Research articles

Eze et al. use single-cell sequencing and immunohistochemical validation to create an atlas of early human brain development. In the telencephalon, they discover a diversity of progenitor subtypes, including two that are enriched in humans.

Blum et al. performed single-nucleus RNA sequencing of the adult mouse spinal cord. This analysis revealed heterogeneity in the autonomic and skeletal motor systems and provides a resource to study motor neurons in health and disease.

This study defined spatial gene expression in the human dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. It reveals layer-enriched expression of genes associated with schizophrenia and autism, highlighting the clinical relevance of spatially defined expression.

Boulting et al. profile activity-dependent gene expression and regulatory elements in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived GABAergic neurons and uncover a possible role for calcium-responsive gene promoters of these neurons in autism risk.

Leng et al. uncover the molecular signature of neuronal subpopulations that are selectively vulnerable to tau aggregation and death early in Alzheimer’s disease in the human entorhinal cortex and other brain regions, validating RORB as a marker.

The authors show that a coordinated epigenetic priming event during memory encoding and consolidation facilitates promoter–enhancer interactions that are vital for the unique transcriptional output of reactivated engram neurons.

By analyzing hundreds of mice treated with a library of neuro- and psychoactive drugs, Wiltschko et al. show that Motion Sequencing can effectively discriminate and categorize drug effects and link molecular targets to behavioral syllables.

The ventral hippocampus is central in the processing of emotional information. Here, a combination of viral and sequencing approaches defines the organizational logic of the extended ventral CA1 circuit.

Chen et al. define previously unreported zebrafish astrocytes, provide new insights into vertebrate astrocyte development and lay the foundation for studying astrocyte function in the entire nervous system of an intact and behaving animal.

Single-nucleus transcriptomics reveal brain alterations associated with major depression. Deep layer excitatory cells and immature oligodendrocytes showed most changes, involving synaptic plasticity, immune function and steroid hormones.

The authors identify two subsets of peripheral nerve macrophages residing in the endoneurium and the epineurium and displaying a distinct transcriptome and response to injury. These cells lack the main microglia identity and have a distinct origin.

Wen et al. combined single-cell RNA-seq and spatiotemporal analysis techniques to characterize the basic cell types in the mouse SCN, identifying their spatial distributions and circadian and light-induced gene expression patterns.

This resource comprises ultra-high-resolution MRI datasets and corresponding gray and white matter atlases of the marmoset brain to facilitate brain connectivity studies and the development of tractography algorithms in the primate brain.

By comparing neural responses to diverse visual stimuli measured with a standardized two-photon imaging pipeline, the authors reveal response specializations within the mouse visual cortex.

Grubman et al. generated a single-cell transcriptomic atlas of the entorhinal cortex from patients with Alzheimer’s disease and identified transcription factor networks predicted to control disease progression in a cell-subtype-specific way.

Sankowski et al. have combined high-throughput techniques to characterize human microglia, identifying a spectrum of microglia phenotypes that are determined by localization, aging and glioblastoma.

Munji et al. analyzed the transcriptomes of endothelial cells from multiple organs and in neural tissue of neurological disease models. They identified a blood–brain barrier dysfunction module in seizure, multiple sclerosis, stroke and brain trauma.

This manuscript describes the systematic investigation of epigenomic signatures discriminating between regenerative success and failure in dorsal root ganglia sensory neurons following axonal injury. This epigenomic map offers a tool to design novel approaches for neuronal repair.

Dube et al. generated an atlas of human brain circular RNA (circRNA) expression in individuals with and without Alzheimer disease (AD). They demonstrated circRNA expression correlates with AD severity, even before substantial clinical symptom onset.

A single-cell transcriptomic atlas of the aging mouse brain reveals coordinated and cell-type-specific aging signatures across multiple cell populations. Catalogs of aging-related genes, pathways and ligand–receptor interactions are reported.