Reviews & Analysis

Changes in blood–brain barrier (BBB) properties and endocannabinoid system function contribute to stress responses and have been implicated in the development of mood disorders. Here, we report a mechanism linking both systems, in which neurovascular endocannabinoids prevented loss of BBB integrity induced by stress-related inflammation, resulting in stress resilience.

Emerging evidence highlights the dual role of oligodendrocytes in Alzheimer’s disease, both providing protective mechanisms against the pathology and contributing to its progression.

During the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease (PD), α-synuclein pathology may originate in peripheral organs and spread to the CNS. Using human tissue samples and multiple approaches in mouse models of renal failure, we demonstrated that the kidney serves as an origin of pathological α-synuclein in PD.

Our brains evolved to help us rapidly learn new things. But anyone who has put in hours of practice to perfect their tennis serve, only to reach a plateau, can attest that our brains aren’t infinitely flexible. New work shows that patterns of neural activity over time — the temporal dynamics of neural populations — cannot change rapidly, suggesting that neural activity dynamics may both reflect and constrain how the brain performs computations.

This article discusses a puzzling issue in brain pathology: why brain-resident microglia are insufficient for protection, and why myeloid cells are needed from the periphery. Several strategies are proposed to enhance their recruitment to the brain.

Mice react differently to others’ stress depending on their own past experience of the same (but not different) stress. Corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) neuron activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) specifically modulates the influence of affective past experience on emotional reactions to others, which was estrus-dependent in females and dominance-dependent in males.

Simultaneous intracranial electroencephalographic recordings from individuals playing a dynamic cooperation game reveal unique neural profiles of high-gamma intra-brain activity and inter-brain synchronization in the temporoparietal junction and the amygdala.

Individual variability in behavior is influenced by social identities. Here, Dhamala et al. discuss the need to incorporate social identities in neuroimaging studies of behavior and explore how to foster inclusivity in research.

Methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2) is a chromatin regulator whose loss of function causes Rett syndrome. It has been unclear how the gene-expression changes caused by loss of MeCP2 relate to the protein’s DNA-binding sites. New work uses the ‘CUT&RUN’ technique to identify DNA-binding sites that are largely devoid of methylation — a modification known to recruit MeCP2 to DNA.

After long-term heat exposure, a discrete group of hypothalamic neurons in the anterior ventromedial preoptic area become hyperactive and acquire temperature sensitivity. This reversible plasticity mechanism renders mice heat tolerant, meaning they can keep their body temperature within physiological limits when ambient temperatures are high.

This comprehensive review of amygdala intercalated cells (ITCs) proposes a revised model of ITCs as a highly coordinated system that integrates diverse inputs to orchestrate brain-wide networks and shape behavioral states.

How microglia sculpt brain circuits is not clear. Here, the authors propose that their contribution to synapse removal may occur by severing synapses (culling) or collecting synapses shed off by neurons (scavenging).

Reward signaling via dopamine is most commonly thought of as acting through neurons expressing either D1 or D2 dopamine receptors. Enriquez-Traba et al. show that neurons in the ventral striatum co-express D1 and D3 receptors, which they use to signal dissociable aspects of reward.

This review provides an overview of analysis and experimental design of single-cell omics in the brain, emphasizing epigenomics and spatial omics. The authors discuss how the computational and experimental designs are interlinked, with both being guided by the biological questions.

This Review provides insights for construction of molecular cell atlases and outlines key study design considerations. The authors emphasize the power of single-cell and single-nucleus genomics in revealing cellular transitions during nervous system development and disease.

Single-cell or single-nucleus RNA-sequencing experiments form a basis for biological insights about cell types and states, but they require orthogonal experiments to confirm the functional relevance of their findings. Here the authors discuss options to support such findings and their challenges.

Vishwanathan and colleagues have reconstructed the wiring diagram of a brainstem circuit that controls gaze in zebrafish. The authors describe an unexpected modular network organization and mechanistic insights into network function.

The cerebral cortex shows complex organization across diverse biological scales, from regional chemical and cellular specializations to macroscale functional networks. Zhang et al. report that macroscopic neuroimaging maps of cortical activity align with microscopic cellular features: sensory and association regions define opposing extremes for both. The consistent identification of a sensory–association axis across multiple scales and analytic approaches underscores it as a fundamental organizational principle that raises new challenges for the field.

The CaMKII holoenzyme was long thought to mediate memory storage via an autophosphorylation reaction that occurs between its subunits at Thr286 (pThr286). This Perspective explains shortcomings of earlier models and provides an updated view.

We used single-soma deep RNA sequencing to generate a high-resolution atlas of human somatosensory dorsal root ganglion neurons. This work revealed human-specific molecular features, pain-sensing neuron types, properties of sensory fibers, and potential therapeutic targets, which inform understanding of human somatosensory mechanisms and could facilitate improved success in translational research.