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Filtering or gating relevant information into working memory has been attributed to the striatum. Here, the authors reveal neocortical filtering mechanisms, namely, rapid changes in oscillatory theta networks, that predict fast and flexible human behavior.

The study of the brain’s low-dimensional topology enables the dynamic tracking of changes in neural activity. Here authors show how the reshaping of low-dimensional trajectories of brain activity sustain cognition following focal neural perturbations.

Giancotti and colleagues report that the Rnd1 Rho GTPase suppresses the epithelial–mesenchymal transition and mammary tumorigenesis by inhibiting Ras-MAPK signalling through a Plexin B1–Rap1–p120 Ras-GAP signalling axis.

Understanding the infection parameters and host responses against SARS-CoV-2 require data from large cohorts using standardized methods. Here, the authors optimize a serum ELISA protocol that has minimal cross-reactivity and flexible sample collection workflow in an attempt to standardize data generation and help inform on COVID-19 pandemic and immunity.

Immune related diseases have been found to have overlapping genetic susceptibility loci. Here the authors perform cross-disorder genetic analysis to uncover three genetic groups of immune diseases that converge on the same immune cells and pathways.

During HCMV infection, mitochondrial progenies derived from peripheral fragmentation can be protected from mitophagy and result in elevated respiration through a mechanism leveraging ER-mitochondria and inter-mitochondria membrane contacts.

Long-read single-cell RNA sequencing is capable of detecting isoform-level gene expression and genomic alterations such as mutations and gene fusions, thereby providing cell-specific genotype-phenotype information. Here, the authors use long-read scRNA-seq on metastatic ovarian cancer samples and detect cell-type specific isoforms and gene fusions that may otherwise be misclassified in short-read data.

Optical observations of Dimorphos, a satellite of the asteroid 65803 Didymos, before, during and after the impact of the DART spacecraft, from a network of citizen science telescopes across the world are reported.

Ultrafast control of materials draws interest. Here, the authors extend X-ray powder diffraction to the femtosecond timescale to follow the photo-induced semiconductor to metal transition in titanium pentaoxide, observing a phase front that moves at the speed of sound and proposing a little explored mechanism.

The authors use a combination of viral tracing and genetics to characterize the diversity of neurons projecting from mouse brainstem to motor neurons that control limb movements; in particular they discover that the medullary reticular formation ventral part (MdV) is functionally specialized for skilled forelimb motor control.

Amyloid aggregation of mutant p53 contributes to its loss of tumor suppressor function and oncogenic gain-of-function. Here, the authors use a protein mimetic to abrogate mutant p53 aggregation and rescue p53 function, which inhibits cancer cell proliferation in vitro and halts tumor growth in vivo.

TOI-500 hosts at least four planets, the innermost of which is an Earth-sized ultra-short-period body with a density similar to Earth. The architecture of the TOI-500 system can be explained by a slow, secular, low-eccentricity migration scenario.

JAK2V617F mutation is associated with an increased risk for athero-thrombotic cardiovascular disease, but its role in aortic disease development remains unknown. Here, the authors show that JAK2V617F mutation drives vascular resident macrophages toward a pathogenic phenotype and promotes dissecting aortic aneurysm.

A large, open dataset containing parallel recordings from six visual cortical and two thalamic areas of the mouse brain is presented, from which the relative timing of activity in response to visual stimuli and behaviour is used to construct a hierarchy scheme that corresponds to anatomical connectivity data.

Incidental memory is affected by retention delay, and by memory load. Here the authors show that female and male mice process high memory load through different activation of thalamic-cortical pathways, that makes their incidental memory resistant to distraction and to memory decay, respectively.

The specificity in myogenic transcription is poorly defined. Here, Jin et al. describe Ebf3 as a regulator of terminal muscle differentiation in the diaphragm and show that Ebf factors cooperate with the myogenic regulatory factor MyoD in the induction of muscle-specific genes.

The X-ray spectrum of the soft-γ-ray repeater SGR 0418+5729 is found to exhibit an absorption line, the properties of which depend strongly on the star’s rotational phase; this line is interpreted as a proton cyclotron feature and its energy implies a magnetic field ranging from 2 × 10¹⁴ gauss to more than 10¹⁵ gauss.

