Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10, 885 (2009). doi:10.1038/nrn2753

Authors: Geoffrey Schoenbaum, Matthew R. Roesch, Thomas A. Stalnaker & Yuji K. Takahashi

The orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) is crucial for changing established behaviour in the face of unexpected outcomes. This function has been attributed to the role of the OFC in response inhibition or to the idea that the OFC is a rapidly flexible associative-learning area. However, recent

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10, 837 (2009). doi:10.1038/nrn2726

Authors: Stephen M. Eacker, Ted M. Dawson & Valina L. Dawson

Interest in the functions of microRNAs (miRNAs) in the nervous system has recently expanded to include their roles in neurodegeneration. Investigations have begun to reveal the influence of miRNAs on both neuronal survival and the accumulation of toxic proteins that are associated with neurodegeneration, and

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10, 873 (2009). doi:10.1038/nrn2741

Authors: Brian A. Wandell & Stelios M. Smirnakis

It is important to understand the balance between cortical plasticity and stability in various systems and across spatial scales in the adult brain. Here we review studies of adult plasticity in primary visual cortex (V1), which has a key role in distributing visual information. There

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10, 836 (2009). doi:10.1038/nrn2760

Author: Katherine Whalley

Cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) at the cell surface produces extracellular amyloid-β peptides (Aβ) and the APP intracellular domain, AICD. The predominant hypotheses in the Alzheimer's disease (AD) field have traditionally focused on a causative role for Aβ; however, a new

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10, 832 (2009). doi:10.1038/nrn2764

Author: Leonie Welberg

Flies rely on their sense of smell to navigate their environment. Mushroom body neurons have a key role in olfactory memory, but little is known about the circuits that provide these cells with relevant information. Two studies now identify distinct dopaminergic projections to specific mushroom

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10, 834 (2009). doi:10.1038/nrn2765

Author: Lucy Bird

A study involving real-time imaging of effector T cells provides new insight into how autoreactive T cells interact with cerebral structures and access the central nervous system (CNS) to cause autoimmune disease.Flügel and colleagues induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis in rats with intravenous injection of

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10, 842 (2009). doi:10.1038/nrn2763

Author: Gerhard Schratt

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are emerging as key modulators of post-transcriptional gene regulation in a plethora of tissues, including the nervous system. Recent evidence points to a widespread role for neural miRNAs at various stages of synaptic development, including dendritogenesis, synapse formation and synapse maturation. Furthermore, studies

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10, 861 (2009). doi:10.1038/nrn2735

Authors: Timothy H. Murphy & Dale Corbett

Reductions in blood flow to the brain of sufficient duration and extent lead to stroke, which results in damage to neuronal networks and the impairment of sensation, movement or cognition. Evidence from animal models suggests that a time-limited window of neuroplasticity opens following a stroke,

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10, 850 (2009). doi:10.1038/nrn2738

Author: Liliana Minichiello

Understanding the mechanisms that underlie learning is one of the most fascinating and central aims of neurobiological research. Hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) is widely regarded as a prime candidate for the cellular mechanism of learning. The receptor tyrosine kinase TrkB (also known as NTRK2), known

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10, 834 (2009). doi:10.1038/nrn2766

Author: Monica Hoyos Flight

In sensory processing, a neuron's firing rate and the timing of the spikes relative to the stimulus onset together encode information. In reality, however, stimuli are often ongoing, raising the question of what else could provide a reference point for spike timing. Previous studies suggested

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10, 833 (2009). doi:10.1038/nrn2767

Author: Katherine Whalley

Radial glia in the ventricular zone (VZ) of the developing cortex divide asymmetrically, producing a self-renewing radial glial cell that remains in the VZ and a cell that differentiates into a neuron or an intermediate progenitor. How these differing fates are determined was unknown; however,

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10, 836 (2009). doi:10.1038/nrn2768

Author: Leonie Welberg

Early-life stress (ELS) has long-lasting effects on the brain, and the epigenetic mechanisms underlying them are beginning to be unravelled. Murgatroyd et al. now show that methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2)-mediated regulation of arginine vasopressin (Avp) gene expression in parvocellular hypothalamus

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10, 833 (2009). doi:10.1038/nrn2769

Author: Claudia Wiedemann

The molecular mechanisms that regulate synapse formation are not well understood. Eroglu et al. show that thrombospondin (TSP) binding to the neuronal α2δ-1 receptor initiates the formation of new synapses in vitro and in vivo and that the anti-epileptic and analgesic drug

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10, 834 (2009). doi:10.1038/nrn2770

Pain

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10, 835 (2009). doi:10.1038/nrn2771

Place cells

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 10, 831 (2009). doi:10.1038/nrn2772

The fortieth annual Society for Neuroscience meeting this year welcomed over 30,000 delegates and was again a resounding success, with talks and posters pointing to important developments and approaches in neuroscience, several of which will feature in forthcoming issues of Nature Reviews Neuroscience.MicroRNAs