NeuronPub Date : 2025-10-02DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.09.004
Gui-Ying Zan, Song-Yu Yao, Ying-Zhi Deng, Yun-Hao Jiang, Ru-Feng Ye, Yexiang Chen, Jian-Dong Long, Ying-Jie Cheng, Jing-Rui Chai, Chi Xu, Min Zhao, Zhi-Qiang Liu, Jing-Gen Liu, Yu-Jun Wang
{"title":"Astrocyte-mediated central amygdala microcircuit gates comorbid anxiety symptoms in chronic pain.","authors":"Gui-Ying Zan, Song-Yu Yao, Ying-Zhi Deng, Yun-Hao Jiang, Ru-Feng Ye, Yexiang Chen, Jian-Dong Long, Ying-Jie Cheng, Jing-Rui Chai, Chi Xu, Min Zhao, Zhi-Qiang Liu, Jing-Gen Liu, Yu-Jun Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.neuron.2025.09.004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2025.09.004","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Comorbid anxiety symptoms are prominent affective components of chronic pain, yet the central mechanisms underlying these symptoms remain elusive. The central amygdala (CeA) regulates nociceptive processing and associated anxiety in chronic pain. However, the specific microcircuits and cell types within the CeA that regulate pain-related anxiety have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we discovered a microcircuit in the CeA wherein dynorphinergic neurons of the lateral subdivision of the central amygdala (CeL) project to the medial subdivision (CeM), activation of which gates anxiogenic effects associated with chronic pain. Dynorphin-mediated activation of CeM astroglial kappa opioid receptors (KORs), dependent upon corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) receptor 2 signaling, enhanced CeM neuron excitability by promoting N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) activation, likely via releasing gliotransmitter D-serine. Behaviorally, KOR-mediated bidirectional communication between CeA peptidergic neurons and astrocytes modulates the anxiogenic effect of chronic pain. Our findings reveal a neuroglial microcircuit underlying pain-associated anxiety and suggest potential targets for therapeutic intervention.</p>","PeriodicalId":19313,"journal":{"name":"Neuron","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":15.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145225515","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
NeuronPub Date : 2025-10-02DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.09.012
Manfredi Castelli, Vítor Lopes-Dos-Santos, Giuseppe P Gava, Renaud Lambiotte, David Dupret
{"title":"Hippocampal ripple diversity organizes neuronal reactivation dynamics in the offline brain.","authors":"Manfredi Castelli, Vítor Lopes-Dos-Santos, Giuseppe P Gava, Renaud Lambiotte, David Dupret","doi":"10.1016/j.neuron.2025.09.012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2025.09.012","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Hippocampal ripples are highly synchronized neuronal population patterns reactivating past waking experiences in the offline brain. Whether the level, structure, and content of ripple-nested activity are consistent across consecutive events or are tuned in each event remains unclear. By profiling individual ripples using laminar currents in the mouse hippocampus during sleep/rest, we identified ripples in stratum pyramidale that feature current sinks in stratum radiatum (Rad<sup>sink</sup>) versus stratum lacunosum-moleculare (LM<sup>sink</sup>). These two ripple profiles recruit neurons differently. Rad<sup>sink</sup> ripples integrate recent motifs of waking coactivity, combining superficial and deep CA1 principal cells into denser, higher-dimensional patterns that undergo hour-long stable reactivation. By contrast, LM<sup>sink</sup> ripples contain core motifs of prior coactivity, engaging deep cells in sparser, lower-dimensional patterns that undergo a reactivation drift to gradually update their pre-existing content for recent wakefulness. We propose that ripple-by-ripple diversity supports parallel reactivation channels for integrating recent wakefulness while updating prior representations.</p>","PeriodicalId":19313,"journal":{"name":"Neuron","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":15.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145225469","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"SCOPE-C reveals long-range enhancer networks emerging as key regulators during human cortical neurogenesis.","authors":"Lumeng Jia, Yingping Hou, Zejia Cui, Xin Luo, Jiali Duan, Jianbin Guo, Benhui You, Qing Fang, Xiaotian Wang, Minglei Shi, Hebing Chen, Fengyun Zhang, Jingyun Mo, Yujia Liao, Yujie Sun, Jia Wang, Tingting Li, Bing Su, Lan Zhu, Cheng Li","doi":"10.1016/j.neuron.2025.09.008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2025.09.008","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Chromatin in the human brain cortex shows more enhancer-enhancer contacts than in macaques and mice, yet the organization of these contacts across cellular states and the mechanisms behind them remain unclear. Here, we developed simultaneous conformation and open-chromatin capture (SCOPE-C) to map open chromatin and its long-range spatial interactions from low-input samples. Applying SCOPE-C to