Hot off the presses! Oct 01 Nat Rev Neurosci

The Oct 01 issue of the Nat Rev Neurosci is now up on Pubget (About Nat Rev Neurosci): if you're at a subscribing institution, just click the link in the latest link at the home page. (Note you'll only be able to get all the PDFs in the issue if your institution subscribes to Pubget.)

Latest Articles Include:

• From the editors
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 10(10):693 (2009)
  
• Neurodegenerative disease: Proving the link
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 10(10):694 (2009)
  
• Perception: About faces
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 10(10):695 (2009)
  
• Neuron–glia interactions: Glia make waves
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 10(10):695 (2009)
  
• Computational neuroscience: Model behaviour
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 10(10):696 (2009)
  
• In brief: Social neuroscience, Systems neuroscience, Neurodegenerative disease
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 10(10):696 (2009)
  
• Circadian rhythms: Timing with miRNAs
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 10(10):696 (2009)
  
• In brief: Synaptic plasticity, Neuroprotection, Neurotechniques, Neuritogenesis
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 10(10):697 (2009)
  
• Synaptic remodelling: Sculpting the NMJ
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 10(10):698 (2009)
  
• Fear: Extracellular barriers
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 10(10):698 (2009)
  
• The origin and evolution of synapses
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 10(10):701-712 (2009)
  Understanding the evolutionary origins of behaviour is a central aim in the study of biology and may lead to insights into human disorders. Synaptic transmission is observed in a wide range of invertebrate and vertebrate organisms and underlies their behaviour. Proteomic studies of the molecular components of the highly complex mammalian postsynaptic machinery point to an ancestral molecular machinery in unicellular organisms — the protosynapse — that existed before the evolution of metazoans and neurons, and hence challenges existing views on the origins of the brain. The phylogeny of the molecular components of the synapse provides a new model for studying synapse diversity and complexity, and their implications for brain evolution.
• Considering the evolution of regeneration in the central nervous system
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 10(10):713-723 (2009)
  For many years the mammalian CNS has been seen as an organ that is unable to regenerate. However, it was also long known that lower vertebrate species are capable of impressive regeneration of CNS structures. How did this situation arise through evolution? Increasing cellular and molecular understanding of regeneration in different animal species coupled with studies of adult neurogenesis in mammals is providing a basis for addressing this question. Here we compare CNS regeneration among vertebrates and speculate on how this ability may have emerged or been restricted.
• Evolution of the neocortex: a perspective from developmental biology
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 10(10):724-735 (2009)
  The enlargement and species-specific elaboration of the cerebral neocortex during evolution holds the secret to the mental abilities of humans; however, the genetic origin and cellular mechanisms that generated the distinct evolutionary advancements are not well understood. This article describes how novelties that make us human may have been introduced during evolution, based on findings in the embryonic cerebral cortex in different mammalian species. The data on the differences in gene expression, new molecular pathways and novel cellular interactions that have led to these evolutionary advances may also provide insight into the pathogenesis and therapies for human-specific neuropsychiatric disorders.
• Chordate roots of the vertebrate nervous system: expanding the molecular toolkit
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 10(10):736-746 (2009)
  The vertebrate brain is highly complex with millions to billions of neurons. During development, the neural plate border region gives rise to the neural crest, cranial placodes and, in anamniotes, to Rohon-Beard sensory neurons, whereas the boundary region of the midbrain and hindbrain develops organizer properties. Comparisons of developmental gene expression and neuroanatomy between vertebrates and the basal chordate amphioxus, which has only thousands of neurons and lacks a neural crest, most placodes and a midbrain–hindbrain organizer, indicate that these vertebrate features were built on a foundation already present in the ancestral chordate. Recent advances in genomics have provided insights into the elaboration of the molecular toolkit at the invertebrate–vertebrate transition that may have facilitated the evolution of these vertebrate characteristics.
• Sleep viewed as a state of adaptive inactivity
  Siegel JM - Nat Rev Neurosci 10(10):747-753 (2009)
  Sleep is often viewed as a vulnerable state that is incompatible with behaviours that nourish and propagate species. This has led to the hypothesis that sleep has survived because it fulfills some universal, but as yet unknown, vital function. I propose that sleep is best understood as a variant of dormant states seen throughout the plant and animal kingdoms and that it is itself highly adaptive because it optimizes the timing and duration of behaviour. Current evidence indicates that ecological variables are the main determinants of sleep duration and intensity across species.
• MicroRNAs tell an evo–devo story
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 10(10):754-759 (2009)
  Evolutionary developmental biology, often called evo–devo, seeks to understand the ancestral relationship among organisms by comparing their developmental strategies and ultimately reconstructing the pathways that led to the extraordinary variety of biological forms. The insights from this synthesis of developmental biology and evolutionary principles are useful for understanding the development of the nervous system. The pervasive and crucial roles of microRNAs in nervous system development suggest that these short non-coding transcripts deserve a chapter in the unfolding evo–devo story. The structure of microRNAs, their physical proximity to other genes and their network effects on targets make this class of transcripts tractable genetic material for evolutionary change.
• Erratum: Experience-dependent structural synaptic plasticity in the mammalian brain
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 10(10):759 (2009)
  On page 654 of the above article, the scale bar in parts a and f of figure 4 should represent 5 m rather than 5 mm. This has been corrected in the online version.