Volume 14 Issue 12, December 2013

By engulfing viable neurons, microglia can contribute to the brain atrophy that results from transient ischaemia.

A study in mice suggests that an important function of sleep may be the removal of waste products from the brain.

A new study shows that the number of neurons in cortical barrel columns varies markedly within individual rats.

The results of two new studies suggest that human cortical interneurons predominantly originate in subcortical regions.

Neural progenitor cell (NPC) profileration in mice is associated with oscillating patterns of expression of several transcription factors, whereas NPC differentiation is associated with the sustained, dominant expression of particular transcription factors.

A new study suggests that sustained activity in the default-mode network during a painful stimulus influences activity in pain-reducing brain areas.

Two recent studies show that vasoactive intestinal polypeptide-expressing interneurons exert a disinhibitory effect on cortical pyramidal cells in a number of brain areas, and this has important implications for control of cortical processing and behaviour.

Two studies provide a first account of homeostatic plasticity of firing rate in the cortex of awake animals.

During development, individual neural progenitors give rise to a series of distinct types of neural progeny that are produced in a specific temporal order. Kohwi and Doe discuss how temporal neural patterning is dictated by extrinsic and intrinsic cues known as temporal-identity factors, as well as by changes in progenitor competence in response to these factors.

Newly generated glutamatergic synapses lack functional AMPA receptor-mediated transmission. Depending on the type of activity that these newborn AMPA-silent synapses are exposed to, they are eventually either eliminated or stabilized. Hanseet al. review recent studies on the abnormal generation of AMPA-silent synapses and on premature or delayed unsilencing that highlight their role in brain pathology.

Increasing evidence of the high incidence of mild cognitive impairment and psychomotor slowing in patients with chronic liver disease has highlighted the need to treat the neurological alterations of these patients. In this article, Felipo reviews the latest studies aimed at understanding how liver failure affects brain function and potential ways to ameliorate these effects.

In this Perspective article, Reiss and colleagues summarize the most recent neuroimaging studies attempting to determine the neural correlates of humour and discuss the influence of sex, personality traits and certain psychiatric disorders on humour appreciation.

Cognitive and neurobiological changes during development influence the content and longevity of memories for events that occurred in early childhood. Mark L. Howe discusses the implications for court cases in which the main evidence consists of adults' recollections of childhood experiences.