Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Lie-detection tests have not been scientifically proven to reliably detect deception at an individual level, yet they are being marketed by several companies and have even been admitted as evidence in an Indian court. This calls for a critical appraisal of these technologies and regulatory measures to prevent misuse.
The contribution of private philanthropy to research has been growing. Although these large infusions of money can galvanize research, private and public funds now increasingly seem to support similar projects. Caution is warranted to prevent funding for specific topics from skewing research to the detriment of other fields.
Our understanding of the neurobiology and treatment of psychiatric illness in children remains poor. Prominent psychiatrists have now been accused of concealing the extent of their financial ties to the drug industry. We urgently need to encourage more science in this area and we need vigorous regulation to restore some neutrality to the field.
As Western universities establish lucrative satellite programs overseas, they promise to draw new parts of the globe into the scientific endeavor. Faculty recruitment, however, emerges as a hurdle on the way to excellence.
The recent announcement of a primate transgenic model of Huntington's disease might appear to represent only a limited advance, but given the work's potential, it would be shortsighted to close the door on this line of research.
Nature Neuroscience is joining a consortium of journals that enables reviews to be transferred from one journal to another, while allowing authors, referees and editors to control their degree of participation in the system flexibly.
