Nature Neuroscience Contents: December 2013 Volume 16 Number 12, pp 1709 - 1908

Advertisement Prospective Psychology: A Project of the University of Pennsylvania and the John Templeton Foundation. Templeton Science of Prospection Awards. Request for Applications - Deadline: January 1, 2014. Click for more information. TABLE OF CONTENTS December 2013 Volume 16, Issue 12 Editorial News and Views Review Brief Communications Articles Resource Corrigenda Errata Advertisement   Frontiers are launching a new collaborative peer review forum We are excited to announce that we will be launching a new collaborative peer-review forum where referees and authors work together to improve the paper until consensus is met. Our new peer-review forum will provide online-tools and increased efficiency to ensure a transparent and fast review process. Follow us for more information! We'll be posting updates about the launch on Twitter and Facebook Subscribe   Facebook   RSS   Recommend to library   Twitter   Advertisement Nature Clinical Collection: Slowing down neurodegeneration With human life spans continuing to increase worldwide, the ability to keep brain functions intact into old age becomes ever more important. As the articles in this Clinical Collection illustrate, approaches to preventing or arresting neurodegeneration can take many forms, from lifestyle changes aimed at preserving the integrity of the brain, to pharmacological treatments and immunological interventions targeted at specific neurodegenerative disease mechanisms.  Access the collection FREE online  Produced with support of a grant from Teva Pharmaceuticals    Editorial Top Italian biomedical research under fire   p1709 doi:10.1038/nn.3595 A short-sighted bill introduced in the Italian parliament could cripple scientific research in that country. Scientists share some of the responsibility for this crisis. News and Views Top New progenitors NESTIN(g) in the EGL   pp1710 - 1712 Ekaterina Pak, Rosalind A Segal and Charles D Stiles doi:10.1038/nn.3580 The cerebellum, with its stereotypic anatomy, has served as an engine of discovery for developmental neurobiologists and cancer biologists alike. However, new findings reported in this issue of Nature Neuroscience suggest that its anatomy and cellular specification, and by extension, its tumor biology, may be less simple than previously believed. See also: Article by Shonesy et al. From neurons to microglia, with complements   pp1712 - 1713 Noel C Derecki and Jonathan Kipnis doi:10.1038/nn.3579 A study in this issue of Nature Neuroscience demonstrates that astrocytic transforming growth factor-β facilitates complement-mediated removal of weak synapses by microglia during the synaptic pruning period. See also: Article by Bialas & Stevens Synchrony and the single neuron   pp1714 - 1715 Stephen R Williams doi:10.1038/nn.3586 In synaptic integration, timing is everything. A new study demonstrates that voltage-activated ion channels transform spatially distributed synaptic input into a coherent neuronal output by countering time delays in the dendritic tree. See also: Article by Vaidya & Johnston Oh, rats! Post-error behavioral adjustment in creatures great and small   pp1715 - 1716 Christopher Summerfield and Nick Yeung doi:10.1038/nn.3577 Errors are typically followed by more cautious responses. A study now provides evidence that remarkably conserved neural dynamics underlie these post-error adjustments to behavior in rodents and humans. See also: Article by Narayanan et al. Neuroscience JOBS of the week Faculty Positions in Neuroscience Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research Tenure-Track and Tenured Faculty In Neuroscience and Brain Health and Disease Florida State University Neuroscience & Developmental Neuroscience Assistant Professor Boston Children's Hospital Harvard Medical School Two Group Leaders in Molecular and Translational Neuroscience Aarhus University Research Associate x 3 (Fixed Term) University of Cambridge More Science jobs from Neuroscience EVENT 16th International Neuroscience Winter Conference 8th – 12th April 2014 Sölden, Austria More science events from Review Top Regulation of dietary choice by the decision-making circuitry   pp1717 - 1724 Antonio Rangel doi:10.1038/nn.3561 In this review, the author brings together research on the neuro-computational basis of decision-making and the homeostatic regulation of feeding behavior, emphasizing what is unique about feeding decisions, and how homeostatic signals influence the decision-making circuitry. Brief Communications Top The mouse C9ORF72 ortholog