More Than a Relay: How the Visual Thalamus Adapts to Sensory Experience
It was long thought that only neurons in the outermost regions of the brain, called the cortex, could adapt and change their properties in response to visual experience. Takuma Sonoda and Chinfei Chen share new findings revealing that the visual thalamus, a structure in the center of the brain, at an earlier stage in the visual pathway than the cortex, can also change based on what animals see. Their discovery expands our understanding of how sensory systems learn and adapt.

How Did Language Evolve? Comparing Human & Chimpanzee Brains
For many years, researchers have debated whether language in humans emerged through the evolution of gestural communication or vocal communication. Erin Hecht shares new data from chimpanzee research supporting a model where both modalities together contributed.

What Happens When a Gene Quality-Control Mechanism Fails?
New research from Karen Adelman and colleagues, first author Apoorva Baluapuri, shows how failure of a gene-reading quality-control mechanism called Integrator leaves cells littered with abnormal RNA strands that increase cell stress and may contribute to diseases such as cancer and neurodegeneration.