News & Comment

Recent research on disparate psychiatric disorders has implicated rare variants in genes involved in global gene regulation and chromatin modification, as well as many common variants located primarily in regulatory regions of the genome. Understanding precisely how these variants contribute to disease will require a deeper appreciation for the mechanisms of gene regulation in the developing and adult human brain. The PsychENCODE project aims to produce a public resource of multidimensional genomic data using tissue- and cell type–specific samples from approximately 1,000 phenotypically well-characterized, high-quality healthy and disease-affected human post-mortem brains, as well as functionally characterize disease-associated regulatory elements and variants in model systems. We are beginning with a focus on autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and expect that this knowledge will apply to a wide variety of psychiatric disorders. This paper outlines the motivation and design of PsychENCODE.

We present a special issue focusing on recent advances in the understanding of the effects of stress on the nervous system and behavior, as well as the role of the nervous system in regulating responses to stress.

It is a truism that the brain influences the body and that peripheral physiology influences the brain. Never is this clearer than during stress, where the subtlest emotions or the most abstract thoughts can initiate stress responses, with consequences throughout the body, and the endocrine transducers of stress alter cognition, affect and behavior. For a fervent materialist, few things in life bring more pleasure than contemplating the neurobiology of stress.

10 years ago, channelrhodopsin-2 was expressed in neurons and shown to control their activity. In this issue, we consider how the field has developed since these early optogenetic experiments.

Over the past decade, modern optogenetics has emerged from the convergence of developments in microbial opsin engineering, genetic methods for targeting, and optical strategies for light delivery. In this Historical Commentary, Karl Deisseroth reflects on the optogenetic landscape, from the important steps but slow progress in the beginning to the acceleration in discovery seen in recent years.

On the anniversary of the Boyden et al. (2005) paper that introduced the use of channelrhodopsin in neurons, Nature Neuroscience asks selected members of the community to comment on the utility, impact and future of this important technique.

Nature Neuroscience editors share useful tips on the initial submission process.

Animal rights extremists are threatening nonhuman primate research by harassing scientists. We cannot tolerate these tactics, and we must rally individual, institutional and governmental support to protect scientists.

Nature Neuroscience presents a Focus issue highlighting recent advances in elucidating the mechanisms driving the onset and persistence of the epilepsies.

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is in clinical trials for treating Parkinson's disease. However, endogenous GDNF function in brain catecholaminergic neurons has remained controversial. The authors utilized three complementary conditional knock-out approaches during development and adulthood and found that GDNF is not required for the maintenance of the catecholaminergic neurons in mice.