News

Jakob Hartmann and Kerry Ressler share new work uncovering how SKA2, a protein regulating stress-related signaling, interacts with the glucocorticoid receptor to maintain balance in the brain’s stress response. By highlighting altered SKA2 expression in bipolar disorder, this work offers new insights into the molecular underpinnings of stress-related psychiatric conditions and potential pathways for therapeutic intervention.

Sophie Barton shares new research investigating how humans may have unwittingly altered the brain morphology of domestic dogs through selective breeding for head shape. Dogs with extreme head shapes show widespread reductions in gray matter volume across the brain.

Clifford Woolf shares a perspectives piece about what scientists can learn from the opioid crisis as they develop new pain treatments. The piece is part of a special Nature Outlook edition on pain.

An increase in high-fat, high-fructose foods in people’s diets has contributed to a dramatic increase in type 2 diabetes. This, in turn, has led to an increase in peripheral neuropathy. New research reveals that months before this damage occurs, immune cells flood into peripheral nerves in an apparent attempt to protect them. This surprising insight could lead to strategies to prevent peripheral neuropathy or at least minimize and slow the onset of the damage.

New research from Nao Uchida, Jan Drugowitsch, and colleagues, first author Adam Lowett deepens the connections between natural and artificial intelligence — using modern advances in reinforcement learning to probe the computational principles underlying the anatomy and physiology of the striatum and its dopamine neurons.

Round up of awards and honors earned by the HBI community.