Topoisomerases and the regulation of neural function
Nature Reviews Neuroscience 17, 673 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrn.2016.101
Author: Peter J. McKinnon
Topoisomerases are unique enzymes that regulate torsional stress in DNA to enable essential genome functions, including DNA replication and transcription. Although all cells in an organism require topoisomerases to maintain normal function, the nervous system in particular shows a vital need for these enzymes. Indeed, (Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience)
Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience - September 14, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Peter J. McKinnon Tags: Progress Source Type: research
Blending computational and experimental neuroscience
Nature Reviews Neuroscience 17, 667 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrn.2016.114
Authors: Patricia S. Churchland & Terrence J. Sejnowski
The launch of the United States' BRAIN Initiative brings with it a new era in systems neuroscience that is being driven by innovative neurotechnologies, increases in computational power and network-style artificial intelligence. A new conceptual framework for understanding cognitive behaviours based on the dynamical patterns (Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience)
Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience - September 8, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Patricia S. Churchland Terrence J. Sejnowski Tags: Comment Source Type: research
The rise of team neuroscience
Nature Reviews Neuroscience 17, 601 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrn.2016.116
Author: James L. Olds
Several large-scale international research initiatives have recently been launched, fuelling substantial financial investments in neuroscience and raising expectations for the development of new knowledge and therapies. Meeting these expectations will require global coordination of stakeholders and the adoption of team-based approaches that are not yet (Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience)
Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience - September 8, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Authors: James L. Olds Tags: Comment Source Type: research
Region-specific roles of the corticotropin-releasing factor –urocortin system in stress
Nature Reviews Neuroscience 17, 636 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrn.2016.94
Authors: Marloes J. A. G. Henckens, Jan M. Deussing & Alon Chen
Dysregulation of the corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF)–urocortin (UCN) system has been implicated in stress-related psychopathologies such as depression and anxiety. It has been proposed that CRF–CRF receptor type 1 (CRFR1) signalling promotes the stress response and anxiety-like behaviour, whereas UCNs and CRFR2 activation mediate stress recovery (Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience)
Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience - September 1, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Marloes J. A. G. Henckens Jan M. Deussing Alon Chen Tags: Review Source Type: research
Emerging roles of GluN3-containing NMDA receptors in the CNS
Nature Reviews Neuroscience 17, 623 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrn.2016.92
Authors: Isabel Pérez-Otaño, Rylan S. Larsen & John F. Wesseling
GluN3-containing NMDA receptors (GluN3-NMDARs) are rarer than the 'classical' NMDARs, which are composed solely of GluN1 and GluN2 subunits, and have non-conventional biophysical, trafficking and signalling properties. In the CNS, they seem to have important roles in delaying synapse maturation until the arrival of sensory (Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience)
Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience - August 24, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Isabel P érez-Otaño Rylan S. Larsen John F. Wesseling Tags: Review Source Type: research
Cerebral cortex: Connecting with words
Nature Reviews Neuroscience 17, 604 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrn.2016.123
Author: Natasha Bray
The connectivity pattern of the left occipitotemporal cortex of 5-year-olds who cannot yet read can predict where the functionally specific 'visual word form area' will form once the children learn to read. (Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience)
Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience - August 24, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Natasha Bray Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
Glia: Motor learning with oligodendrocytes
Nature Reviews Neuroscience 17, 604 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrn.2016.122
Author: Sian Lewis
Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) are produced throughout life and are required for motor learning, but their role in this process is unclear. Within 2–3 hours of beginning a motor-learning task, mice lacking the transcription factor MYRF (myelin regulator factor) showed reduced levels of new oligodendrocytes (Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience)
Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience - August 18, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Sian Lewis Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
Neuroprotection: Power release
In this study, however, exposure of mice to focal cerebral ischaemia resulted in the release of functional mitochondria from astrocytes and their uptake into adjacent neurons, and these events were coincident with (Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience)
Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience - August 18, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Sian Lewis Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
Learning and memory: How synapses form memories
Nature Reviews Neuroscience 17, 604 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrn.2016.120
Author: Sian Lewis
The synaptic remodelling that occurs during activity-dependent plasticity and that is thought to underlie memory formation is incompletely understood, but complement component 1 q subcompartment-like (C1qL) proteins have been reported to be involved. Here, C1qL3 was found to be expressed in an activity-dependent manner in (Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience)
Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience - August 18, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Sian Lewis Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
Synaptic plasticity: Stacking up synaptic structure
Nature Reviews Neuroscience 17, 604 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrn.2016.119
Author: Sian Lewis
The proximity of neurotransmitter-release sites to the corresponding postsynaptic receptors influences synaptic strength and plasticity, but the precise alignment between the two is poorly elucidated. Here, the density of the active-zone proteins Rab3-interacting molecule 1 and 2 (RIM1/2) at synapses between cultured hippocampal neurons was (Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience)
Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience - August 18, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Sian Lewis Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
Sensory systems: Thirst and hunger games
Nature Reviews Neuroscience 17, 604 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrn.2016.117
Author: Natasha Bray
In Drosophila melanogaster, signals of water satiety and hunger converge on interoceptive neurons in the suboesophageal zone that in turn influence water intake and feeding. (Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience)
Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience - August 18, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Natasha Bray Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
Cerebral cortex: Multi-modal mapping
Nature Reviews Neuroscience 17, 536 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrn.2016.115
Author: Darran Yates
Using data from the Human Connectome Project and a semi-automated neuroanatomical approach, a study has generated a new multi-modal parcellation of the human cerebral cortex. (Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience)
Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience - August 17, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Darran Yates Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
Basal Ganglia: Pathways for action
Nature Reviews Neuroscience 17, 534 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrn.2016.118
Author: Darran Yates
Patterns of coordinated activity in the direct, striatonigral pathway and the indirect, striatopallidal pathway regulate action performance. (Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience)
Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience - August 17, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Darran Yates Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
The cellular mechanisms that maintain neuronal polarity
Nature Reviews Neuroscience 17, 611 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrn.2016.100
Authors: Marvin Bentley & Gary Banker
As polarized cells, neurons maintain different sets of resident plasma membrane proteins in their axons and dendrites, which is consistent with the different roles that these neurites have in electrochemical signalling. Axonal and dendritic proteins are synthesized together within the somatodendritic domain; this raises a (Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience)
Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience - August 10, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Marvin Bentley Gary Banker Tags: Review Source Type: research
Emotion: Exciting extinction
Nature Reviews Neuroscience 17, 536 (2016).
doi:10.1038/nrn.2016.110
Author: Katherine Whalley
GABAB receptors drive presynaptic excitation in habenula cholinergic neurons to regulate the extinction of fear memories in mice. (Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience)
Source: Nature Reviews Neuroscience - August 3, 2016 Category: Neuroscience Authors: Katherine Whalley Tags: Research Highlight Source Type: research
