Trends in NeurosciencesPub Date : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2026-05-04DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2026.04.004
Xiaoxuan Jia
{"title":"Mapping neuronal selectivity and invariance in the mammalian visual cortex using digital twins.","authors":"Xiaoxuan Jia","doi":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.04.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.04.004","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In a recent study, Ding, Tran, and colleagues applied model-guided closed-loop physiology to systematically map neuronal selectivity and invariance in the mouse primary visual cortex, revealing a spectrum of receptive-field invariances, including a bipartite organization tuned to spatial-frequency boundaries. This approach efficiently explores the high-dimensional visual feature space, providing a framework to investigate neuronal coding schemes and representational geometry.</p>","PeriodicalId":23325,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Neurosciences","volume":" ","pages":"420-422"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147843387","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 : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2026-04-15DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2026.03.007
Jakub Ziak, Sriram Sudarsanam, Alex L Kolodkin
{"title":"Regulation and function of interstitial axon branching in cortical projection neurons.","authors":"Jakub Ziak, Sriram Sudarsanam, Alex L Kolodkin","doi":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.03.007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.03.007","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Nervous system function is contingent on accurate neuronal connectivity patterns. A single neuron must often connect with multiple synaptic partners. Excitatory cortical projection neurons in the mammalian brain are a prime example of neurons whose axons innervate multiple distant target regions. This is made possible, in part, by interstitial axon branches that extend from axon shafts during development. The identification of molecular mechanisms that regulate interstitial axon branching in cortical projection neurons remains a major challenge. In this review, we summarize known stereotyped interstitial axon branching patterns in the mammalian brain and their spatiotemporal and molecular developmental cues. Taken together, these discoveries provide a foundation for understanding and identifying the molecular determinants that direct cortical connectivity during neural development.</p>","PeriodicalId":23325,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Neurosciences","volume":" ","pages":"464-480"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147691942","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":"Epigenetic noise in the aging brain: tuning neuronal vulnerability to neurodegeneration.","authors":"Xinyang Yin, Houchun Zhang, Ru Zhang, Jianhuang Xue, Yujun Hou","doi":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.04.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.04.006","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Aging is the predominant risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases, yet the mechanisms linking biological aging to selective neuronal degeneration remain incompletely understood. Accumulating evidence indicates that aging progressively disrupts epigenetic regulation, manifested as increased epigenetic noise in DNA methylation, histone modifications, and chromatin accessibility, which undermines transcriptional precision and the stability of neuronal identity. Recent advances in single-cell and spatial epigenomics further suggest that these age-associated epigenetic alterations are not merely correlative but can actively shape neuronal vulnerability across brain regions and cell types. In this review, we synthesize emerging evidence showing how epigenetic noise contributes to selective neurodegeneration across Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Huntington's disease, and discuss emerging strategies aimed at stabilizing the aging neuronal epigenome.</p>","PeriodicalId":23325,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Neurosciences","volume":" ","pages":"481-499"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147942818","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 : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2026-04-25DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2026.04.002
Hongyun Wang, Shuhan Liu, Ling Bai
{"title":"A dimmer switch for reward: the vagus sets the gain.","authors":"Hongyun Wang, Shuhan Liu, Ling Bai","doi":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.04.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.04.002","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The vagus nerve, among its various functions, carries gut nutrient signals to brain reward circuits. In a recent study, Onimus and colleagues have shown it is more than a simple relay: vagal integrity is required for maintaining dopamine release and the circuit structure of the mesolimbic system to mount reward responses. These findings reveal the vagus as a tonic gatekeeper of motivation and reward.</p>","PeriodicalId":23325,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Neurosciences","volume":" ","pages":"415-416"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147782401","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 : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2026-05-08DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2026.04.003
Christoph M Michel, Lucie Bréchet
{"title":"EEG microstates: from methodological foundations to clinical translation.","authors":"Christoph M Michel, Lucie Bréchet","doi":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.04.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.04.003","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Electroencephalography (EEG) microstates represent discrete topographic configurations persisting approximately 50-120 ms before transitioning to new patterns. These transient states provide unique insights into large-scale brain organization in health and disease, capturing reference-independent, zero-lag, synchronized networks at timescales matching cortical communication constraints. This review addresses critical methodological challenges in EEG microstates, including data-driven cluster optimization, template derivation strategies for group comparisons, and interpretive frameworks based on convergent evidence rather than premature functional consensus. Future advances will require transitioning from arbitrary conventions to optimization-based approaches, characterizing higher-order temporal dynamics, establishing multimodal integration, and building validation standards that prioritize convergent evidence. With methodological rigor, microstate analysis can advance our understanding of brain dynamics and their role in cognition, consciousness, and brain disorders.</p>","PeriodicalId":23325,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Neurosciences","volume":" ","pages":"433-449"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147857315","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 : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2026-04-23DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2026.04.001
