Latest Articles Include:
- From the editors
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(1):1 (2010)
The establishment of neural circuits during development and their constant fine-tuning during maturation and adulthood require the nervous system to be highly adaptive.Correlated network activity is thought to be required for the development of neural circuits. - Addiction: Cannabis against heroin?
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(1):3 (2010)
Relapse after addictive-drug withdrawal is a big societal problem and is thought to be induced by environmental cues. The identification of treatments that attenuate cue-induced relapse is one aim of addiction research. - Neurodegenerative disease: Synergistic destruction
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(1):4 (2010)
The pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by amyloid plaques (aggregates of amyloid-β (Aβ)) and fibrillar tangles (aggregates of tau). Mitochondrial dysfunction has also been recognized as being part of the AD pathology, but the mechanisms underlying this dysfunction are poorly understood. - Neuronal migration: Cadherin keeps order
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(1):4 (2010)
Cadherins are adhesion molecules with important roles in CNS development. Köster and colleagues now report in PLoS Biology that N-cadherin (also known as cadherin 2) is required for maintaining cell–cell contacts and cell polarity in granule cells (GCs) during directional migration. - Evolution: Talking about FOXP2
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(1):5 (2010)
The use of language is a uniquely human characteristic; however, the molecular changes that led to the evolution of human speech are largely unknown. Konopka et al.FOXP2), a transcription factor that is important for speech, alter the neuronal expression of a panel of genes, providing insight into the contribution of this protein to the development of speech. - Circadian rhythms: Cycling vesicles for a cycling SCN
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(1):5 (2010)
The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) in the hypothalamus controls the circadian rhythmicity of many physiological processes through clock genes that are expressed in a cyclical fashion. The products of these genes in turn regulate the daily expression of many other genes. - Synaptic plasticity: Plasticity moves upstream
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(1):6 (2010)
Neuronal activity can increase or decrease the strength of synapses between two neurons through long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD), respectively. Now, Poo and colleagues show that, in vivo, LTP and LTD can spread to the upstream synapse. - Neurological disorders: Inhibition: too much of a good thing?
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(1):6 (2010)
Absence seizures, characterized by a spike and wave discharge (SWD) pattern in thalamocortical networks, occur in many types of epilepsy. The cellular mechanisms underlying these seizures are unclear; however, a new paper by Cope et al. - In brief: Synapse formation, Learning and memory, Neurological disorders, Development
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(1):6 (2010)
Thrombospondin 1 accelerates synaptogenesis in hippocampal neurons through neuroligin 1 Xu, J.et al. Nature Neurosci.15 Nov 2009 (doi:10.1038/nn.2459) - In brief: Chemosensation, Gap junctions, Fear, Visual system
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(1):7 (2010)
Structural requirements for the activation of vomeronasal sensory neurons by MHC peptides Leinders-Zufall, T.et al. Nature Neurosci. 12, 1551–1558 (2009) - Sex differences in molecular neuroscience: from fruit flies to humans
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(1):9 (2010)
A plethora of discoveries relating to sex influences on brain function is rapidly moving this field into the spotlight for most areas of neuroscience. The domain of molecular or genetic neuroscience is no exception. The goal of this article is to highlight key developments concerning sex-based dimorphisms in molecular neuroscience, describe control mechanisms regulating these differences, address the implications of these dimorphisms for normal and abnormal brain function and discuss what these advances mean for future work in the field. The overriding conclusion is that, as for neuroscience in general, molecular neuroscience has to take into account potential sex influences that might modify signalling pathways. - Mechanisms underlying spontaneous patterned activity in developing neural circuits
Blankenship AG Feller MB - Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(1):18 (2010)
Patterned, spontaneous activity occurs in many developing neural circuits, including the retina, the cochlea, the spinal cord, the cerebellum and the hippocampus, where it provides signals that are important for the development of neurons and their connections. Despite there being differences in adult architecture and output across these various circuits, the patterns of spontaneous network activity and the mechanisms that generate it are remarkably similar. The mechanisms can include a depolarizing action of GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid), transient synaptic connections, extrasynaptic transmission, gap junction coupling and the presence of pacemaker-like neurons. Interestingly, spontaneous activity is robust; if one element of a circuit is disrupted another will generate similar activity. This research suggests that developing neural circuits exhibit transient and tunable features that maintain a source of correlated activity during crucial stages of development. - The cerebellar microcircuit as an adaptive filter: experimental and computational evidence
Dean P Porrill J Ekerot CF Jörntell H - Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(1):30 (2010)
Initial investigations of the cerebellar microcircuit inspired the Marr–Albus theoretical framework of cerebellar function. We review recent developments in the experimental understanding of cerebellar microcircuit characteristics and in the computational analysis of Marr–Albus models. We conclude that many Marr–Albus models are in effect adaptive filters, and that evidence for symmetrical long-term potentiation and long-term depression, interneuron plasticity, silent parallel fibre synapses and recurrent mossy fibre connectivity is strikingly congruent with predictions from adaptive-filter models of cerebellar function. This congruence suggests that insights from adaptive-filter theory might help to address outstanding issues of cerebellar function, including both microcircuit processing and extra-cerebellar connectivity. - Neural reorganization following sensory loss: the opportunity of change
Merabet LB Pascual-Leone A - Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(1):44 (2010)
There is growing evidence that sensory deprivation is associated with crossmodal neuroplastic changes in the brain. After visual or auditory deprivation, brain areas that are normally associated with the lost sense are recruited by spared sensory modalities. These changes underlie adaptive and compensatory behaviours in blind and deaf individuals. Although there are differences between these populations owing to the nature of the deprived sensory modality, there seem to be common principles regarding how the brain copes with sensory loss and the factors that influence neuroplastic changes. Here, we discuss crossmodal neuroplasticity with regards to behavioural adaptation after sensory deprivation and highlight the possibility of maladaptive consequences within the context of rehabilitation. - Advances in visual perceptual learning and plasticity
Sasaki Y Nanez JE Watanabe T - Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(1):53 (2010)
Visual perceptual learning (VPL) is defined as a long-term improvement in performance on a visual task. In recent years, the idea that conscious effort is necessary for VPL to occur has been challenged by research suggesting the involvement of more implicit processing mechanisms, such as reinforcement-driven processing and consolidation. In addition, we have learnt much about the neural substrates of VPL and it has become evident that changes in visual areas and regions beyond the visual cortex can take place during VPL. - Neurotalk: improving the communication of neuroscience research
Illes J Moser MA McCormick JB Racine E Blakeslee S Caplan A Hayden EC Ingram J Lohwater T McKnight P Nicholson C Phillips A Sauvé KD Snell E Weiss S - Nature Reviews Neuroscience 11(1):61 (2010)
There is increasing pressure for neuroscientists to communicate their research and the societal implications of their findings to the public. Communicating science is challenging, and the transformation of communication by digital and interactive media increases the complexity of the challenge. To facilitate dialogue with the public in this new media landscape, we suggest three courses of action for the neuroscience community: a cultural shift that explicitly recognizes and rewards public outreach, the identification and development of neuroscience communication experts, and ongoing empirical research on the public communication of neuroscience.
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