Jonathan Nulman , Jason D. Ulrich , David M. Holtzman
{"title":"Context matters: Conflicting roles of interferon-γ signaling in CNS diseases","authors":"Jonathan Nulman , Jason D. Ulrich , David M. Holtzman","doi":"10.1016/j.conb.2025.103149","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.conb.2025.103149","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Interferon-gamma (IFNγ) is a pleiotropic cytokine produced by CD8+ and CD4+ Th1 T cells, natural killer cells, natural killer-T cells, and type 1 innate lymphoid cells. Canonical IFNγ-induced genes include cytokines, chemokines, antigen processing and presentation machinery, and other transcription factors that initiate secondary, cell type-specific IFNγ responses. Originally described as an antiviral molecule, additional roles for IFNγ in development, anti-infection immunity, and neurodegeneration have been described. However, IFNγ′s downstream effects are highly context-dependent. Recent studies have uncovered extensive neuroimmune interactions within the CNS and implicated IFNγ in numerous CNS diseases, although these studies have produced conflicting results. This highlights a need for functional studies accounting for the spatial, temporal, and cellular complexities of CNS IFNγ signaling. Here, we summarize the current understanding of IFNγ signaling in CNS infections, multiple sclerosis/experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, and aging-associated neurodegenerative diseases and propose a framework for the design of future studies investigating the role of CNS IFNγ signaling.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10999,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Neurobiology","volume":"96 ","pages":"Article 103149"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145773829","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Enterarchon: An ancient visceral brain","authors":"Bryon Silva , Mael Lemoine , Michael Rera , Dafni Hadjieconomou","doi":"10.1016/j.conb.2025.103162","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.conb.2025.103162","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is innervated by intrinsic neurites and extrinsic pathways linking it bidirectionally to the central nervous system. These circuits regulate digestion, metabolism, and homeostasis across metazoans. Comparative evidence from early-diverging animals to <em>Drosophila</em> and vertebrates suggests gut-embedded circuits arose on an epithelial/peptidergic scaffold and evolved in parallel across lineages, coordinating motility and secretion before centralised brains emerged. While vertebrates offer detailed molecular atlases of enteric nervous system (ENS) cell types, flies allow linking molecular identity with physiological function at cellular resolution. We highlight how the intestine-ENS axis integrates endocrine and immune signals and undergoes remodelling along three axes: sex as a constitutive dimorphism, reproduction as a reversible plasticity, and ageing as a biphasic trajectory. This comparative view challenges brain-centric models of systemic regulation. We propose instead that the intestine, through its neuronal, epithelial, and immune components, acts as an <em>Enterarchon</em>: an ancient visceral brain shaping organismal homeostasis.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10999,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Neurobiology","volume":"96 ","pages":"Article 103162"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145972958","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Neural basis of sexually dimorphic decision-making","authors":"Megan Day , Carolina Rezaval","doi":"10.1016/j.conb.2025.103146","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.conb.2025.103146","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Animals continually arbitrate between incompatible behaviors: whether to feed or flee, mate or fight, sleep or explore. The brain must select, suppress, and sequence actions according to sensory inputs, internal state, and likely success. Sexual dimorphism adds complexity: males and females face distinct reproductive pressures and often resolve conflicts in divergent ways. Yet the neural mechanisms underlying sex-specific prioritization remain poorly understood. <em>Drosophila melanogaster</em> offers a powerful model for dissecting action selection at cellular and circuit resolution. Here, we synthesize recent advances revealing how sexually dimorphic neurons act as integrator hubs, combining sensory cues with internal states to bias choice in both sexes. Neuromodulators confer flexibility, dynamically reweighting priorities as circumstances shift. Dopamine, in particular, filters distracting stimuli and tunes evidence accumulation, enabling priorities to update as goals approach. These studies outline emerging principles of action selection across contexts and sexes and suggest conserved strategies for balancing drives across species.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10999,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Neurobiology","volume":"96 ","pages":"Article 103146"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145740783","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Neural basis for parental behavioral transitions in mice","authors":"Kazunari Miyamichi","doi":"10.1016/j.conb.2025.103113","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.conb.2025.103113","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Parental care is fundamental to the physical and mental well-being of mammalian offspring. Females undergo pregnancy, parturition, and lactation, with hormones pivotal to these processes—such as estrogen, prolactin, and oxytocin—also playing essential roles in mediating infant-directed caregiving behaviors. Although the extent of paternal involvement varies widely across species, the same hormones that regulate maternal transitions may be utilized to facilitate paternal