{"title":"The nervous system as a systemic organizer of cancer-associated cachexia.","authors":"Zheqi Weng, Shuqi Cai, Haoran Zhu, Luju Jiang, Shan Zhang, Zhi-Gang Zhang, Shu-Heng Jiang","doi":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.08.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.08.002","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cancer-associated cachexia (CAC) is a progressive, multiorgan wasting syndrome that critically limits treatment response and survival. In CAC, the nervous system senses, amplifies, and coordinates responses to a broad range of tumor-induced perturbations, including both direct tumor-derived factors and the resulting systemic disturbances in inflammation, metabolism, and immunity. By dysregulating central neural circuits and remodeling peripheral innervation, tumor-hijacked neural coordination drives both anorexia and multiorgan wasting, forming a self-reinforcing cachexia loop. Additionally, treatment-associated neurotoxicity further augments dysfunction across the central and peripheral nervous systems. In this review, we synthesize evidence from patient studies and animal models to examine how tumors co-opt the nervous system to systemically organize cachexia, thereby providing a pathophysiological framework for studying early disease detection, biomarker development, and mechanism-based intervention for CAC.</p>","PeriodicalId":23325,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Neurosciences","volume":" ","pages":"807-824"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148876126","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}
Trends in NeurosciencesPub Date : 2026-10-01Epub Date: 2026-08-17DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2026.07.009
Lea Kaspar, Elisabeth B Binder
{"title":"Putting endocrine signaling on the neurodevelopmental map.","authors":"Lea Kaspar, Elisabeth B Binder","doi":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.07.009","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.07.009","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Endocrine signals are emerging as important regulators of human brain development. In a recent study, Matassa and colleagues established a multiomic atlas of seven major endocrine pathway perturbations in neural organoids, revealing shared and distinct molecular, cellular, and metabolic responses. This resource provides a framework for understanding how hormonal and environmental influences shape neurodevelopment.</p>","PeriodicalId":23325,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Neurosciences","volume":" ","pages":"797-798"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148798479","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}
Trends in NeurosciencesPub Date : 2026-10-01Epub Date: 2026-09-05DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2026.08.005
Martina Laczó, Ondrej Lerch, Zuzana Nedelska, Jan Laczó
{"title":"Spatial navigation and the basal forebrain in Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.","authors":"Martina Laczó, Ondrej Lerch, Zuzana Nedelska, Jan Laczó","doi":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.08.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.08.005","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Lewy body disease (LBD) are frequently associated with spatial navigation impairments. However, these impairments are less pronounced in frontotemporal dementia and limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy. While basal forebrain degeneration occurs in all of these diseases, disruption of cholinergic pathways and related cholinergic deficits has been primarily observed in AD and LBD, and in both of these conditions, basal forebrain degeneration appears to be associated with spatial navigation deficits. In this review, we discuss current understanding of spatial navigation impairments in neurodegenerative diseases, with a particular focus on disease-related changes in the basal forebrain and their associations with impaired spatial navigation abilities in humans.</p>","PeriodicalId":23325,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Neurosciences","volume":" ","pages":"886-902"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148897802","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}
Trends in NeurosciencesPub Date : 2026-10-01Epub Date: 2026-09-07DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2026.08.004
Marion Walter, Amélie Puech, Fateme Aliyari, Emmanuelle Courtiol, Nathalie Buonviso
{"title":"Beyond breathing: multimodal pathways connecting olfaction to autonomic nervous system modulation.","authors":"Marion Walter, Amélie Puech, Fateme Aliyari, Emmanuelle Courtiol, Nathalie Buonviso","doi":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.08.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.08.004","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The interaction between olfaction and respiration has recently emerged as a central aspect of brain-body interactions. To date, most studies in this context, both in rodents and humans, have focused on how respiratory airflow rhythmically drives brain activity. In this review, we shift the focus to the modulatory effects of odorant molecules, which engage chemical, affective, and trigeminal pathways to elicit integrated sensory experiences and robust autonomic responses. We synthesize recent findings showing that the olfactory system, through its unique connectivity with limbic and autonomic networks, operates at the interface between exteroception and interoception. By modulating respiratory dynamics, and more generally autonomic nervous system activity, odors emerge as a multimodal signal capable of influencing brain-body interactions and supporting well-being.</p>","PeriodicalId":23325,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Neurosciences","volume":" ","pages":"856-870"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148907307","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}
Trends in NeurosciencesPub Date : 2026-10-01Epub Date: 2026-08-27DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2026.08.003
Eduardo R Zimmer, Anne-Karine Bouzier-Sore, Luc Pellerin
{"title":"The Microglia-Astrocyte-Neuron Lactate Shuttle model.","authors":"Eduardo R Zimmer, Anne-Karine Bouzier-Sore, Luc Pellerin","doi":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.08.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.08.003","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In a recent study, Adler and colleagues demonstrated that microglia regulate blood glucose delivery to fuel the astrocyte-neuron lactate shuttle. As neuronal protein translation supported by this mechanism is essential for motor learning, these findings reveal how coordinated interactions among microglia, astrocytes, and neurons orchestrate neuroenergetics to support cognition.</p>","PeriodicalId":23325,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Neurosciences","volume":" ","pages":"801-803"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148841357","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}
Trends in NeurosciencesPub Date : 2026-10-01Epub Date: 2026-09-07DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2026.08.006
R Parrish Waters
