial processing.
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News |
COVID’s toll on the brain: new clues emerge
A leaky blood–brain barrier and inflammation might account for some of the cognitive symptoms of COVID-19.
- Claudia López Lloreda
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Article |
The hidden fitness of the male zebra finch courtship song
A detailed analysis of male song structure in zebra finches shows how females use particular features of songs as indicators of male quality in species that learn only one song.
- Danyal Alam
- , Fayha Zia
- & Todd F. Roberts
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Article |
Disease-associated astrocyte epigenetic memory promotes CNS pathology
In an experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis model in mice, a subset of astrocytes retains an epigenetically regulated memory of past inflammation, causing exacerbated inflammation upon subsequent rechallenge.
- Hong-Gyun Lee
- , Joseph M. Rone
- & Francisco J. Quintana
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Correspondence |
Three reasons why AI doesn’t model human language
- Johan J. Bolhuis
- , Stephen Crain
- & Andrea Moro
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News & Views |
From the archive: constantly quivering eyes, and chemistry troubles
Snippets from Nature’s past.
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Article |
Structural insights into vesicular monoamine storage and drug interactions
Monoamines and neurotoxicants share a binding pocket in VMAT1 featuring polar sites for specificity and a wrist-and-fist shape for versatility, and monoamine enrichment in storage vesicles arises from dominant import via favoured lumenal-open transition of VMAT1 and protonation-precluded binding during its cytoplasmic-open transition.
- Jin Ye
- , Huaping Chen
- & Weikai Li
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Career Feature |
The neuroscientist formerly known as Prince’s audio engineer
Susan Rogers worked with the legendary singer-songwriter before earning a PhD in her 50s on auditory memory and how we listen to music throughout life.
- Anne Gulland
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Nature Index |
Researchers call for a major rethink of how Alzheimer’s treatments are evaluated
An approach that aims to quantify how long a drug can delay or halt the progression of disease is gathering steam.
- Esther Landhuis
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Article
| Open AccessAPOE4/4 is linked to damaging lipid droplets in Alzheimer’s disease microglia
A microglial state, featuring lipid droplets and secretion of neurotoxic factors, is shown to be most prominent in people with Alzheimer’s disease who have the APOE4 genotype.
- Michael S. Haney
- , Róbert Pálovics
- & Tony Wyss-Coray
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Article
| Open AccessMitochondrial complex I activity in microglia sustains neuroinflammation
Blocking mitochondrial complex I in pro-inflammatory microglia protects the central nervous system against neurotoxic damage and improves functional outcomes in vivo in an animal disease model.
- L. Peruzzotti-Jametti
- , C. M. Willis
- & S. Pluchino
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Article |
Neural signatures of natural behaviour in socializing macaques
Single-neuron and population activity in the macaque prefrontal and temporal cortex robustly encodes 24 species-typical behaviours, reciprocity in social interactions and social support.
- Camille Testard
- , Sébastien Tremblay
- & Michael L. Platt
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Obituary |
Roger Guillemin (1924–2024), neuroscientist who showed how the brain controls hormones
Nobel prizewinner whose discovery of how the brain drives hormone production had far-reaching impacts on studies of metabolism, reproduction and growth.
- Greg Lemke
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Outlook |
Could the gut give rise to alcohol addiction?
Microorganisms in the gut might make a person more vulnerable to substance-use disorders.
- Tammy Worth
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Career Feature |
Communication barriers for a Deaf PhD student meant risking burnout
Megan Majocha is gearing up to complete her PhD. But developing a sign-language lexicon to help her succeed took an immense toll during her scientific research.
- Jyoti Madhusoodanan
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Article
| Open AccessA concerted neuron–astrocyte program declines in ageing and schizophrenia
A synaptic neuron and astrocyte program (SNAP) varies among healthy humans, may shape interindividual differences in synapses and plasticity, and is undermined in schizophrenia and with advancing age.
- Emi Ling
- , James Nemesh
- & Steven A. McCarroll
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Article |
Collective sensing in electric fish
Through modelling, neural recordings and behavioural experiments, a study shows that individual electric fish use electrical pulses of conspecifics to extend their electrolocation range, discriminate objects and increase information transmission.
- Federico Pedraja
- & Nathaniel B. Sawtell
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Article
| Open AccessSubicular neurons encode concave and convex geometries
Longitudinal calcium imaging reveals the ability of corner cells to synchronize their activity with the environment, with the results implying the potential of the subiculum to contain the information required to reconstruct spatial environments.
- Yanjun Sun
- , Douglas A. Nitz
- & Lisa M. Giocomo
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