Articles in 2009

Scientific publishing depends on expert peer reviewers. Instead of perpetually arguing about the reliability and fairness of peer review, authors, editors and referees should seek to optimize this time-tested system.

Cortical and thalamic contribution to V1 neuron response properties is thought to be fixed. New work overturns this assumption, showing that the spread of corticocortical activation can be strongly modulated by stimulus strength.

Research indicates that sleep influences learning, but little is known about the mechanisms involved. A recent article suggests that sleep modifies the firing patterns of sensorimotor neurons before there is improvement in performance.

In retinitis pigmentosa, rod and cone photoreceptors die. Although rods die as a consequence of rod-specific genetic mutations, there is no clear explanation for the progressive loss of cones. A new study in this issue suggests that changes in the insulin/mTOR pathway and cell starvation can partially account for cone death in this disease.

When prion proteins go wrong, they can do serious damage, but little is known about their normal function, despite their ubiquitous expression in the brain. A new report in this issue suggests a critical role for prions in olfactory discrimination.

Neurofibromatosis type I is often associated with learning disabilities. Recent work shows that lack of neurofibromin impairs memory because overactive ERK signaling in hippocampal interneurons causes excessive GABA release.