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Other Informations About Neurons

A descending glycinergic circuit drives opioid-resistant mechanical pain via spinal GluN3A excitatory glycine receptors in mice 09/03/2026

Dong et al. identify a descending brainstem-to-spinal-cord circuit that drives widespread, opioid-resistant pain in mice. They show that glycine from this pathway acts as an excitatory signal by activating a specific type of NMDA receptor in the spinal cord, revealing a previously unknown mechanism for refractory tactile pain.

A bifunctional optical reporter for tracking estrogen response dynamics in neurons 08/28/2026

Cara, Guthman, et al. present neuro-seeER, an optical tool for monitoring how neurons respond dynamically to the hormone estrogen. By tracking these dynamics across the reproductive cycle in female mice, they reveal that individual neurons and different animals respond differently to hormone signals, thereby uncovering unexpected complexity in brain-hormone interactions.

Ingestion-activated CGRP neurons control learning but not satiety 08/26/2026

Jarvie et al. identify two populations of parabrachial CGRP neurons, one that responds rapidly to appetitive signals during ingestion and the other that responds slowly to aversive visceral cues. The rapid CGRP neuron activation during ingestion is shown to be required for post-ingestive learning but not, as previously believed, satiety.

An inherited hypomorphic variant in PIEZO2 reveals structural features of mechanotransduction 08/24/2026

Nickolls et al. identify a clinical variant in PIEZO2 that impairs touch sensation and body awareness. By showing how this variant prevents PIEZO channels from opening and deforming under pressure, the study adds to our understanding of how specific PIEZO protein domains contribute to force-induced conformational changes.