Articles in 2012

Two new studies involving graph theoretical analysis of healthy brain connectivity show that in neurodegenerative diseases, pathology might spread across neural networks via transneuronal propagation.

A growing body of evidence suggests that many psychiatric illnesses are associated with impaired mitochondrial function. Manji and colleagues review evidence from studies in animal models and humans and discuss strategies for therapeutics aimed at enhancing mitochondrial function in patients with psychiatric disorders.

Two studies show that a memory trace can be artificially activated to induce fear behaviour.

Local mRNA translation provides an efficient mechanism by which highly polarized cells such as neurons can respond to extrinsic signals. Holt and colleagues describe the growing evidence for the importance of local axonal mRNA translation and protein synthesis in various aspects of nervous system development and function.

On the basis of data from brain network science, Bullmore and Sporns propose that brain organization is shaped by an economical trade-off between minimizing wiring cost and maximizing the efficiency of information transfer between neuronal populations and discuss this idea in the context of psychiatric and neurological disorders.

A dendritically targetedBdnfmRNA transcript is required for the regulation of food intake in response to leptin.

Sexual rejection inDrosophila melanogasterhas been found to reduce activity in the neuropeptide F reward pathway, resulting in compensatory enhanced ethanol consumption.

Endoplasmic reticulum stress influences neurodegeneration in a mouse model of α-synucleinopathy.

The representation of natural odours in the olfactory bulb is dense, not sparse.

Newborn hippocampal granule cells are crucial in pattern separation, whereas older granule cells promote rapid pattern completion.

Optogenetics enables the precise and targeted manipulation of the activity of specific neurons and is a powerful tool for the dissection of neural circuits. Tye and Deisseroth describe the latest refinements in optogenetic technology and show how this approach is being used to investigate the circuits involved in psychiatric and neurological disorders.

The brain is a major target of insulin and insulin-like growth factors (IGFs). Fernandez and Torres-Alemán describe how these peptides enter the CNS to reach specific brain areas and review their actions in the developing and adult brain. They propose that insulin and IGFs regulate diverse processes that are all ultimately involved in energy homeostasis.