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Brainstem sensing of multiple body signals during food consumption 09/17/2026

Essner, Ruda, and colleagues use large-scale, multi-day calcium imaging in awake and anesthetized mice to characterize how brainstem lateral parabrachial neurons encode body signals. Largely distinct, spatially organized groups of neurons in this interoceptive hub preferentially respond to oral or post-ingestive feeding signals, locomotion, arousal, and/or feedback from cortex.

Post-inhibitory rebound firing promotes hypothalamic activation during male mating in mice 09/17/2026

Both inhibitory inputs to the mPOA and mPOA activation are required for male mating, but how inhibition contributes to neuronal activity during mounting remains unclear. Zhang et al. identify T-type calcium channel-mediated post-inhibitory rebound firing in the mPOA as a mechanism that converts inhibition into excitation to facilitate mount initiation.

Local sympathetic signal enables the immune evasion of hepatic stellate cells 09/16/2026

Li et al. report a positive correlation between local sympathetic inputs and the severity of liver fibrosis in patients, a phenomenon that similarly occurs in a mouse disease model. Local sympathetic signals act via the α1B-adrenergic receptor to promote immune evasion of hepatic stellate cells from natural killer cells.

Loss of interruption in the HTT CAG repeat is associated with somatic expansion and loss of medium spiny neurons in Huntington’s disease 09/14/2026

Kay, Levesley, et al. show that the strongest genetic modifier of Huntington’s disease (HD), a loss of interruption in the causative HTT CAG repeat, increases somatic expansion in neurons that are selectively lost in the disease. Their findings suggest that genetic changes in disease-causing repeats can modify cell-type-specific pathology.