A Web Focus is a selection of articles on a related theme drawn from the entire Nature Publishing Group family of journals. With content ranging from Research Highlights, Reviews and Perspectives through to primary research papers, a Web Focus provides a panoramic view of a key area of biology.

Focus

Nerve Regeneration

August

Sponsored by Wings for Life Spinal Cord Research Foundation

Since the surprising finding that injured axons in the mature central nervous system can re-grow, there has been dramatic progress in our understanding of the molecular, cellular and circuitry level responses to injuries to the adult mammalian central nervous system. This special Focus issue highlights recent developments in this field, with a view to understanding the underlying mechanisms that will enable the development of appropriate therapeutic strategies.

Focus

Pain

July

Sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim

The essential element in pain is the activation of specialized high-threshold receptors to warn the organism of potential tissue damage. This sensory signal is followed, at least in humans, by a less well-defined but strong emotional experience — we are irresistably driven to stop the pain or escape from the stimulus that causes it.

Focus

Neurodegeneration

July

Sponsored by Astrazeneca

Written by leaders in the field, this Focus provides an authoritative update on the cellular processes that are common to the most frequently observed diseases of the brain, and points to some of the approaches that are being pursued to treat these devastating conditions.

Focus

Sensory Systems

July

Neurons that fire high-frequency bursts of spikes are found in various sensory systems. Although the functional implications of burst firing might differ from system to system, bursts are often thought to represent a distinct mode of neuronal signalling.

Focus

Cognitive Neuroscience (Updated)

March

In the past three decades, cognitive neuroscience has become an important force in humanity's efforts to understand itself. To celebrate this diverse and exciting field, we bring you this special focus issue on cognitive neuroscience.

Focus

Ion channel structure (Updated)

February

Some might argue that there is not much neuroscience left in the study of ion channels when the key experiments are carried out at the synchrotron and their interpretation involves atomic coordinates instead of picoamperes. But the truth is that crystallographic analysis has opened our eyes to new principles of channel function and is beginning to answer questions that neuroscientists have been asking for a long time.

Focus

Neural development (Updated)

November

The adult brain is undoubtedly fascinating, but developmental neuroscientists are more concerned with the journey that brings it to this state than with the destination itself. In fact, it might be argued that the journey never really ends because neuronal circuits in the brain are continually modified throughout life.