Locking down access to the brain Inflammatory bowel disease is best known for intestinal symptoms but can also cause a variety of extraintestinal manifestations in other organs. It can also be associated with cognitive and psychiatric effects, including anxiety and depression. Using mouse models of intestinal inflammation, Carloni et al . uncovered a potential pathogenic link between these aspects of inflammatory bowel disease. The inflammatory process causes the gut vascular barrier to become more permeable, resulting in the spread of inflammation beyond the intestine, while the vascular barrier in the choroid plexus shuts down, helping protect the brain from inflammation but also potentially impairing communication between organs and impairing some brain functions. —YN

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Large carnivores are amongst the most susceptible species to human activities, and human-modified environments pose a threat to carnivore conservation. Wolves (Canis lupus Linnaeus, 1758) in the central Apennines, Italy, have coexisted with humans since historic times and represent a good case study to assess their spatiotemporal response to anthropogenic factors. From 2008 to 2010, we investigated the spatial behavior of wolves (seven wolves in five packs and six floaters) in the Abruzzo Lazio and Molise National Park. Orographically corrected annual home ranges of resident wolf packs, estimated through the Brownian bridge movement model, averaged 104 ± 24 km2 (mean ± SD), whereas floaters used two- to fourfold larger areas (293.8–408.7 km2). We did not detect any seasonal effect on home range size, but home ranges were larger during the night and in areas of greater road density, especially during summer. By estimating core areas through an individual-based approach, we also revealed a habitat-mediated response to human presence and activity, as resident wolves preferentially established core areas at greater elevation and in the more forested and inaccessible portions of the home range.