Molecular mechanisms of synaptogenesis.

Synapses are the basic units for information processing and storage in the nervous system. It is only when the synaptic connection is established, that it becomes meaningful to discuss the structure and function of a circuit. In humans, our unparalleled cognitive abilities are correlated with an increase in the number of synapses.

Variants in ADD1 cause intellectual disability, corpus callosum dysgenesis, and ventriculomegaly in humans.

Purpose: Adducins interconnect spectrin and actin filaments to form polygonal scaffolds beneath the cell membranes and form ring-like structures in neuronal axons. Adducins regulate mouse neural development, but their function in the human brain is unknown.

Methods: We used exome sequencing to uncover ADD1 variants associated with intellectual disability (ID) and brain malformations.

Chronic social isolation signals starvation and reduces sleep in Drosophila.

Social isolation and loneliness have potent effects on public health. Research in social psychology suggests that compromised sleep quality is a key factor that links persistent loneliness to adverse health conditions. Although experimental manipulations have been widely applied to studying the control of sleep and wakefulness in animal models, how normal sleep is perturbed by social isolation is unknown.