Gut microbiota is critical for the induction of chemotherapy-induced pain

10.1038/nn.4606

2017-07-17

Recent evidence supports a functional connection between gut microbiota and the nervous system. Here the authors show that gut microbiota plays a critical role in the development of chemotherapy-induced pain. This role of the microbiota is likely mediated, in...

Rates, distribution and implications of postzygotic mosaic mutations in autism spectrum disorder

10.1038/nn.4598

2017-07-17

We systematically analyzed postzygotic mutations (PZMs) in whole-exome sequences from the largest collection of trios (5,947) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) available, including 282 unpublished trios, and performed resequencing using multiple independent...

A circuit-based mechanism underlying familiarity signaling and the preference for novelty

10.1038/nn.4607

2017-07-17

Novelty preference (NP) is an evolutionarily conserved, essential survival mechanism often dysregulated in neuropsychiatric disorders. NP is mediated by a motivational dopamine signal that increases in response to novel stimuli, thereby driving exploration. H...

C9orf72 expansion disrupts ATM-mediated chromosomal break repair

10.1038/nn.4604

2017-07-17

Hexanucleotide repeat expansions represent the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia, though the mechanisms by which such expansions cause neurodegeneration are poorly understood. We report elevated level...

Neural reactivations during sleep determine network credit assignment

10.1038/nn.4601

2017-07-10

A fundamental goal of motor learning is to establish the neural patterns that produce a desired behavioral outcome. It remains unclear how and when the nervous system solves this 'credit assignment' problem. Using neuroprosthetic learning, in which we could c...

A causal account of the brain network computations underlying strategic social behavior

10.1038/nn.4602

2017-07-10

During competitive interactions, humans have to estimate the impact of their own actions on their opponent's strategy. Here we provide evidence that neural computations in the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) and interconnected structures are causally in...

Reorganization of corticospinal output during motor learning

10.1038/nn.4596

2017-07-03

Motor learning is accompanied by widespread changes within the motor cortex, but it is unknown whether these changes are ultimately funneled through a stable corticospinal output channel or whether the corticospinal output itself is plastic. We investigated t...

Transcriptomic analysis of purified human cortical microglia reveals age-associated changes

10.1038/nn.4597

2017-07-03

Microglia are the macrophages of the CNS, with innate neuroimmune function, and play important roles in tissue homeostasis, CNS development and neurodegeneration. Here human microglial gene expression profiles were generated. Human and mouse microglia were hi...

A checkpoint to pain

10.1038/nn.4586

2017-06-27

The checkpoint pathway consisting of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and its receptor, PD-1, modulates immune function in cancer and infection, but unexpectedly, it also silences pain signals in nerves.

Direction selectivity starts early

10.1038/nn.4585

2017-06-27

Disruption of retinal direction selectivity reveals both peripheral and central computations contributing to direction selectivity in mouse visual cortex. These mechanisms work together to better encode motion directions and speeds.