{"title":"From Organoids to Assembloids: Experimental Approaches to Study Human Neuropsychiatric Disorders.","authors":"Rebecca J Levy, Sergiu P Paşca","doi":"10.1146/annurev-neuro-112723-023232","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-112723-023232","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>To understand the pathophysiology and develop effective therapeutics for brain disorders, some of which may involve uniquely human features of the nervous system, scalable human models of neural cell diversity and circuit formation are essential. The discovery of cell reprogramming and the development of approaches for generating stem cell-derived neurons and glial cells in 3D preparations known as neural organoids and assembloids, both in vitro and following transplantation in vivo, provide new opportunities to tackle these challenges. Here, we outline strengths and limitations of currently available human experimental models as applied to neurological and psychiatric disorders for both environmental and genetic risk factors, and we discuss how these new tools hold promise for accelerating the development of therapeutics.</p>","PeriodicalId":8008,"journal":{"name":"Annual review of neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143963206","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":"Topological Neuroscience: Linking Circuits to Function.","authors":"Carina Curto, Nicole Sanderson","doi":"10.1146/annurev-neuro-112723-034315","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-112723-034315","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We review recent developments of the use of topology in neuroscience. From grid cells and head direction cells to the geometry of olfactory space, modern applied topology methods such as persistent homology are increasingly being used to study neural circuits and perception. In addition to outlining the big picture and reviewing various applications of topological data analysis (TDA) to neuroscience, we take a deep dive into the basic homology computation to make the underlying mathematics more accessible to neuroscientists. A discussion of practical considerations and pointers to TDA software are also included.</p>","PeriodicalId":8008,"journal":{"name":"Annual review of neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143956880","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}
Caroline Haimerl, Filipe S Rodrigues, Joseph J Paton
{"title":"Time, Control, and the Nervous System.","authors":"Caroline Haimerl, Filipe S Rodrigues, Joseph J Paton","doi":"10.1146/annurev-neuro-112723-025348","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-112723-025348","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Because organisms are able to sense its passage, it is perhaps tempting to treat time as a sensory modality, akin to vision or audition. Indeed, certain features of sensory estimation, such as Weber's law, apply to timing and sensation alike. However, from an organismal perspective, time is a derived feature of other signals, not a stimulus that can be readily transduced by sensory receptors. Its importance for biology lies in the fact that the physical world comprises a complex dynamical system. The multiscale spatiotemporal structure of sensory and internally generated signals within an organism is the informational fabric underlying its ability to control behavior. Viewed this way, temporal computations assume a more fundamental role than is implied by treating time as just another element of the experienced world. Thus, in this review we focus on temporal processing as a means of approaching the more general problem of how the nervous system produces adaptive behavior.</p>","PeriodicalId":8008,"journal":{"name":"Annual review of neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143972867","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":"The Many Lives of an Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cell.","authors":"JoAnn Buchanan, Lucas Cheadle","doi":"10.1146/annurev-neuro-112723-025806","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-112723-025806","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) are glia that give rise to myelinating oligodendrocytes in the developing and adult brain. However, emerging data suggest that OPCs perform a wide range of functions beyond oligodendrogenesis. For example, OPCs receive direct synaptic input from neurons, and they respond to neural activity through the release of factors that alter neuronal function. Moreover, OPCs directly associate with the neurovasculature to promote blood-brain barrier maintenance and integrity. Emerging data suggest that OPCs can refine synaptic connectivity during brain development, a process to which they contribute by phagocytosing synapses. Finally, OPCs are also involved in brain immunity, as they can adopt immune cell-like functions during demyelinating and neurodegenerative diseases. Altogether, these findings have identified OPCs as the major multitaskers of the brain. In this review, we discuss the roles of OPCs that extend beyond oligodendrocyte production and their relevance for neurological function.</p>","PeriodicalId":8008,"journal":{"name":"Annual review of neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143969456","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":"How the Hippocampal Cognitive Map Supports Flexible Navigation.","authors":"John O'Keefe","doi":"10.1146/annurev-neuro-112723-023341","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-112723-023341","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>During navigation to a goal, a portion of the hippocampal place cells exhibit directional preferences, firing more in some directions than in others. These directional preferences create vector fields oriented toward locations scattered around the environment called ConSinks. The population vector field averaged across all of the cells recorded in each animal flows toward an average ConSink located close to the goal, providing a means for navigation in unobstructed environments. Closer examination of the ConSink place cell directional firing reveals a fantail representation in which alternative paths to the goal are evaluated, providing the basis for flexible navigation. Additional assumptions about how obstructions might be represented suggest a solution for navigation in more complicated environments. Implications for the phenomena of directionality on linear tracks and splitter cells are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":8008,"journal":{"name":"Annual review of neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143810017","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}
Maria Sachkova, Vengamanaidu Modepalli, Maike Kittelmann