Laparoscopy is important in the treatment of children undergoing renal surgery and for the management of nonpalpable testes. Despite this, laparoscopy is still underutilized in the treatment of urologic disorders in children, compared to adult patients. This Review discusses the most common urologic indications for laparoscopy in pediatric patients and highlights problems that are specific to this patient group.

A Pitx1 enhancer shows activity in forelimbs and hindlimbs but only interacts with Pitx1 in hindlimbs because of its three-dimensional configuration. Structural variants that affect three-dimensional conformation induce Pitx1 expression in forelimbs and cause partial arm-to-leg transformation in mice and humans.

Qemistree uses fragmentation spectra to predict molecular fingerprints and represent their relationships as a tree, enabling comparison of metabolomics data across different experimental conditions and exploration of chemical diversity in mixtures.

Joint likelihood mapping across six autoimmune diseases identifies shared and distinct association signals and improves fine-mapping resolution at loci with shared effects, yielding insights into the underlying biological mechanisms.

A combination of optogenetic, electrophysiological and neuroanatomical tracing methods defines midbrain periaqueductal grey circuits for specific defensive behaviours.

The frontal lobes are critical for cognitive control over both abstract actions and motor plans. On the basis of the behavioral deficits of lesions patients, the authors report that there is a hierarchical organization of cognitive control, with rostral areas being required for decisions about more abstract actions and caudal areas being required for decisions about more concrete actions.

Coagulation factor VIII deficiency in hemophilia A disrupts clotting and prolongs bleeding. Here, the authors show that vagus nerve stimulation bypasses this defect and improves hemostasis in hemophilia A mice through a mechanism requiring acetylcholine-secreting ChAT⁺ T lymphocytes in spleen and α7nAChR on circulating platelets.

Retracted neurites and disorganized actin filaments are major components of senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles—hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. Here the authors show that soluble ß-amyloid impairs action potential firing by disrupting actin and microtubule filaments through the inhibition of HDAC6 and activation of RhoA.

Triggering and sustaining fusion reactions — with the goal of overall energy production — in a tokamak plasma requires efficient heating. Radio-frequency heating of a three-ion plasma is now experimentally shown to be a potentially viable technique.

The measurement of the total cross-section of proton–proton collisions is of fundamental importance for particle physics. Here, the first measurement of the inelastic cross-section is presented for proton–proton collisions at an energy of 7 teraelectronvolts using the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider.

The insulator-to-metal transition occurring in magnetite is known as the Verwey transition, and its precise mechanism has recently come under renewed attention. Using pump–probe X-ray diffraction and optical reflectivity techniques, the dynamics of excitations known as trimerons are now examined, revealing the switching limits of this ubiquitous oxide material.

The origins of complex life forms from simple chemicals remain one of the most enigmatic mysteries. This Review explores how non-equilibrium chemical-based systems can exhibit living matter-like properties with an outlook that connects the possibility of diversification, adaptation and evolution.

Coherent photon sources are essential for quantum technologies like sensing and computing. This work proposes a superconducting circuit design enabling on-chip, tunable photon emission via an external control, offering stable and precise control without disturbing the source dynamics.

Enriched environment is known to be beneficial in several disease settings. Here the authors show that mice pre-exposed to enriched environment survive longer when challenged with glioma due to increased antitumour immunity, and identify soluble factors that mediate these effects.

Quantum electrodynamics predicts a rare process in which light is scattered by light. The ATLAS Collaboration reports signs of this elusive effect in the collisions of ultra-relativistic lead ions.

Experiments at the Joint European Torus tokamak show improved thermal ion confinement in the presence of highly energetic ions and Alfvénic instabilities in the plasma.

Esposito et al. investigate the genetic basis of response to BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in 1351 Italian subjects. They find variants in the human leukocyte antigen locus significantly associate with serum anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels, after vaccination.

Humans have a capacity for hierarchical cognitive control—the ability to simultaneously control immediate actions while holding more abstract goals in mind. The authors show that neural oscillations establish dynamic communication networks within the frontal cortex and that these oscillations coordinate local neural activity with increasing cognitive control.

Deep-brain calcium imaging of mice engaged in social or spatial exploration reveals that these state-dependent behaviours are encoded by distinct neuronal ensembles of the basolateral amygdala.