{"title":"Do rodent social hierarchy assays measure social dominance or task performance?","authors":"R Parrish Waters","doi":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.08.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.08.006","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Social hierarchy is a critical variable in rodent models of stress psychopathology and is often assessed using simplified competitive paradigms. These tasks frequently lack sufficient construct validity for social dominance, limiting interpretations of the neural mechanisms underlying social behavior. Advances in behavioral tracking now permit more ethologically grounded assessments of social dominance and provide a superior alternative to study social dominance.</p>","PeriodicalId":23325,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Neurosciences","volume":" ","pages":"804-806"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148907284","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}
Trends in NeurosciencesPub Date : 2026-10-01Epub Date: 2026-09-10DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2026.08.007
Jun Seo Park, Sung Joong Lee
{"title":"Temporal astrocytic metabolic reprogramming gates pain chronification.","authors":"Jun Seo Park, Sung Joong Lee","doi":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.08.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.08.007","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Most experimental models of chronic pain emphasize the gradual emergence of sensory hypersensitivity, yet pain chronification can also be conceptualized as a metabolically regulated state transition. In this review, we synthesize evidence mainly from mouse and rat spinal cord and anterior cingulate cortex studies indicating that astrocytes temporally coordinate neuronal excitability, inflammatory signaling, and metabolic coupling. We propose that chronification proceeds through temporally organized astrocytic metabolic remodeling: GPCR-linked lactate-coupled signaling during acute induction, sustained glycolytic gene expression and glycogen remodeling during consolidation, and stabilization of pain-permissive astrocyte states through lactylation-linked inflammatory and chromatin regulation. By integrating these mechanisms along a temporal axis, this framework distinguishes processes that initiate chronicity from those that maintain established pain and suggests stage-specific logic for future interventions.</p>","PeriodicalId":23325,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Neurosciences","volume":" ","pages":"841-855"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148931132","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}
Trends in NeurosciencesPub Date : 2026-10-01Epub Date: 2026-09-15DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2026.09.001
Wenfei Cao, Nizhuan Wang, Ke Zhou, Min Xu, Yang Yang
{"title":"The dynamics of functional connectivity-based language lateralization across timescales.","authors":"Wenfei Cao, Nizhuan Wang, Ke Zhou, Min Xu, Yang Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.09.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.09.001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In most individuals, language is predominantly left-lateralized, a prominent feature of human brain organization. Recent research increasingly views language lateralization as a property of distributed and interacting functional networks. In this article, we review evidence that the lateralization of functional connectivity within the language system varies in both degree and direction across multiple timescales. We propose that this connectivity-based lateralization undergoes long-term developmental, experience-dependent, and perturbation-induced reorganization, while also exhibiting short-term context-driven and spontaneous fluctuations within apparently stable patterns. Furthermore, we discuss neurobiological mechanisms that may support and constrain these dynamics. Together, these findings provide a multiscale framework for understanding how the human brain balances functional flexibility with relative stability in shaping the lateralized organization of language.</p>","PeriodicalId":23325,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Neurosciences","volume":" ","pages":"871-885"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2026-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148978220","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":"On the nature of GABA<sub>B</sub> receptors and their plasticity in the mammalian brain.","authors":"Sam A Booker","doi":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.09.004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2026.09.004","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is the principal inhibitory neurotransmitter of the mammalian CNS, essential for circuit function and behaviour. In the brain, GABA activates GABA<sub>A</sub> and GABA<sub>B</sub> receptors to modulate circuit activity on behaviourally relevant timescales. GABA<sub>B</sub> receptor signalling in pre- and postsynaptic domains of neurons is often overlooked, despite the strong inhibition it produces. Importantly, GABA<sub>B</sub> receptors are diversely phosphorylated and interact with various auxiliary subunits to modify function. This review compares the evidence for the expression and modulation of GABA<sub>B</sub> receptors, their effectors, and regulatory mechanisms between cell types, brain areas, and mammalian species, particularly focusing on the plasticity of these mechanisms and their relationship to neurological diseases such as epilepsy and dementia.</p>","PeriodicalId":23325,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Neurosciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2026-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149128782","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":"Sleep-dependent microglial functions in Alzheimer's disease.","authors":"Sara Calafate, Renzo Mancuso","doi":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.09.005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2026.09.005","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sleep is a fundamental regulator of brain homeostasis, yet how distinct brain cell types contribute to this process remains poorly understood. Microglia, the resident immune cells of the central nervous system, actively regulate neuroinflammatory tone, metabolic waste clearance, and synaptic remodeling, thereby contributing to neural circuit maintenance and proteostasis. Delineating the different functions played by microglia during specific brain states, such as sleep, represents an active area of research. In this article, we review a growing literature supporting the notion that sleep dynamically shapes microglial functional outputs. We further suggest that the failure of the sleep-microglia axis may represent an important component of the molecular framework of Alzheimer's disease (AD), contributing to disease progression. Finally, we discuss preclinical and clinical evidence suggesting that sleep-targeting interventions may modulate AD pathology, and highlight the possibility that restoring sleep physiology could recalibrate microglial homeostatic functions and slow disease progression.</p>","PeriodicalId":23325,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Neurosciences","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2026-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149138331","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}