News & Views in 2020

A new study reveals that maternal immune activation promotes sex-biased activation of the integrated stress response in the developing mouse brain and that this mechanistically contributes to the onset of autism-related behaviors uniquely in male offspring.

A new study proposes an exciting new model of neuronal diversification in the developing enteric nervous system (ENS) and establishes a detailed molecular taxonomy for enteric neurons. Their findings open new horizons for ENS research and for developing cell-based therapies for ENS disorders.

One of the mechanisms driving aging and neurodegenerative diseases is the accumulation of senescent cells, while their elimination mitigates age-related decline. A new report details how, with aging, changes in the dentate gyrus microenvironment lead to natural-killer-cell-mediated clearance of neurogenic senescent cells, resulting in cognitive decline.

Network neuroscientists envision the brain as a network of nodes (regions) linked via edges (connections). A long-held assumption is that node-centric interactions are the primary phenomena of interest. Faskowitz et al. introduce a novel edge-centric framework with the potential to usher in a new era of discovery in connectomics research.

Chiot and colleagues investigated whether peripheral macrophages play a role in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) pathology, finding that macrophages along peripheral motor neuron axons react to neurodegeneration. Modifying reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling in peripheral macrophages, using bone marrow cell replacement, reduces both macrophage and microglia inflammatory response, delays pathology and increases survival in ALS mouse models.

By building a richer behavioral vocabulary, Wiltschko et al. tease apart subtle differences in how pharmacological agents affect animal behavior, mapping on- and off-target effects of drugs with improved precision.

Abrupt spatial changes in anatomic and functional properties of the brain demarcate boundaries between discrete functional areas. While previous work has identified these boundaries in cortex, a new study by Tian et al. applies this approach for the first time to subcortical structures within the in vivo human brain.

A new study shows that, immediately after axon injury, glycolysis is increased in Schwann cells to provide axons with energy and prevent them from degenerating. The authors also identify possible therapeutic targets that could be modulated to promote axonal protection.

Sleep is controlled by a cocktail of neurotransmitters, but it is difficult to measure these in the brain. A new study by Tamaki et al. reveals how the balance between excitation and inhibition oscillates as the brain moves through sleep stages and how this impacts upon memory consolidation and stabilization.

Pathological tau disrupts the association between nitric oxide (NO) synthase and PSD95, impairing NO signaling and neurovascular coupling before causing neurodegeneration. Stopping production of pathological tau rescues NO signaling, neurovascular coupling and neuronal function, but doesn’t remove tangles, suggesting that (like amyloid-β) soluble tau is an important driver of early neurovascular dysfunction and subsequent neuronal damage.

A new technique developed by Garcia-Marques and colleagues uses CRISPR–Cas9 editing to activate an ordered sequence of fluorescent markers in stem cells and their progeny. These tools represent a new way to probe the spatial and temporal patterns of cell lineage progression.

Following learning, memories for events are reorganized in a time-dependent manner in distributed hippocampal–cortical networks. While previous studies have focused on neural contributions to this process of systems consolidation, a new study by Kol et al. reveals that astrocytes play crucial modulatory roles in the formation of remote memories.

Poll and colleagues examined the historical activity of hippocampal CA1 neurons during learning and memory recall using longitudinal two-photon in vivo imaging, providing evidence that extra neural ensemble activity disrupts memory recall in a mouse model of early Alzheimer’s disease.

Citation count has become one of the most important methods to evaluate a scientist’s contributions. In an extensive analysis of citations from a number of leading neuroscience journals, Dworkin and colleagues find evidence of gender bias in citation practices that can have an adverse impact on women’s careers.

Our light environment can strongly influence our mental health. Kai An and colleagues dissect the neuronal circuit mediating depression-related behaviors induced by mistimed light input in mice, implicating the nucleus accumbens as the downstream target of the neural pathway between intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells and the perihabenular nucleus.

Hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) was linked to dementia long ago, but subsequently, Alzheimer’s plaques and tangles have received more attention. A new proteome-wide association study unveils molecular links between intracranial atherosclerosis and dementia, independent of other pathologies, providing new evidence for one of the oldest suspected causes of dementia.

General anesthetics during surgery are presumed to block pain by dampening brain activity and promoting loss-of-consciousness. A new study shows that anesthetics activate an endogenous analgesia neural ensemble in the central nucleus of the amygdala.

One hallmark of sleep is the slow oscillation, which is often synchronous across the neocortical mantle. How this synchrony is achieved remains unclear. A new study by Narikiyo et al. demonstrates how the claustrum may play a key role in the global control of this rhythm.

At the heart of C9ORF72-related amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia (ALS /FTD) research lies the mechanistic question of whether disease is caused by toxic gain of function related to the repeat expansion, loss of endogenous C9ORF72 expression, or both. New findings provide insights to this question.