{"title":"The Deep Evolutionary Roots of the Nervous System.","authors":"Maria Sachkova, Vengamanaidu Modepalli, Maike Kittelmann","doi":"10.1146/annurev-neuro-112723-040945","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-112723-040945","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The evolutionary success of animals can, at least in part, be attributed to the presence of neurons that allow long-distance communication between tissues, coordination of movements, and the capacity for learning. However, the evolutionary origin and relationship of neurons to other cell types are fundamental questions that remain unsolved. The first neurons probably evolved shortly after the rise of the first animals over 600 million years ago. Studies on early-diverging animal lineages have provided key insights into the mechanisms underlying the origin of neurons. Recent discoveries in morphology, molecular signatures, and function of neurons in cnidarians and comb jellies, as well as neuron-like cells in nerveless placozoans, sponges, and other eukaryotes, may prompt a redefinition of what constitutes a neuron. Here we review the latest insights into the origin of neurons and nervous systems, while also highlighting exciting technological advancements that not only are accelerating our understanding of nervous system evolution, morphology, and function but also hold the potential to revolutionize the field.</p>","PeriodicalId":8008,"journal":{"name":"Annual review of neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143810068","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":"Prenatal Immune Stress: Its Impact on Brain Development and Neuropsychiatric Disorders.","authors":"Navneet A Vasistha, Akira Sawa","doi":"10.1146/annurev-neuro-112723-024048","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-112723-024048","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Many epidemiological studies have indicated that prenatal immune stress, frequently elicited by maternal immune activation, underlies a major risk for neuropsychiatric disorders of neurodevelopmental origin, such as schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders. Animal models have been utilized to understand the biological processes of how immune stress influences brain development and resultant behavioral changes. Through such studies, the impacts of orchestrated immune-inflammatory mechanisms led by interleukin-6 (IL-6) on several developing cells, such as neural progenitors, neurons, and microglia, have been deciphered. In addition to prenatal immune stress from adverse maternal environments, mechanisms regulated by intrinsic factors directly associated with the offspring also exist. This review also introduces human stem cell models for addressing this topic and refers to potential modifiers of prenatal immune stress that could influence the eventual behavioral outcomes. Altogether, a mechanistic understanding of the impact of prenatal immune stress on brain development provides a fundamental addition in translational and clinical neurology and psychiatry.</p>","PeriodicalId":8008,"journal":{"name":"Annual review of neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143810047","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":"Sensory Feedback and the Dynamic Control of Movement.","authors":"Martyn Goulding, Tejapratap Bollu, Ansgar Büschges","doi":"10.1146/annurev-neuro-112723-042229","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-112723-042229","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Motor systems in animals are highly dependent on sensory information for optimal control and precision, with mechanosensory feedback from the somatosensory system playing a critical role. These mechanosensory pathways are woven into the descending feedforward pathways and local central pattern generator circuits that control and generate movement, respectively. Somatosensory feedback in mammals and insects, the two animal classes this review touches upon, is complex due to the increased demands that limbed locomotion, weight-bearing, and corrective movements place on sensorimotor control. In this review, we outline the salient features of the proprioceptive and exteroceptive sensory feedback pathways animals rely on for controlling movement and highlight some of the key principles of sensory feedback that are shared across the animal kingdom.</p>","PeriodicalId":8008,"journal":{"name":"Annual review of neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143810065","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}
Lucas Encarnacion-Rivera, Karl Deisseroth, Liqun Luo
{"title":"Neurobiology of Thirst and Hunger Drives.","authors":"Lucas Encarnacion-Rivera, Karl Deisseroth, Liqun Luo","doi":"10.1146/annurev-neuro-112723-032328","DOIUrl":"10.1146/annurev-neuro-112723-032328","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Thirst and hunger drives are fundamental survival mechanisms that transform physiological need into motivated behavior. In the brain, discrete types of circumventricular and hypothalamic neurons serve as neural circuit elements underlying thirst and hunger drives. These neurons receive signals of dehydration and starvation arising from outside the brain and communicate these homeostatic needs to downstream neural circuit elements. Recent advances in neural circuit activity recording and control in behaving mammals have elucidated how direct and indirect targets of these cells encode goal-relevant, affective, autonomic, and behavioral components of the drives, resulting in a finely tuned, robust, and flexible set of survival-appropriate behaviors.Updated on April 25, 2025.</p>","PeriodicalId":8008,"journal":{"name":"Annual review of neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143810021","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":"Cell Type-Specific Studies of Human Tissue for Investigation of the Molecular Cell Biology of Late-Onset Neurodegenerative Disease.","authors":"Kert Mätlik, Christina Pressl, Nathaniel Heintz","doi":"10.1146/annurev-neuro-112723-025516","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-neuro-112723-025516","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Decades of research into human neurodegenerative diseases have revealed important similarities as well as dissimilarities between diseases. While investigations of specific mechanistic aspects of diseases have been aided by cell and animal models, true advances in the understanding of neurodegeneration require that we deal with the daunting complexities of the human brain. In this review, we discuss novel molecular profiling methods that have been applied to human postmortem brain tissue during the last decade and highlight insights into cell type-specific molecular characteristics and disease-associated changes in both vulnerable and resilient cell types in Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease. We also illustrate how these approaches can complement human genetic analyses and studies of animal models to advance our understanding of human neurodegeneration.</p>","PeriodicalId":8008,"journal":{"name":"Annual review of neuroscience","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143655613","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}