Fiona Carr

Neurodegeneration: Selective vulnerability

The subtype of motor neurons that is most likely to degenerate early in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is prone to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in mice, owing to low levels of SIL1, an ER-associated protein.

Neurogenetics: Restoring levels

The behavioural phenotype in a mouse model of MECP2 (methyl-CpG-binding protein 2) duplication syndrome can be rescued in adulthood by normalizing MeCP2 levels.

Microglia: Tau distributors

Microglia contribute to the propagation of tau between brain regions in mice, by phagocytosis and release of the protein.

Neural circuits: Pruning the projections

Disruption of actin polymerization in the frontal cortex, which causes abnormal dendritic spine structures, results in locomotor hyperactivity owing to dysregulation of a midbrain dopaminergic circuit.

Neuropharmacology: Driving the urge to eat

Cannabinoids promote food intake in mice by activating pro-opiomelanocortin neurons in the hypothalamus and selectively increasing β-endorphin release.

Spinal cord: Interpreting interneuron diversity

V1 inhibitory interneurons of the spinal cord can be divided into 50 subtypes based on the expression of transcription factors; these subtypes have distinct physiological characteristics and spatial locations and differentially interact with the motor circuits innervating muscles in different limbs.

Synaptic physiology: Dual role for dopamine.

Tonic and phasic patterns of dopamine release have opposing effects on Schaffer collateral stimulation-evoked CA1 activity.

Addiction: Road to aversion.

Projections from the paraventricular thalamus to the nucleus accumbens mediate the somatic response and aversion to opiate withdrawal in mice.

Neurodegenerative disease: Forming fragments

Parkinson disease-associated mutations in the gene encoding vacuolar protein sorting-associated protein 35 increase the turnover of dynamin-like protein 1 in the mitochondrial membrane of neurons, leading to mitochondrial fission and neuronal death.

Reward: A separate sweet circuit

In mice, the nutritional and hedonic values of sugar ingestion are mediated by the dorsal and ventral striatum, respectively.