Browse Articles

The neuronal composition of the intestinal submucosal plexus is incompletely understood. Here Li et al. define their neuron classes, connectome and stepwise acquisition of identities.

How does the brain learn to predict rewards? In this issue of Nature Neuroscience, Qian, Burrell et al. show that understanding how dopamine guides learning requires knowledge of how animals interpret tasks — what they believe is happening and when. By carefully manipulating cue–reward contingencies, the authors show that dopamine responses track belief-state reward prediction errors. These findings reaffirm — against recent challenges — that mesolimbic dopamine neurons signal prediction errors in line with the temporal difference learning rule, a core algorithm that bridges neuroscience and artificial intelligence.

The choroid plexus (ChP) provides molecular cues for brain development. However, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. This study identifies an apocrine secretion mechanism in the ChP that modulates the CSF protein composition and instructs cortical development.

Animals need to adapt behavior to balance survival with fulfillment of essential needs. Krauth et al. identify neurons in the lateral hypothalamus that, when activated, prioritize survival over other critical needs by triggering an appropriate motor action.

Parhizkar et al. show that lemborexant, an orexin receptor antagonist, protects against neurodegeneration in male tau transgenic mice by preventing tau protein build-up and inflammation, highlighting its potential for preventing neurodegeneration.

The microglia–neuron interactions contributing to neuronal hyperexcitability are unclear. Here, the authors show how GABA and C3 signaling coordinate microglial engulfment of inhibitory synapses, driving excitatory–inhibitory imbalance and neuronal hyperexcitability in epilepsy.

Rogers et al. show that psilocybin enhances fear extinction, suppresses fear neurons and recruits extinction neurons in the retrosplenial cortex in mice, providing evidence that its effects are linked to individual-neuron reorganization.

Aging induces pathological changes in central nervous system (CNS) myelin, which in turn induce microglia dysregulation. What is the consequence of this microglial response on white matter pathology in aging? Groh et al. show that a maladaptive white matter-associated microglia state that emerges in aging recruits peripheral T cells to the CNS, which leads to degeneration of myelinated axons and loss of function.

White matter aging leads to degenerative and inflammatory changes. Here the authors show that microglial dysfunction exacerbates glial CXCL10 expression, harmful CD8⁺ T cell recruitment, myelinated axon damage and functional decline in aging mice.

Sankowski and Prinz propose a classification framework for microglia states that considers the contextual plasticity of microglia. Their multimodal classification aligns a robust terminology with biological function and cellular context.

How sensory signals from both sides of the body are integrated into a single percept is not well understood. Park et al. show that callosal signaling supports the integration of bilateral tactile stimuli in a state- and task-dependent manner.

Employing pharmacology, genetics and all-optical approaches in zebrafish, Braaker et al. find that neuronal activity influences the growth of myelin sheaths along axons by signaling through metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 on oligodendrocytes.

The authors describe a susceptibility of the peripheral nervous system to neuronal senescence with age or injury relevant for sensory dysfunction, such as chronic pain.

Social status mediates individual differences in methamphetamine-seeking by modulating dopaminergic pathways. In subordinate rodents, the mesolimbic pathway is stronger, and the mesocortical pathway is weaker, whereas dominant rodents show the opposite pattern.

Neuron-specific DNA methylation and intragenic enhancers target the Rett syndrome protein methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 to regulate genes that delineate closely related neuron types, suggesting breakdown of fine-scale neuronal specification in developmental disorders.

Widespread, slow fluctuations in brain blood flow detected via functional MRI and neural activity are integrated with systemic physiological dynamics across the body. We showed this brain–body integration associates with the arousal response orchestrated by the autonomic nervous system.

The brain and body are necessarily connected. Here the authors show that brain blood flow and electrical activity are coupled with systemic physiological changes in the body.