Hot off the presses! Sep 01 Nat Rev Neurosci

The Sep 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:

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  - Nat Rev Neurosci 12(9):485 (2011)
  
• Psychiatric disorders: Tipping the cortical balance
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 12(9):487 (2011)
  Imbalance in the ratio of excitatory to inhibitory cortical activity may underlie the behavioural deficits that are observed in conditions such as autism and schizophrenia; however, this hypothesis has not been tested directly. Using novel optogenetic tools, Deisseroth and colleagues now show that in mice, an elevation in the excitation/inhibition ratio in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) impairs cellular information processing and leads to specific behavioural impairments.
• Learning and memory: Parallel processing
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 12(9):488 (2011)
  Systems memory consolidation involves the stabilization of memory traces — originating in the hippocampus — in the neocortex and is implicated in the formation of long-term memories. Previously, Morris and colleagues showed that such consolidation occurs rapidly when new information is learnt in the presence of relevant established knowledge, challenging the widely held view that systems memory consolidation is a gradual process.
• Glia: Death receptor deals blow to remyelination
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 12(9):489 (2011)
  The endogenous capacity of the CNS to repair damaged myelin sheaths is limited, despite the abundance of oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) in the adult CNS. The development of strategies to boost endogenous remyelination in disorders such as multiple sclerosis therefore requires an understanding of the mechanisms that regulate oligodendrocyte maturation.
• Stem cells: A niche role for DLK1
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 12(9):489 (2011)
  The behaviour of neural stem cells (NSCs) in the subventricular zone (SVZ) is regulated by their environment, or 'niche'; however, the precise signals that govern this behaviour are unclear. Ferrón et al.
• Neuronal circuits: Putting rewards into context
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 12(9):490 (2011)
  Animal behaviour essentially evolves around avoiding fear-inducing and punishing stimuli, and seeking rewarding stimuli. To do so, an animal must know where in the environment it might encounter such stimuli.
• Googled brains?
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 12(9):490 (2011)
  The accessibility of an encyclopedia of knowledge at the click of a mouse — thanks to search engines like Google — is reducing our ability to remember information, a new study shows. The research, led by Betsy Sparrow from Columbia University, New York, USA, found that this reduced recall has been replaced by an increased adeptness at locating answers.
• Ageing: Rescuing age-related memory loss
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 12(9):490 (2011)
  Forgetfulness, distractibility and impaired executive function are manifestations of the normal ageing process in both humans and monkeys, and can be observed as early as in middle age. This decline in working memory is associated with prefrontal cortex (PFC) dysfunction, but the underlying molecular basis was unknown until now.
• Stem cells | Repair | Dendrites | Neurogenesis
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 12(9):491 (2011)
  Generation of isogenic pluripotent stem cells differing exclusively at two early onset parkinson point mutations Soldner, F.et al. Cell 146, 318–331 (2011)
• Neuroimmunology | Glia | Development | Neuronal circuits
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 12(9):491 (2011)
  Infiltrating monocytes trigger EAE progression, but do not contribute to the resident microglia pool Ajami, B.et al. Nature Neurosci.31 Jul 2011 (doi:10.1038/nn.2887)
• Development: Microglia go pruning
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 12(9):492 (2011)
  Microglia are non-neuronal cells that are known to play a part in the engulfment and removal of cell debris following brain injury. Although their function in the uninjured brain is unknown, new data suggests that they might have an important role in synapse elimination and pruning during development — a crucial stage of circuit formation.
• Psychiatric disorders: Down with(out) neurogenesis
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 12(9):492 (2011)
  The function of adult neurogenesis is a topic of much research and debate. Reduced adult hippocampal neurogenesis has been associated with depression, but this link has so far been indirect, based mainly on findings that antidepressant drugs require neurogenesis to decrease depression-like behaviour in rodent models.
• Development: Pruning the dendritic tree
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 12(9):493 (2011)
  During neural development, the elaboration of dendritic trees is followed by selective pruning — an essential stage in the formation of neural circuits. The mechanisms underlying the switch from dendritic outgrowth to retraction and pruning are unknown, but Puram et al.
• The neurobiology of gliomas: from cell biology to the development of therapeutic approaches
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 12(9):495 (2011)
  Gliomas are the most common type of primary brain tumour and are often fast growing with a poor prognosis for the patient. Their complex cellular composition, diffuse invasiveness and capacity to escape therapies has challenged researchers for decades and hampered progress towards an effective treatment. Recent molecular characterization of tumour cells combined with new insights into cellular diversification that occurs during development, and the modelling of these processes in transgenic animals have enabled a more detailed understanding of the events that underlie gliomagenesis. Combining this enhanced understanding of the relationship between neural stem cell biology and the cell lineage relationships of tumour cells with model systems offers new opportunities to develop specific and effective therapies.
• Cortical state and attention
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 12(9):509 (2011)
  The brain continuously adapts its processing machinery to behavioural demands. To achieve this, it rapidly modulates the operating mode of cortical circuits, controlling the way that information is transformed and routed. This article will focus on two experimental approaches by which the control of cortical information processing has been investigated: the study of state-dependent cortical processing in rodents and attention in the primate visual system. Both processes involve a modulation of low-frequency activity fluctuations and spiking correlation, and are mediated by common receptor systems. We suggest that selective attention involves processes that are similar to state change, and that operate at a local columnar level to enhance the representation of otherwise non-salient features while suppressing internally generated activity patterns.
• Oxytocin and vasopressin in the human brain: social neuropeptides for translational medicine
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 12(9):524 (2011)
  The neuropeptides oxytocin (OXT) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) are evolutionarily highly conserved mediators in the regulation of complex social cognition and behaviour. Recent studies have investigated the effects of OXT and AVP on human social interaction, the genetic mechanisms of inter-individual variation in social neuropeptide signalling and the actions of OXT and AVP in the human brain as revealed by neuroimaging. These data have advanced our understanding of the mechanisms by which these neuropeptides contribute to human social behaviour. OXT and AVP are emerging as targets for novel treatment approaches — particularly in synergistic combination with psychotherapy — for mental disorders characterized by social dysfunction, such as autism, social anxiety disorder, borderline personality disorder and schizophrenia.
• Chronic fatigue syndrome: understanding a complex illness
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 12(9):539 (2011)
  Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a debilitating illness that affects many people. It has been marred by controversy, from initial scepticism in the medical community about the existence of the condition itself to continuing disagreements — mainly between some patient advocacy groups on one side, and researchers and physicians on the other — about the name for the illness, its aetiology, its pathophysiology and the effectiveness of the few currently available treatments. The role of the CNS in the disease is central in many of these discussions. Nature Reviews Neuroscience asked four scientists involved in CFS research about their views on the condition, its causes and the future of research aimed at improving our understanding of this chronic illness.
• Fly Fisticuffs
  - Nat Rev Neurosci 12(9):544 (2011)
  On page 434 of this highlight, the credit for the illustration was incorrectly given. The correct name for the illustrator is Molly Liu. This has been corrected in the online version.