Volume 12 Issue 2, February 2011

Germ cells can be directly converted into specific types of neuronin vivo, bypassing the pluripotent stage.

miRNA-124 expression ensures a resting phenotype in microglial cells.

Long-term potentiation is enhanced by muscarinic cholinergic receptor activation through the inhibition of SK channels.

Neural stem cell reactivation is induced by glial cells, which secrete insulin-like peptides in response to a nutritional stimulus.

Dopaminergic signalling encodes the incentive salience of cues in a form of stimulus–reward learning.

A developmental programme initiates the reorganization of inhibitory input to direction-sensitive retinal cells.

Food restriction alters stress and feeding pathways in the brain, and promotes binge eating of high-fat foods upon subsequent exposure to stress.

Astrocyte swelling associated with brain oedema activates intracellular signalling pathways.

Inhibition of caspase-3 improves synaptic function and memory in the Tg2576 mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.

Amyloid-β and tau exert toxicity in Alzheimer's disease through mechanisms that are gradually becoming understood. This Progress article reviews recent findings regarding their possible interactions and synergistic effects at the synapse, and discusses how these effects may contribute to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease.

Thathiah and De Strooper discuss the complex interactions between G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and the amyloid-β cascade in Alzheimer's disease, highlighting new targets for drug discovery efforts and the need for a multi-target approach to therapy.

In the adult brain, neurogenesis occurs in a few restricted niches. However, the activation of glia following brain injury can endow these cells with stem cell properties. Götz and colleagues discuss how a more detailed knowledge of reactive gliosis might enable the stem cell potential of glia to be harnessed.

In this Review, Fell and Axmacher discuss how phase synchronization of neural oscillations facilitates neural communication and plasticity, and thereby promotes memory processes. They propose that working memory and long-term memory might interact through phase–phase and phase–amplitude synchronization in the hippocampus.