RNA alternative splicing is involved in determining cell identity, but a comprehensive molecular map is missing. Here, the authors provide a human and mouse brain atlas of transcript isoforms linking them to cellular identity, brain regions and development stages.

Precise profiling of dendritic RNA regulation reveals how neuronal depolarization leads to ribosome switching onto short upstream open reading frames and new coding sequences to acutely modulate local protein synthesis.

How astrocytes can integrate information is incompletely understood. Here the authors show that locus coeruleus-controlled calcium signals in hippocampal astrocytes propagating from their processes to their soma are involved in the information integration upon salient events.

Silva et al. definitively establish climbing fiber-driven complex spike events as essential instructive signals for associative cerebellar learning while also revealing unexpected features of optogenetic manipulation.

Neuroinflammation and microglia significantly contribute to Alzheimer’s disease pathology, depending on their activation state. We found that TREM2-expressing microglia are a heterogenous population spanning activated to senescent cells.

Using human iPSC-derived and mouse neurons, this study demonstrates that mRNA transport on lysosome-related vesicles is critical for the maintenance of axonal homeostasis and that its failure causes axonal degeneration.

RNA alternative splicing is involved in determining cell identity, but a comprehensive molecular map is missing. Here, the authors provide a human and mouse brain atlas of transcript isoforms linking them to cellular identity, brain regions and development stages.

Precise profiling of dendritic RNA regulation reveals how neuronal depolarization leads to ribosome switching onto short upstream open reading frames and new coding sequences to acutely modulate local protein synthesis.

How astrocytes can integrate information is incompletely understood. Here the authors show that locus coeruleus-controlled calcium signals in hippocampal astrocytes propagating from their processes to their soma are involved in the information integration upon salient events.

Silva et al. definitively establish climbing fiber-driven complex spike events as essential instructive signals for associative cerebellar learning while also revealing unexpected features of optogenetic manipulation.

As Nature Neuroscience celebrates its 25th anniversary, we are having conversations with both established leaders in the field and those earlier in their careers to discuss how the field has evolved and where it is heading. This month we are talking to Fernando de Castro Soubriet, principal investigator at the Instituto Cajal (Spain). He is a neurodevelopmental biologist who is actively involved in championing the history of neuroscience. He is among the group of Spanish scientists who ensured that the Archives of Santiago Ramón y Cajal and the Spanish Neurohistological School are registered as World Heritage with UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). Here, we discuss science and the legacy of the Spanish Neurohistological School.

The study of the female brain during pregnancy and motherhood is gaining traction, and holds the potential to address the unmet needs of millions of women worldwide. Here we highlight the most pressing gaps in this field. Filling these knowledge gaps will require two paths forward: focused longitudinal studies that deeply characterize individuals, and collaborative initiatives that build large-scale international databases.