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The defense response to threat involves complex behavioral and autonomic adjustments. We identified integrated, short-lasting microstates and long-lasting macrostates evoked by threat, consisting of patterned behavioral and cardiac responses, which are dynamically interrelated, dependent on environmental threat levels, and controlled by neurons in the midbrain periaqueductal gray region.
Microglial synapse engulfment precedes brain amyloid plaque formation and probably contributes to early cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease. The mechanisms that regulate microglia-mediated synapse engulfment are unclear. De Schepper et al. show that perivascular SPP1 induces microglia-mediated synapse engulfment, highlighting a neuroimmune interaction that contributes to synapse loss in amyloid pathology.
In this Review, Villeda and colleagues describe blood-to-brain communication from a systems physiology perspective, with an emphasis on blood-derived signals as potent drivers of both age-related brain dysfunction and brain rejuvenation.
Craving is a core characteristic of drug addiction and eating disorders. A new study identifies an fMRI-based neural signature of craving that is common to both food and drugs, predicts self-reported craving, distinguishes drug users from non-users, and tracks the efficacy of a cognitive therapy technique to reduce craving.
Single-cell genomics reveal that Alzheimer’s dementia involves the complex interplay of virtually every major brain cell type. Cell-type-specific molecular perturbations modulate signaling pathways related to lipid handling, immune signaling and metabolic reprogramming.