Marcel E Sayre, Ajay Narendra, Stanley Heinze, Andrew B Barron
{"title":"Head direction and the evolutionary origins of spatial representation.","authors":"Marcel E Sayre, Ajay Narendra, Stanley Heinze, Andrew B Barron","doi":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.04.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.04.001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Spatial representations are a fundamental aspect of cognition. It remains largely unknown when and why the capacity to neurally represent space first evolved. In this opinion article, we argue that a strong candidate for the earliest such representation is the encoding of head direction. Dedicated circuits that compute head direction by integrating self-motion and external cues have been described in both vertebrates and insects and are likely to be ancestral in each lineage. This suggests a Cambrian or possibly Precambrian origin for head direction representation. In both lineages, head direction circuits occupy an evolutionarily and functionally foundational position. They occur in deeply conserved brain structures, sit upstream of other spatial representations, and can emerge from minimal neural architecture. In mammals, they also develop before other spatial systems. Together, these features suggest that head direction was the first neural representation of space, offering a window into the evolution of neural representation and spatial cognition more generally.</p>","PeriodicalId":23325,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Neurosciences","volume":" ","pages":"423-432"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147782375","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 : 2026-06-01Epub Date: 2026-05-15DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2026.04.005
Kelsey Perrykkad, M Navyaan Siddiqui, Sharna Jamadar
{"title":"Transformation, again? Impact of a second pregnancy on the brain, cognition, and sense of self.","authors":"Kelsey Perrykkad, M Navyaan Siddiqui, Sharna Jamadar","doi":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.04.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.04.005","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Becoming a mother for the first time is a transformative experience, resulting in widespread changes in systemic physiology, neurobiology, cognition, and the sense of self. In a recent study, Straathof et al. demonstrated that a second pregnancy may have a similar transformative effect on the brain.</p>","PeriodicalId":23325,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Neurosciences","volume":" ","pages":"417-419"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147942815","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 : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2026-04-18DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2026.03.012
Christy Hung
{"title":"A tanycytic route for tau clearance in Alzheimer's disease.","authors":"Christy Hung","doi":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.03.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.03.012","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In a recent study, Sauvé et al. identified hypothalamic tanycytes as a route for tau transport from cerebrospinal fluid to blood and suggested that disruption of this pathway contributes to Alzheimer's disease pathology. The work broadens current models of tau clearance and raises new questions about how tanycytic dysfunction contributes to neurodegeneration.</p>","PeriodicalId":23325,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Neurosciences","volume":" ","pages":"326-327"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147718411","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 : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2026-03-31DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2026.03.005
Nardos Kebede, Steven A Sloan
{"title":"Defining multipotent intermediate progenitors in cortical development.","authors":"Nardos Kebede, Steven A Sloan","doi":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.03.005","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.03.005","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cortical development is a tightly coordinated process driven by the self-renewal and differentiation of neural progenitors. Radial glia, the primary neuroectodermal progenitors of the cortex, generate diverse cortical cell types, in part through intermediate progenitors that amplify progenitor pools. Advances in single-cell profiling and lineage tracing have transformed the characterization and fate mapping of these intermediate progenitors. Notably, studies in mouse and human models have identified a new class of multipotent intermediate progenitors that generate cortical astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and interneurons, broadening the classical view of glial-restricted progenitors. In this review, we synthesize emerging evidence for these intermediate progenitors, discuss the mechanisms underlying their specification, and propose an integrative framework for understanding their identity and role in cortical lineage specification.</p>","PeriodicalId":23325,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Neurosciences","volume":" ","pages":"390-402"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13048286/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147593993","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Trends in NeurosciencesPub Date : 2026-05-01Epub Date: 2026-04-11DOI: 10.1016/j.tins.2026.03.010
Manoela V Fogaça
{"title":"Serotonergic and glutamatergic mechanisms converge in ketamine's rapid responses.","authors":"Manoela V Fogaça","doi":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.03.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tins.2026.03.010","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ketamine's rapid antidepressant actions are commonly attributed to glutamatergic mechanisms. In a recent study, Luo and colleagues have shown that ketamine inhibits the serotonin transporter and that prefrontal serotonergic signaling synergizes with NMDA receptor blockade to recruit vasoactive intestinal peptide interneurons in mice, driving fast behavioral responses. These findings suggest convergent serotonergic and glutamatergic pathways underlying ketamine's antidepressant effects.</p>","PeriodicalId":23325,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Neurosciences","volume":" ","pages":"324-325"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13078723/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147677024","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}