Tau aggregates cause reactivation of transposable DNA elements, leading to Z-RNA–ZBP1-mediated neuronal death

by Clinical Neuropsychologist Online | Wednesday, May 20, 2026 | Neuroscience

Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 20 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41593-026-02299-9Tau aggregates disrupt heterochromatin by sequestering H3K9me3, reactivating transposable elements. This generates Z-RNAs, activating ZBP1 to drive neuronal death. ZBP1...

Considering biological limitations of lesion network mapping

by Clinical Neuropsychologist Online | Wednesday, May 20, 2026 | Neuroscience

Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 20 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41593-026-02319-8Lesion network mapping (LNM), or atrophy network mapping, has become a widely adopted tool for linking focal brain lesions or neurodegenerative brain clusters, respectively, to...

Spatial proteomic analysis in human Alzheimer’s disease brains enables identification of microenvironment-dependent microglial cell states

by Clinical Neuropsychologist Online | Monday, May 18, 2026 | Neuroscience

Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 18 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41593-026-02267-3Myeloid cells show marked heterogeneity in Alzheimer’s disease. This study introduces CODEX-CNS, a single-cell spatial proteomics pipeline, and identifies a human microglial...

Autism subtypes identified using cross-species functional connectivity analyses

by Clinical Neuropsychologist Online | Friday, May 15, 2026 | Neuroscience

Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 15 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41593-026-02287-zPagani et al. used cross-species fMRI to reveal two autism subtypes, characterized by lower and higher brain connectivity and linked to synaptic and immune-related pathways,...

Excitatory synapses onto axonic spines jump-start action potentials and route information flow

by Clinical Neuropsychologist Online | Friday, May 15, 2026 | Neuroscience

Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 15 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41593-026-02282-4The axon initial segment was known to receive GABAergic synaptic inputs. Yang et al. show that it can be excited directly via specialized ‘axonic spines’. These spines thus boost...

Parsing autism spectrum heterogeneity through fMRI

by Clinical Neuropsychologist Online | Friday, May 15, 2026 | Neuroscience

Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 15 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41593-026-02269-1Autism is remarkably heterogeneous, posing a long-standing challenge for linking genetics to brain dynamics. A cross-species study identifies two principal dysconnectivity signatures...