behavioral adaptations. Recent advances in single-cell transcriptomics and cell-type-specific genetic manipulations have elucidated the mechanisms through which hormones interact with discrete cell types to drive structural and physiological plasticity within key regions of the brain governing parental behaviors. Furthermore, parental care serves as a valuable model for studying naturally occurring motivated behavioral learning, wherein higher-order cognitive regions and monoaminergic systems play an integrative role. This review highlights recent progress in this field, with a brief discussion on the potential sexually dimorphic engagement of specific hormonal systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10999,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Neurobiology","volume":"95 ","pages":"Article 103113"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145091271","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Corrigendum to “Mathematical models of learning and what can be learned from them” [Curr Opin Neurobiol 80 (2023)]","authors":"Omri Barak , Misha Tsodyks","doi":"10.1016/j.conb.2025.103135","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.conb.2025.103135","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":10999,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Neurobiology","volume":"95 ","pages":"Article 103135"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145462484","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Towards the establishment of treatments for neurodegenerative diseases using human iPSCs","authors":"Haruhisa Inoue","doi":"10.1016/j.conb.2025.103132","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.conb.2025.103132","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Since their discovery and development, human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have brought about notable advances in biomedical science and have become an essential infrastructure for medical research and applications. This review discusses the current status of iPSC-based cell therapies, drug discovery, and therapeutic developments for neurodegenerative diseases with unmet medical needs. It also highlights research approaches employing cohorts of iPSCs derived from sporadic neurodegenerative diseases to advance prevention and diagnostic support. It further considers future directions for the use of iPSCs in the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10999,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Neurobiology","volume":"95 ","pages":"Article 103132"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145412772","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Protein mechanism and therapeutic design in Parkinson's disease: A structural biology perspective","authors":"Danielle M. Simons , Jean-François Trempe","doi":"10.1016/j.conb.2025.103140","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.conb.2025.103140","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Parkinson's disease (PD) remains one of the most elusive, progressive neurological diseases to treat due to an incomplete understanding of its pathology. Current symptomatic therapies revolve around alleviating symptoms with dopamine replacement therapy; however, this mode of treatment does not always provide long-term relief or address the underlying cause. Thus, there is still a need to better understand the mechanisms of proteins implicated in neurodegeneration as the key to developing disease-modifying treatments. Here we discuss recent advances in our understanding of six protein targets for PD therapy: α-synuclein, LRRK2, GBA1, PARKIN, PINK1, and USP30. For each, we highlight novel structures that shine light both on pathogenic mechanisms as well as novel therapies. We discuss drugs targeting these proteins that are in clinical trials, and how structures are used to improve them.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10999,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Neurobiology","volume":"95 ","pages":"Article 103140"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145539443","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Interoception 2025","authors":"Zachary A. Knight, Stephen D. Liberles","doi":"10.1016/j.conb.2025.103122","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.conb.2025.103122","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":10999,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Neurobiology","volume":"95 ","pages":"Article 103122"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145205852","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Plasticity of the parental brain","authors":"Basma Fatima Anwar Husain, Johannes Kohl","doi":"10.1016/j.conb.2025.103129","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.conb.2025.103129","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Parental behavior, like other instinctive behaviors, must strike a delicate balance between robustness and flexibility to ensure offspring survival in dynamic environments. While core features of parenting are genetically programmed, they can be modulated by the hormonal changes accompanying pregnancy and parturition, as well as by social experience. How such behavioral flexibility arises from plasticity within the underlying neural circuits is a topic of intense investigation. In this review, we summarize recent advances in understanding the multi-level plasticity of the parental brain in both males and females. We highlight emerging principles of hormone- and experience-driven circuit remodeling and discuss key challenges and opportunities for future research in this rapidly evolving field.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":10999,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Neurobiology","volume":"95 ","pages":"Article 103129"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145359133","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}