is enriched in neurons known to degenerate in ALS and FTD   pp1725 - 1727 Naoki Suzuki, Asif M Maroof, Florian T Merkle, Kathryn Koszka, Atsushi Intoh et al. doi:10.1038/nn.3566 In this study, the authors show that the mouse ortholog of the amyotropic lateral sclerosis/frontotemporal dementia (ALS/FTD)-associated human locus C9ORF72 exhibits highly enriched expression in the neuronal cell types that show susceptibility during the disease. These findings suggest a potential explanation for the cell selectivity observed in ALS/FTD. Parvalbumin interneurons mediate neuronal circuitry-neurogenesis coupling in the adult hippocampus   pp1728 - 1730 Juan Song, Jiaqi Sun, Jonathan Moss, Zhexing Wen, Gerald J Sun et al. doi:10.1038/nn.3572 This study shows that neural progenitor cells in the adult hippocampus of mice receive immature GABAergic synaptic inputs from parvalbumin (PV)-expressing interneurons, and uses optogenetic stimulation to demonstrate local PV interneuron activation via GABA signaling promotes survival and maturation of newborn neurons. Independent hypothalamic circuits for social and predator fear   pp1731 - 1733 Bianca A Silva, Camilla Mattucci, Piotr Krzywkowski, Emanuele Murana, Anna Illarionova et al. doi:10.1038/nn.3573 In this paper the authors demonstrate that functionally independent populations of neurons in the ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH), a region implicated in feeding, sex, and aggression, are essential for predator and social fear in mice. Cerebellar Purkinje cell activity drives motor learning   pp1734 - 1736 T D Barbara Nguyen-Vu, Rhea R Kimpo, Jacob M Rinaldi, Arunima Kohli, Hongkui Zeng et al. doi:10.1038/nn.3576 Here the authors show that optogenetic stimulation of Purkinje cells, the sole output neurons of the cerebellar cortex, can drive motor learning in mice. This represents an additional instructive signal for the induction of learning, beyond climbing fibers, that can expand the learning capacity of motor circuits. Advertisement Precellys® tissue homogenizer, the clever solution for efficient brain homogenization!  Expert in Life Sciences, Bertin Technologies manufactures the Precellys® products range dedicated to grinding, lysing and homogenization of biological samples. Precellys® is the only brand offering an efficient cooling option, Cryolys. With dry-ice or liquid nitrogen, get your samples at optimal temperature before, during and after homogenization. with the Online Application Center with hundreds of publications, application notes and protocols for brain samples. Find us at Neuroscience 2013, booth #3410, and get a live demo!   Articles Top A population of Nestin-expressing progenitors in the cerebellum exhibits increased tumorigenicity   pp1737 - 1744 Peng Li, Fang Du, Larra W Yuelling, Tiffany Lin, Renata E Muradimova et al. doi:10.1038/nn.3553 In this study, the authors show that a subset of cerebellar granule neurons originate not from the granule neuron precursors (GNPs) but from a population of Nestin-expressing progenitors (NEPs) in the deep external germinal layer. In addition, they find that these NEPs are more susceptible to Sonic Hedgehog-induced genomic instability and tumor formation. See also: News and Views by Pak et al. EZH2-mediated H3K27 trimethylation mediates neurodegeneration in ataxia-telangiectasia   pp1745 - 1753 Jiali Li, Ronald P Hart, Elyse M Mallimo, Mavis R Swerdel, Alexander W Kusnecov et al. doi:10.1038/nn.3564 The neurodegeneration found in human ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) is caused by mutations in the ATM (A-T mutated) gene. Li et al. have identified the polycomb group protein with histone methyltransferase activity called EZH2 as a target of the ATM kinase. The study shows that ATM deficiency increases EZH2 stability, thus increasing methylated histone marks. This results in epigenetic changes in transcription that compromise the health and survival of CNS neurons. Differential triggering of spontaneous glutamate release by P/Q-, N- and R-type Ca2+ channels   pp1754 - 1763 Yaroslav S Ermolyuk, Felicity G Alder, Rainer Surges, Ivan Y Pavlov, Yulia Timofeeva et al. doi:10.1038/nn.3563 This study shows that spontaneous opening of presynaptic voltage-gated calcium channels (VGCCs) is a major trigger of action potential independent synaptic vesicle release, and finds that R-type channels contribute disproportionately, consistent with a relatively negative activation threshold. The authors also use Ca2+ chelation experiments and computational modeling to reconcile how transient Ca2+ nanodomains evoked by VGCC