Featured Story:
How Different Neurons Shape Myelination in the Cerebral Cortex
August 10, 2026
Nuria Domínguez-Iturza and Paola Arlotta present new research describing the molecular signals that promote myelination in the cerebral cortex and show that these signals are expressed at varying levels across neuronal types. Their findings reveal how neuronal diversity shapes myelin development, providing new insights into brain development and disease.
Community Stories
August 25, 2026
Amar Sahay shares his lab’s discovery that many ultra-high confidence risk genes for autism, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and epilepsy may be regulators of experience-dependent plasticity of inhibitory neurons in the hippocampus of adult mice. Proof-of-concept experiments reveal that targeting one of these regulators can improve cognition and suppress seizures in a common mouse model of neurodevelopmental disorder risk.
Original article in: Nature >
February 24, 2026
How do we prepare early-career scientists for today’s wide range of paths in and beyond the lab? Jelena Patrnogić shares a new flexible competency framework she developed with Xiuqi Li and David Van Vactor that makes expectations clearer for trainees, mentors, and programs, and supports growth across both research and professional skills.
Original article in: PLoS Biology >
February 3, 2026
iPSC-derived sensory neurons provide an accessible platform for scientists to study sensory biology and disease; however, these cells are similar to embryonic neurons. Chelsey Derderian-LeBlang and Rosalind Segal present a protocol to accelerate the maturation of iPSC-derived sensory neurons, by providing external signals from satellite glial cells. They show that satellite glia, while previously described as a support cell, play a major role in both sensory neuron development and degeneration.
Original article in: Stem Cell Reports >
January 14, 2026
New experiences trigger rapid changes in gene activity and DNA accessibility in the brain’s memory-center, the hippocampus. Lisa Traunmüller and Erin Duffy describe new research from the Greenberg lab that uses advanced sequencing to map how different hippocampal regions respond at the molecular level to a novel environment — revealing how experiences shape brain circuits that underlie learning and memory.
Original article in: Nature Communications >
In the News
August 25, 2026
Male veterans of the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard had higher rates of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal nervous system disease, compared to veterans of the Army, according to a new study from Marc G. Weisskopf, Andrea Roberts, and colleagues.
Original article in: Neurology >
August 25, 2026
For decades, neuroscientists have been able to record which parts of the brain show increased electrical activity during a behavior, such as when we form a memory or make a decision. But scientists haven’t been able to determine how those regions are communicating with and influencing one another, nor identify which regions serve as the main orchestrators. A new artificial intelligence framework called Current-Based Decomposition, or CURBD, can now make that distinction.
Original article in: Neuron >
August 25, 2026
A lot is known about communication via classically described synapses, but over the last decade, new tools have allowed scientists to focus increasingly on other, more diffuse systems, in which brain chemicals called neuromodulators communicate with many different cells over longer time frames. New research shows that fluorescent sensors commonly used in this research can mix up two neuromodulators: dopamine and norepinephrine.
Original article in: Nature Neuroscience >
Awards & Honors
August 5, 2026
Round up of awards and honors earned by the HBI community.
July 13, 2026
Round up of awards and honors earned by the HBI community.