Volume 8 Issue 10, October 2005

Synaptic currents become faster with age. A new study uses electron microscopy, physiology and modeling to show that the progressive speeding of AMPA receptor–mediated synaptic currents during development results from changes in the structure of the synapse rather than the composition of postsynaptic receptors.

SFRPs are endogenous inhibitors of Wnt signaling. New work shows that, independently of its interaction with Wnts, SFRP1 can act as a repulsive guidance molecule for retinal axons on their way to the tectum, signaling through the receptor Fz2.

Inhibitory cortical neurons are thought to generate temporally precise signals important for information processing, but a new study shows that CCK-expressing interneurons continue to release GABA for several hundred milliseconds after bursts of action potentials.

The attentional blink reveals a fundamental limit in the temporal resolution of attention. By describing the entire sequence of electrophysiological events underlying the blink, a new study provides the first glimpse into the neural cause of this bottleneck.

Orexins are known to regulate sleep and feeding, but a study in Nature now shows that they are also involved in drug-seeking behavior. This suggests a larger role for orexin-producing neurons as an interface between internal states and motivated behaviors.