Volume 26 Issue 5, May 2025

The hypothalamic preoptic area is involved in numerous homeostatic and social behaviours, and the neurons of this area are shown in this study to consist of numerous subtypes that show diverse maturational profiles that correlate with periods of substantial behavioural change such as weaning and puberty.

A naturalistic threat–reward conflict reveals that dopamine dynamics in tail of the striatum in mice regulate not only avoidance of potential threats but also learning to overcome them.

Identifying the psychological and neurobiological processes underpinning intra-individual variations in choice behaviour presents a formidable challenge. In this Review, Duffy et al. discuss how algorithmic models for teasing apart such sources of variability and advances in behavioural paradigm design and neurally grounded computational modelling are providing new avenues for systematic progress.

Neuropathic pain caused by nerve damage results in neuronal pathway changes and immune cell engagement. In this Review, Malcangio and Sideris-Lampretsas discuss how microglia respond to and modulate neuronal activity and suggest that microglia–neuron pathways offer novel approaches for the attenuation of neuropathic pain.

Neurodegenerative disorders are commonly associated with autonomic dysfunction as well as the more well-known cognitive and motor effects. In this Review, Mather describes how properties of neurons in the brain and periphery regulating autonomic activity render them more vulnerable to prion-like spread of pathological protein and subsequent neurodegeneration.

In this Perspective article, Edward Large and colleagues examine the neuroscience of music, placing their focus on neural resonance theory, which summarizes how the dynamics of fundamental neural mechanisms can explain various aspects of music perception and performance.