opening trigger both spontaneous and action potential evoked neurotransmission. Regulation of interneuron excitability by gap junction coupling with principal cells   pp1764 - 1772 Pierre F Apostolides and Laurence O Trussell doi:10.1038/nn.3569 Electrical coupling in the brain usually occurs between inhibitory neurons that are anatomically and functionally similar. Here the authors show that the excitability of inhibitory interneurons in the dorsal cochlear nucleus is controlled by electrical synapses with excitatory projection cells. TGF-β signaling regulates neuronal C1q expression and developmental synaptic refinement   pp1773 - 1782 Allison R Bialas and Beth Stevens doi:10.1038/nn.3560 In this study, the authors show that, during the retinogeniculate refinement period, astrocyte-derived TGF-β regulates the expression and synaptic localization of C1q, a classical complement protein. They find that TGF-β signaling and C1q expression in neurons are key regulators of microglia-mediated synaptic pruning in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus. See also: News and Views by Derecki & Kipnis Opposite actions of alcohol on tonic GABAA receptor currents mediated by nNOS and PKC activity   pp1783 - 1793 Joshua S Kaplan, Claudia Mohr and David J Rossi doi:10.1038/nn.3559 The authors find that GABAAR-mediated tonic currents recorded in rodent cerebellar granules cells can be modulated by ethanol in opposite directions in different strains exhibiting opposite preferences in alcohol consumption. These differences in ethanol sensitivity across strains are linked to differential levels of expression of presynaptic neuronal nitric oxide synthase and postsynaptic PKC activity. Betaine acts on a ligand-gated ion channel in the nervous system of the nematode C. elegans   pp1794 - 1801 Aude S Peden, Patrick Mac, You-Jun Fei, Cecilia Castro, Guoliang Jiang et al. doi:10.1038/nn.3575 The authors find that ACR-23, a ligand-gated cation channel of the cys-loop family, is a betaine receptor and is expressed in worm mechanosensory neurons involved in stimulating locomotion. Excessive activation of ACR-23 leads to paralysis and is responsible for the nematocidal properties of betaine. The authors also find that the action of betaine on ACR-23 is allosterically potentiated by the aminoacetonitrile derivative monepantel, a new antihelminthic drug. Network state-dependent inhibition of identified hippocampal CA3 axo-axonic cells in vivo   pp1802 - 1811 Tim J Viney, Balint Lasztoczi, Linda Katona, Michael G Crump, John J Tukker et al. doi:10.1038/nn.3550 The authors investigated the mechanisms underlying hippocampal sharp waves. They found that CA3 axo-axonic cells (AACs) stopped firing during sharp waves in vivo. They also identified GABAergic cells in the medial septum that are activated during sharp waves and project to CA3; these cells may inhibit AACs during sharp waves. Temporal synchrony and gamma-to-theta power conversion in the dendrites of CA1 pyramidal neurons   pp1812 - 1820 Sachin P Vaidya and Daniel Johnston doi:10.1038/nn.3562 Pyramidal cells have to integrate thousands of inputs across their expansive dendritic arbors. The spatial spread of these inputs should lead to intraneuronal propagation delays. Here the authors show that the distribution of HCN channels in hippocampal pyramidal cells normalizes these delays, particularly for inputs at theta and gamma frequencies. See also: News and Views by Williams Integration of the olfactory code across dendritic claws of single mushroom body neurons   pp1821 - 1829 Eyal Gruntman and Glenn C Turner doi:10.1038/nn.3547 The authors use dendritic imaging to examine odor response properties of individual synaptic sites of mushroom body neurons. They find that mushroom body neurons receive input from different glomerular channels and require several of those inputs to be co-active to spike, a likely foundation for their remarkable stimulus selectivity. A spatiotemporal coding mechanism for background-invariant odor recognition   pp1830 - 1839 Debajit Saha, Kevin Leong, Chao Li, Steven Peterson, Gregory Siegel et al. doi:10.1038/nn.3570 Saha and colleagues measured the spatiotemporal dynamics of odor representations across populations of neurons in the locust olfactory system during the presentation of two overlapping odors. They report that the performance of locusts in a background-independent odor recognition task is correlated with the ability to decode foreground odor identity from the population activity, suggesting the existence of a background-invariant population code for odorants in this