JNeurosci: Highlights from the Feb. 22 issue

(Society for Neuroscience) The Zika virus gained worldwide attention after it was linked to serious birth defects in babies born to infected mothers. But how the virus wreaks havoc on the developing brain is only gradually coming into focus. In a new study using a novel mouse model of Zika infection, researchers find the virus may initially target a class of support cells in the brain called astrocytes and that it can travel down nerve fibers to spread throughout the brain.