Nature Neuroscience - Current issue : July 2009 - Vol 12 No 7
- Adult birdsong requires error correction
- Notch control of Schwann cells
- Odor coding in piriform cortex
Advance online publication
Inside autism
Brief communication by Haswell and colleaguesWhen learning to use a novel tool, children with autism build a stronger link between their movements and proprioceptive feedback, compared to typically developing children. The greater reliance on proprioception correlates with severity of social and impairment deficits.
Advance online publication
Stimulating single cones
Brief communication by Sincich and colleaguesCurrent techniques are insufficient for resolving the contribution of single photoreceptors to the responses of visually responsive neurons in the brain. The authors employ a new technique, which utilizes adaptive optics, to show that LGN neurons respond reliably to the stimulation of a single cone.
Advance online publication
Alcohol binding pocket in potassium channel
Article by Aryal and colleaguesEthanol activates G protein-gated inwardly rectifying K+ (GIRK) channels. This study identifies an alcohol binding pocket in the cytoplasmic domains of GIRK2. A leucine residue in this pocket was crucial for GIRK2 activation, but not for the alcohol inhibition of related constitutively active K+ channels.
Advance online publication
3-D motion perception
Article by Rokers and colleaguesIt is well established that monkey middle temporal area (MT) and the human middle temporal complex (MT+) mediate two dimensional motion perception. Here, the authors use functional magnetic resonance imaging to demonstrate that MT+ carries signals critical for three dimensional motion perception as well.
Advance online publication
Pruning protection
Article by Hayashi and colleaguesSome neurites in developing C. elegans interneurons are eventually pruned. Which exact neurites are subject to pruning appears random, suggesting ongoing local competition between pro- and anti-pruning signals. This study shows Wnt signaling through the transmembrane receptor kinase
Advance online publication
Feed-forward inhibition mediates cerebellar learning
Article by Wulff and colleaguesThe role of feed-forward inhibition onto Purkinje cells during learning is unclear. The authors report that GABAA receptor-mediated inhibition onto Purkinje cells modulates fine-scale patterns of activity. These patterns may mediate the induction of downstream plasticity and ultimately the consolidation of cerebellar motor learning.
