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Cardiac disease drives the denervation of the pineal gland, resulting in a loss of neural control of melatonin release and disrupted sleep–wake patterns.
The stress associated with early-life social deprivation in mice results in corticosterone-driven overstimulation of cortical synapse removal by astrocytes and behavioural abnormalities in mature animals.
Stress modulates immune system function and systemic inflammation is linked to stress-related disorders, including depression. Russo and colleagues outline the neural circuits through which the CNS regulates immune cell function in peripheral tissues in response to stress and consider how these responses contribute to stress-related pathophysiology.
Motherhood in humans is associated with numerous neurobiological adaptations. In this Review, Servin-Barthet et al. focus on the interplay among pregnancy-related hormones, brain plasticity and maternal behaviour and aim to provide a roadmap for future investigations.
Neurodegenerative diseases show idiosyncratic spatial patterns of progressive protein malformations in the brain. In this Perspective, Vogel et al. discuss the role of inter-regional connectivity in constraining and modulating the spread of pathological proteins and provide a framework for patient-tailored prognostics.
Membrane excitability is central to neuronal function, and neurons must be resilient to changes in its underlying parameters. In this Perspective article, Marom and Marder suggest that two complementary mechanisms contribute to the resilience of membrane excitability: rapid ‘kinetic-based’ regulation of ion channel proteins and slower homeostatic control of ion channel membrane densities.
