Volume 12 Issue 3, March 2011

Two functional neural networks emerge during a perceptual task, and synchronization in these networks influences performance on the task.

Hippocampal insulin-like growth factor 2 (IGF2) has a crucial role in memory consolidation and can improve memory retention.

Memory reactivation has opposing effects on memory stability during wakefulness and sleep.

Microtubule stabilization reduces scarring and promotes axon regeneration after spinal cord injury.

α5-containing nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the habenulo-interpeduncular pathway modulate nicotine addiction.

A deficiency in omega-3 fatty acids leads to endocannabinoid-mediated synaptic and behavioural changes

Chemokine signalling through CXCR4 and CXCR7 have non-redundant but interacting functions in neuronal migration during development.

Faithful transmission of information within and between neural circuits is underpinned by tight coupling between exocytosis and endocytosis at individual synapses. In this Review, Haucke and colleagues unravel the mechanisms underlying this coupling and explain how it is crucial to robust neurotransmission.

Mechanotransduction — the conversion of a mechanical stimulus into an electrical signal — underpins the senses of touch, pain and proprioception. Delmas and colleagues review emerging data on the characteristics of mechanosensitive currents in mammalian sensory neurons and discuss candidate proteins that might constitute the underlying mechanotransducer channels.

In this Review, Shackman and colleagues challenge claims that emotion and cognition are functionally segregated in the cingulate cortex. They show that negative affect, pain and cognitive control activate a common subdivision of the cingulate cortex, and propose that this region uses punishment-related information to optimize goal-directed behaviour.

A great many aspects of neuronal physiology and pathology involve or affect the brain barriers. Recent insights into the role of the blood–brain barrier during development, and advances in our understanding of how it affects neurological disorders, have led to closer links between the two topics.