fetal cortical cells from humans, macaques, and mice, we reveal that human neurogenesis is characterized by extended long-range (>1 megabase [Mb]) enhancer-promoter loops formed via CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) mediated loop extrusion. In human excitatory neurons (ENs), these interactions establish dynamic networks spanning up to 10 Mb. These networks are enriched with human-biased enhancers and neuropsychiatric disorder-linked single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) regulating key cell-fate genes such as SATB2. The formation of these vast, dynamic enhancer networks appears to be a prominent feature of human ENs, offering mechanistic insights into cortical evolution and the genetic vulnerability of neurodevelopmental regulation.</p>","PeriodicalId":19313,"journal":{"name":"Neuron","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":15.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145225510","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Hunger modulates exploration through suppression of dopamine signaling in the tail of the striatum.","authors":"Tarun Kamath, Bart Lodder, Eliana Bilsel, Isobel Green, Rochelin Dalangin, Michelle Raghubardayal, Wengang Wang, Paolo Capelli, Jessie Legister, Joshua Timmins, Lauren Hulshof, Janet Berrios Wallace, Lin Tian, Naoshige Uchida, Mitsuko Watabe-Uchida, Bernardo L Sabatini","doi":"10.1016/j.neuron.2025.09.009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2025.09.009","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Caloric depletion induces behavioral changes that help an animal find food and restore its homeostatic balance. Hunger increases exploration and risk-taking behavior, allowing an animal to forage for food despite risks; however, it is unknown which neural systems coordinate such behavioral adaptations. Here, we characterize how hunger restructures an animal's spontaneous behavior as well as its directed exploration of a novel object. We show that hunger-induced changes in exploration are accompanied by and result from the modulation of dopamine signaling in the tail of the striatum (TOS). Dopamine signaling in the TOS is in turn modulated by hunger through the activity of agouti-related peptide (AgRP) neurons, putative \"hunger neurons\" in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus that are polysynaptically connected to the TOS through the lateral hypothalamus. Thus, we delineate how hypothalamic systems modulate dopaminergic circuitry to mediate changes in exploratory behavior in the hungry state.</p>","PeriodicalId":19313,"journal":{"name":"Neuron","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":15.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145225476","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
NeuronPub Date : 2025-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.09.005
Canhui Cao
{"title":"Targeting tumor-associated nerves enhances cancer immunotherapy.","authors":"Canhui Cao","doi":"10.1016/j.neuron.2025.09.005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2025.09.005","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Tumor-associated nerves actively shape tumor immunity. In a recent issue of Nature, Baruch et al.<sup>1</sup> show that cancer-induced nerve injury drives T cell exhaustion and undermines PD-1 blockade. Targeting this neuro-immune crosstalk is a promising strategy to enhance cancer immunotherapy.</p>","PeriodicalId":19313,"journal":{"name":"Neuron","volume":"113 19","pages":"3076-3078"},"PeriodicalIF":15.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145213308","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
NeuronPub Date : 2025-10-01Epub Date: 2025-09-10DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.09.002
Chinnakkaruppan Adaikkan, Jun Wang, Karim Abdelaal, Steven J Middleton, P Lorenzo Bozzelli, Ian R Wickersham, Thomas J McHugh, Li-Huei Tsai
{"title":"Alterations in a cross-hemispheric circuit associates with novelty discrimination deficits in mouse models of neurodegeneration.","authors":"Chinnakkaruppan Adaikkan, Jun Wang, Karim Abdelaal, Steven J Middleton, P Lorenzo Bozzelli, Ian R Wickersham, Thomas J McHugh, Li-Huei Tsai","doi":"10.1016/j.neuron.2025.09.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuron.2025.09.002","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":19313,"journal":{"name":"Neuron","volume":" ","pages":"3298-3299"},"PeriodicalIF":15.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145040958","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
NeuronPub Date : 2025-10-01Epub Date: 2025-09-24DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.08.028
Andrea Asenjo-Martinez, Katarina Dragicevic, Wen-Hsien Hou, Attila Ozsvar, Nikolaj Winther Hansen, Ulrich Pfisterer, Rasmus Rydbirk, Samuel Demharter, Bente Emma Møller, Janina Gasthaus, Irina Korshunova, Jean-François Perrier, Marco Capogna, Navneet A Vasistha, Konstantin Khodosevich
