Latest Articles Include:
- From the editors
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(3):147 (2010)
This issue of Nature Reviews Neuroscience contains several articles about aspects of the transmission of information and disease in the nervous system.In his Review on page 188, Benjamin Kaupp compares and contrasts the chemosensory receptors and signalling mechanisms involved in olfaction in vertebrates and insects. - Neural circuits: Out of synch
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(3):149 (2010)
Previous studies have shown correlated spiking activity within local populations of cortical neurons, an effect thought to arise as a result of shared inputs to the neurons. However, two new papers suggest that correlations in firing between neighbouring neurons may be much weaker than was thought. - Neurological disorders: Striking point for stroke
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(3):150 (2010)
Glutamate toxicity as a result of excessive NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptor activation is considered the main factor responsible for neuronal death following ischaemia. However, the essential physiological action of these receptors in synaptic transmission means that simply blocking them is not a feasible therapeutic option. - In brief: Neuronal plasticity, Spatial awareness, Axon Growth, Motor Systems
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(3):150 (2010)
Direct conversion of fibroblasts to functional neurons by defined factors Vierbuchen , T.et al. Nature27 January 2010 (doi:10.1038/nature08797) - Prions: A protective role for prions
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(3):151 (2010)
Mutated forms of PrPC, the endogenous prion protein, are linked to transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, but the normal function of PrPC has yet to be identified. Bremer et al.C is necessary for the maintenance of the myelin sheaths around peripheral nerves. - Sensory processing: Sensing motion with tact
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(3):151 (2010)
When we handle an object, the relative movement between its surface and our skin provides the brain with valuable information about its characteristics. The existence of a subpopulation of neurons in the visual cortex that responds specifically to the direction of movement of a visual stimulus is widely known, but it remains unclear whether the perception of tactile motion relies on an analogous mechanism. - Affective disorders: A faster way to happiness
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(3):152 (2010)
Most antidepressants that are currently available take several weeks to exert their effects, and clinical evidence has suggested co-administration of an antagonist of α2-adrenoceptors as a potential strategy to overcome this drawback. However, the mechanisms by which blockade of these receptors accelerates the improvements in mood are still largely unknown. - Techniques: Zebrafish behaviour in profile
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(3):152 (2010)
The complexity of brain function makes it difficult to develop simple high-throughput screens to identify drugs that can target nervous system disorders. Two studies have now addressed this problem by using zebrafish larvae to screen for drugs that affect particular behaviours. - Neuron–glia interactions: With a little help from glia
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(3):152 (2010)
Whether glia cells are involved in the induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) — a form of synaptic plasticity — in vivo remains controversial. Rusakov and colleagues now show that Ca2+-dependent D-serine release from astrocytes regulates NMDAR (N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor)-dependent synaptic plasticity in acute hippocampal slice preparations from adult rats, providing evidence for such an involvement. - In brief: Development, Memory, Stress, Neurodegenerative diseases
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(3):153 (2010)
Local and long-range reciprocal regulation of cAMP and cGMP in axon/dendrite formation Shelley , M.et al. Science 327, 547–552 (2010)How do undifferentiated neurites develop to produce one axon and multiple dendrites per neuron? - Prion-like mechanisms in neurodegenerative diseases
Frost B Diamond MI - Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(3):155 (2010)
Many non-infectious neurodegenerative diseases are associated with the accumulation of fibrillar proteins. These diseases all exhibit features that are reminiscent of those of prionopathies, including phenotypic diversity and the propagation of pathology. Furthermore, emerging studies of amyloid-β, α-synuclein and tau — proteins implicated in common neurodegenerative diseases — suggest that they share key biophysical and biochemical characteristics with prions. Propagation of protein misfolding in these diseases may therefore occur through mechanisms similar to those that underlie prion pathogenesis. If this hypothesis is verified in vivo, it will suggest new therapeutic strategies to block propagation of protein misfolding throughout the brain. - Protein palmitoylation in neuronal development and synaptic plasticity
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(3):161 (2010)
Protein palmitoylation, a classical and common lipid modification, regulates diverse aspects of neuronal protein trafficking and function. The reversible nature of palmitoylation provides a potential general mechanism for protein shuttling between intracellular compartments. The recent discovery of palmitoylating enzymes — a large DHHC (Asp-His-His-Cys) protein family — and the development of new proteomic and imaging methods have accelerated palmitoylation analysis. It is becoming clear that individual DHHC enzymes generate and maintain the specialized compartmentalization of substrates in polarized neurons. Here, we discuss the regulatory mechanisms for dynamic protein palmitoylation and the emerging roles of protein palmitoylation in various aspects of pathophysiology, including neuronal development and synaptic plasticity. - Neural stem cell systems: physiological players or in vitro entities?