system. Adaptation in sound localization: from GABAB receptor-mediated synaptic modulation to perception   pp1840 - 1847 Annette Stange, Michael H Myoga, Andrea Lingner, Marc C Ford, Olga Alexandrova et al. doi:10.1038/nn.3548 Diverse species use ineraural time differences to locate the origin of sounds in space. Here the authors show that GABAB receptor-mediated feedback onto the medial superior olive modulates the gain of auditory space coding, leading to systematic shifts in the percept of sound location. Direction selectivity is computed by active dendritic integration in retinal ganglion cells   pp1848 - 1856 Benjamin Sivyer and Stephen R Williams doi:10.1038/nn.3565 How do dendrites contribute to neuronal computations in intact circuits? Using dual whole-cell recordings from the soma and dendrites of retinal ganglion cells, Sivyer and Williams demonstrate that the engagement and inhibitory synaptic control of a cascade of active dendritic integration compartments underlies the computation of image motion by direction-selective rabbit retinal ganglion cells—placing dendritic integration at the heart of physiologically engaged neuronal-circuit operation. Fast modulation of visual perception by basal forebrain cholinergic neurons   pp1857 - 1863 Lucas Pinto, Michael J Goard, Daniel Estandian, Min Xu, Alex C Kwan et al. doi:10.1038/nn.3552 Cholinergic transmission from the basal forebrain provides neuromodulatory control over brain states such as wakefulness and sleep. Here the authors show that cholinergic input bidirectionally and dynamically modulates cortical processing of sensory inputs and influences visual perception in awake, behaving mice. Integration of visual motion and locomotion in mouse visual cortex   pp1864 - 1869 Aman B Saleem, Asli Ayaz, Kathryn J Jeffery, Kenneth D Harris and Matteo Carandini doi:10.1038/nn.3567 The primary visual cortex (V1) carries signals related to visual speed, and its responses are also affected by run speed. Here the authors report that nearly half of the V1 neurons were reliably driven by combinations of visual speed and run speed. As a population, V1 neurons predicted a linear combination of visual and run speed better than visual or run speeds alone. Parallel, multi-stage processing of colors, faces and shapes in macaque inferior temporal cortex   pp1870 - 1878 Rosa Lafer-Sousa and Bevil R Conway doi:10.1038/nn.3555 The authors study fMRI responses to colors and achromatic images to address the fundamental organizational principles of monkey inferior temporal cortex. They report color-biased regions adjacent and ventral to face patches, at locations predicted by a series of coarse eccentricity maps. Attention modulates spatial priority maps in the human occipital, parietal and frontal cortices   pp1879 - 1887 Thomas C Sprague and John T Serences doi:10.1038/nn.3574 Attention alters neural responses that encode different aspects of visual stimuli, but exactly how these changes together modulate the encoded spatial representation of a scene remains unclear. Here the authors look at spatial priority maps of attended to and ignored stimuli and find that attention increases the gain but not the size of stimulus representations. Common medial frontal mechanisms of adaptive control in humans and rodents   pp1888 - 1895 Nandakumar S Narayanan, James F Cavanagh, Michael J Frank and Mark Laubach doi:10.1038/nn.3549 Adaptive control to improve performance after making mistakes in a given task is known to involve prediction error signaling in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC). The current study examines adaptive control in humans and rats by using comparable time-estimation tasks for each organism, and the authors show that low-frequency oscillations within the ACC in humans and the medial frontal cortex (MFC) in rats are correlated with adaptive behavioral control. They also show that these frontal oscillations are phase locked to the oscillation in the motor regions in the brain and that inactivation of the MFC in rats can disrupt both behavioral control and oscillatory coupling. See also: News and Views by Summerfield & Yeung Resource Top The microglial sensome revealed by direct RNA sequencing   pp1896 - 1905 Suzanne E Hickman, Nathan D Kingery, Toshiro K Ohsumi, Mark L Borowsky, Li-chong Wang et al. doi:10.1038/nn.3554 In this Resource study, the authors used Direct RNA Sequencing (DRS) to quantitatively examine the transcriptional profile of microglia, focusing specifically on the proteins important for binding endogenous ligands and potential pathogens—a collection they