Current Issue
July 2009 Vol 10 No 7
From the editors
p467 | doi:10.1038/nrn2677
Research Highlights
Cerebellum: An olive branch to two theories | PDF (157 KB)
p468 | doi:10.1038/nrn2674
MicroRNA: MicroRNAs have receptor subunits in a bind | PDF (182 KB)
p469 | doi:10.1038/nrn2671
Development: Terminal differentiation | PDF (173 KB)
p469 | doi:10.1038/nrn2678
Synaptic plasticity: The advantages of youth | PDF (169 KB)
p470 | doi:10.1038/nrn2664
Sleep: What goes up, must come down | PDF (131 KB)
p470 | doi:10.1038/nrn2676
In brief
Neuronal circuits | Neurological disorders | Reward | Neurogenesis | PDF (116 KB)
p470 | doi:10.1038/nrn2679
Learning and memory: HDAC2 is the one | PDF (173 KB)
p471 | doi:10.1038/nrn2660
Neuronal metabolism: A question of balance | PDF (135 KB)
p472 | doi:10.1038/nrn2669
Spine formation: Signalling growth | PDF (147 KB)
p472 | doi:10.1038/nrn2673
Addiction: Let me count the genes | PDF (204 KB)
p472 | doi:10.1038/nrn2675
In brief
Reward | Fear | Attention | PDF (114 KB)
p473 | doi:10.1038/nrn2680
Progress
New sites of action for GIRK and SK channels
Rafael Luján, James Maylie & John P. Adelman
p475 | doi:10.1038/nrn2668
GIRK and SK channels, two families of voltage-independent K+ channels, have recently been described at synaptic as well as extrasynaptic sites. Luján and colleagues discuss how associated signalling complexes in conjunction with local signals could result in the different functions of these two ion channel families.
Reviews
Mitochondrial membrane permeabilization in neuronal injury
Lorenzo Galluzzi, Klas Blomgren & Guido Kroemer
p481 | doi:10.1038/nrn2665
Kroemer and colleagues discuss the converging signalling mechanisms that lead to mitochondrial membrane permeabilization and trigger neuron death after severe brain injury. They also highlight how knowledge of these mechanisms might be exploited therapeutically.
The diverse functional roles and regulation of neuronal gap junctions in the retina
Stewart A. Bloomfield & Béla Völgyi
p495 | doi:10.1038/nrn2636
The different neuron types in the retina are electrically coupled. Bloomfield and Völgyi describe the various types of retinal gap junctions, their dynamic regulation through neuromodulator-activated signalling pathways and their specific roles in visual processing.
Circuits controlling vertebrate locomotion: moving in a new direction
Martyn Goulding
p507 | doi:10.1038/nrn2608
Intrinsic spinal cord networks generate the rhythmic patterns of motor activity that underlie locomotion. Goulding shows how genetic analyses, coupled with classical systems neuroscience approaches, are providing new information about the cellular components and functional organization of these circuits.
Tests to assess motor phenotype in mice: a user's guide
Simon P. Brooks & Stephen B. Dunnett
p519 | doi:10.1038/nrn2652
Brooks and Dunnet provide an overview of available motor behaviour tests, with the aim of helping researchers choose the most appropriate tests for teasing out a transgenic phenotype or assessing the recovery of motor function following therapeutic intervention. An interview with Simon Brooks for Neuropod is available for download.
Perspectives
Opinion
Principles of neural ensemble physiology underlying the operation of brain–machine interfaces
Miguel A. L. Nicolelis & Mikhail A. Lebedev
p530 | doi:10.1038/nrn2653
Recent advances in brain–machine interface technology have allowed neuroscientists to gain insights into the principles underlying information processing in the CNS. Nicolelis and Lebedev propose a series of principles of neural ensemble physiology that have arisen from this research.