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(3):176 (2010)
Neural stem cells (NSCs) can be experimentally derived or induced from different sources, and the NSC systems generated so far are promising tools for basic research and biomedical applications. However, no direct and thorough comparison of their biological and molecular properties or of their physiological relevance and possible relationship to endogenous NSCs has yet been carried out. Here we review the available information on different NSC systems and compare their properties. A better understanding of these systems will be crucial to control NSC fate and functional integration following transplantation and to make NSCs suitable for regenerative efforts following injury or disease. - Olfactory signalling in vertebrates and insects: differences and commonalities
Kaupp UB - Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(3):188 (2010)
Vertebrates and insects have evolved complex repertoires of chemosensory receptors to detect and distinguish odours. With a few exceptions, vertebrate chemosensory receptors belong to the family of G protein-coupled receptors that initiate a cascade of cellular signalling events and thereby electrically excite the neuron. Insect receptors, which are structurally and genetically unrelated to vertebrate receptors, are a complex of two distinct molecules that serves both as a receptor for the odorant and as an ion channel that is gated by binding of the odorant. Metabotropic signalling in vertebrates provides a rich panoply of positive and negative regulation, whereas ionotropic signalling in insects enhances processing speed. - The neuroscience of human intelligence differences
Deary IJ Penke L Johnson W - Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(3):201 (2010)
Neuroscience is contributing to an understanding of the biological bases of human intelligence differences. This work is principally being conducted along two empirical fronts: genetics — quantitative and molecular — and brain imaging. Quantitative genetic studies have established that there are additive genetic contributions to different aspects of cognitive ability — especially general intelligence — and how they change through the lifespan. Molecular genetic studies have yet to identify reliably reproducible contributions from individual genes. Structural and functional brain-imaging studies have identified differences in brain pathways, especially parieto-frontal pathways, that contribute to intelligence differences. There is also evidence that brain efficiency correlates positively with intelligence. - Chemosensory organs as models of neuronal synapses
Shaham S - Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(3):212 (2010)
Neuronal synapses are important microstructures that underlie complex cognitive capacities. Recent studies, primarily in Caenorhabditis elegans and Drosophila melanogaster, have revealed surprising parallels between these synapses and the 'chemosensory synapses' that reside at the tips of chemosensory cells that respond to environmental stimuli. Similarities in the structures, mechanisms of action and specific molecules found at these sites extend to the presynaptic, postsynaptic and glial entities composing both synapse types. In this article I propose that chemosensory synapses may serve as useful models of neuronal synapses, and consider the possibility that the two synapse types derive from a common ancestral structure. - Correspondence: Overnight alchemy: sleep-dependent memory evolution
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(3):218 (2010)
Diekelmann and Born offer an elegant and convincing overview of evidence supporting the role of sleep in the consolidation of newly acquired memories (The memory function of sleep. Nature Rev. Neurosci. 11, 114–126 (2010) - Correspondence: Slow-wave sleep takes the leading role in memory reorganization
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(3):218 (2010)
We recently proposed a comprehensive framework for sleep-dependent memory consolidation suggesting that, during slow-wave sleep (SWS), memory representations are transferred from a temporary to a long-term store and thereby undergo reorganization in a process of system consolidation (The memory function of sleep. Nature Rev. Neurosci. 11, 114–126 (2010) - Corrigendum: CART peptides: regulators of body weight, reward and other functions
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(3):218 (2010)
In figure 4a of the article, the doses of the bilateral CART (cocaine- and amphetamine-regulated transcript) peptide infusions were incorrectly given in milligrams. In both the figure and the legend, the doses should be 0.0, 1.0 or 2.5 μg per side.
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