term the 'sensome'. They also compare this profile to that of peripheral macrophages. Corrigenda Top Corrigendum: Conversion of cerebral cortex into basal ganglia in Emx2−/− Pax6Sey/Sey double-mutant mice   p1906 Luca Muzio, Barbara DiBenedetto, Anastassia Stoykova, Edoardo Boncinelli, Peter Gruss et al. doi:10.1038/nn1213-1906a Corrigendum: Role of rodent secondary motor cortex in value-based action selection   p1906 Jung Hoon Sul, Suhyun Jo, Daeyeol Lee and Min Whan Jung doi:10.1038/nn1213-1906b Corrigendum: Nictation, a dispersal behavior of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, is regulated by IL2 neurons   p1906 Harksun Lee, Myung-kyu Choi, Daehan Lee, Hye-sung Kim, Hyejin Hwang et al. doi:10.1038/nn1213-1906c Corrigendum: A catalytically silent FAAH-1 variant drives anandamide transport in neurons   p1907 Jin Fu, Giovanni Bottegoni, Oscar Sasso, Rosalia Bertorelli, Walter Rocchia et al. doi:10.1038/nn1213-1907a Corrigendum: Control of timing, rate and bursts of hippocampal place cells by dendritic and somatic inhibition   p1907 Sebastien Royer, Boris V Zemelman, Attila Losonczy, Jinhyun Kim, Frances Chance et al. doi:10.1038/nn1213-1907b Corrigendum: The neuroscience of empathy: progress, pitfalls and promise   p1907 Jamil Zaki and Kevin Ochsner doi:10.1038/nn1213-1907c Corrigendum: Orthogonal micro-organization of orientation and spatial frequency in primate primary visual cortex   p1907 Ian Nauhaus, Kristina J Nielsen, Anita A Disney and Edward M Callaway doi:10.1038/nn1213-1907e Corrigendum: The organization of two new cortical interneuronal circuits   p1908 Xiaolong Jiang, Guangfu Wang, Alice J Lee, Ruth L Stornetta and J Julius Zhu doi:10.1038/nn1213-1908c Corrigendum: Erbin interacts with TARP γ-2 for surface expression of AMPA receptors in cortical interneurons   p1908 Yanmei Tao, Yong-Jun Chen, Chengyong Shen, Zhengyi Luo, C Ryan Bates et al. doi:10.1038/nn1213-1908d Errata Top Erratum: Orthogonal micro-organization of orientation and spatial frequency in primate primary visual cortex   p1907 Ian Nauhaus, Kristina J Nielsen, Anita A Disney and Edward M Callaway doi:10.1038/nn1213-1907d Erratum: Orthogonal micro-organization of orientation and spatial frequency in primate primary visual cortex   p1908 Ian Nauhaus, Kristina J Nielsen, Anita A Disney and Edward M Callaway doi:10.1038/nn1213-1908a Erratum: Evolution of GluN2A/B cytoplasmic domains diversified vertebrate synaptic plasticity and behavior   p1908 Tomas J Ryan, Maksym V Kopanitsa, Tim Indersmitten, Jess Nithianantharajah, Nurudeen O Afinowi et al. doi:10.1038/nn1213-1908b Erratum: Dopamine and the cost of aging   p1908 Daphna Shohamy and G Elliot Wimmer doi:10.1038/nn1213-1908e Top Advertisement nature.com webcasts Macmillan Science Communication presents a custom webcast on: Highly-multiplexed Tissue Biomarker Analysis: A Practical Approach for Developmental Biology, Neuroscience and Oncology Thursday December 12th at 10am PST / 1pm EST / 6pm GMT / 7pm CET  Register for the free webcast followed by our live Q & A session  Sponsored by: PerkinElmer    Natureevents is a fully searchable, multi-disciplinary database designed to maximise exposure for events organisers. The contents of the Natureevents Directory are now live. The digital version is available here. Find the latest scientific conferences, courses, meetings and symposia on natureevents.com. For event advertising opportunities across the Nature Publishing Group portfolio please contact natureevents@nature.com More Nature Events

You have been sent this Table of Contents Alert because you have opted in to receive it. You can change or discontinue your e-mail alerts at any time, by modifying your preferences on your nature.com account at: www.nature.com/myaccount (You will need to log in to be recognised as a nature.com registrant) For further technical assistance, please contact our registration department For print subscription enquiries, please contact our subscription department For other enquiries, please contact our customer feedback department Nature Publishing Group | 75 Varick Street, 9th Floor | New York | NY 10013-1917 | USA Nature Publishing Group's worldwide offices: London - Paris - Munich - New Delhi - Tokyo - Melbourne San Diego - San Francisco - Washington - New York - Boston Macmillan Publishers Limited is a company incorporated in England and Wales under company number 785998 and whose registered office is located at Brunel Road, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. © 2013 Nature Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited. All Rights Reserved.