{"title":"Dysfunction of cortical GABAergic projection neurons as a major hallmark in a model of neuropsychiatric syndrome.","authors":"Andrea Asenjo-Martinez, Katarina Dragicevic, Wen-Hsien Hou, Attila Ozsvar, Nikolaj Winther Hansen, Ulrich Pfisterer, Rasmus Rydbirk, Samuel Demharter, Bente Emma Møller, Janina Gasthaus, Irina Korshunova, Jean-François Perrier, Marco Capogna, Navneet A Vasistha, Konstantin Khodosevich","doi":"10.1016/j.neuron.2025.08.028","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuron.2025.08.028","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Neuropsychiatric disorders have a strong genetic component and are linked to developmental risk factors, yet it is unclear why symptoms appear only later in life and which neuronal types contribute to brain dysfunction. We addressed these questions using a robust mouse model of a neuropsychiatric syndrome-the 15q13.3 microdeletion. Single-nucleus transcriptomics revealed the largest gene expression alterations in the somatostatin (Sst) Sst_Chodl subtype, the long-range γ-aminobutyric acid (GABAergic) projecting neurons. Despite the developmental onset of perturbations, impairments in Sst_Chodl neurons manifested only at late maturation. Calcium imaging and patch-clamp recordings unraveled impaired responsivity overall in deep-layer Sst neurons, with only the Sst_Chodl subtype exhibiting increased activity. Patch-seq analysis connected molecular changes to cellular dysfunction of Sst_Chodl neurons. Finally, microdeletion mice displayed sleep disturbances associated with impaired activity of deep-layer Sst neurons, which were rescued by chemogenetic inhibition of Sst_Chodl neurons. Our findings spotlight GABAergic projection neurons as potential vulnerable targets in neuropsychiatric disorders.</p>","PeriodicalId":19313,"journal":{"name":"Neuron","volume":" ","pages":"3204-3223.e11"},"PeriodicalIF":15.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145150147","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
NeuronPub Date : 2025-10-01Epub Date: 2025-07-25DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.06.023
Shun Dong, Lijuan Zhao, Jing Liu, Xuan Sha, Yi Wu, Weili Liu, Junlong Sun, Yangshuai Su, Zhidi Zhuang, Jian Chen, Ying Dong, Beijing Xie, Anqi Zhou, Hongyan Ji, Yuchun Wang, Xiaoman Deng, Xianghong Jing, Qiufu Ma, Nianhong Wang, Shenbin Liu
{"title":"Neuroanatomical organization of electroacupuncture in modulating gastric function in mice and humans.","authors":"Shun Dong, Lijuan Zhao, Jing Liu, Xuan Sha, Yi Wu, Weili Liu, Junlong Sun, Yangshuai Su, Zhidi Zhuang, Jian Chen, Ying Dong, Beijing Xie, Anqi Zhou, Hongyan Ji, Yuchun Wang, Xiaoman Deng, Xianghong Jing, Qiufu Ma, Nianhong Wang, Shenbin Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.neuron.2025.06.023","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.neuron.2025.06.023","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Somatosensory-vagal reflexes evoked by electroacupuncture (EA) can modulate visceral functions. However, the underlying principles and neural mechanisms remain poorly understood, hindering further optimization. Here, we identified key neural components essential for EA topographically driving the somatosensory-vagal-gastric reflex in mice. EA drove this reflex via activation of a subset of transient receptor potential vanilloid-1 (TRPV1)<sup>+</sup> nociceptors marked by the expression of Adra2a and located exclusively in deep fascial tissues. Through TRPV1<sup>+</sup> fibers, EA activated a subtype of gastro-projecting Oxtr<sup>+</sup> fibers originating from the dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV). Genetic ablation of TRPV1<sup>+</sup> fibers or Oxtr<sup>+</sup> DMV neurons attenuated EA-induced gastric reflexes. Conversely, optogenetic activation of these neurons was sufficient to drive gastric motility in mice. Using similar stimulation parameters, we demonstrated that EA successfully improved gastric functions in patients with dysmotility-like functional dyspepsia (chictr.org.cn: ChiCTR2300072636). Our findings thus provide a neural anatomical basis for EA topographically to promote and treat gastric motility disorders.</p>","PeriodicalId":19313,"journal":{"name":"Neuron","volume":" ","pages":"3243-3259.e11"},"PeriodicalIF":15.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144718175","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
NeuronPub Date : 2025-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2025.08.025
Arghya Mukherjee, Pico Caroni
{"title":"From genetic predisposition to mental health: Human cortical development in vitro.","authors":"Arghya Mukherjee, Pico Caroni","doi":"10.1016/j.neuron.2025.08.025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2025.08.025","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In this issue of Neuron, Walsh et al.<sup>1</sup> show how an improved human forebrain assembloid system that includes bona fide developing and differentiated cortical parvalbumin interneurons can be harnessed to investigate early human cortical development in genetic models of schizophrenia.</p>","PeriodicalId":19313,"journal":{"name":"Neuron","volume":"113 19","pages":"3067-3070"},"PeriodicalIF":15.0,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145213250","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}