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Endocannabinoids are involved in regulating neural progenitor cell proliferation, as well as neuronal and glial differentiation. In this Review, Maccarrone, Harkany and colleagues discuss mechanisms of endocannabinoid signalling, the action of plant cannabinoids in the foetal brain, and their exploitation to modulate diseases associated with defective cell cycle control, particularly cancer.
Recent work suggests that the insula forms part of a network that mediates the processing of salient stimuli. In this Opinion article, Lucina Q. Uddin examines the role of the insula in salience processing before outlining that dysfunction of such processing in insular subdivisions might accompany several brain disorders.
In this Science and Society article, Tracey and Flower examine how insights and techniques from neuroscience have been and might be used by the military. They also highlight some of the ethical issues raised by the use of neuroscientific knowledge in this context.
Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and their biologically active derivatives regulate many processes in the brain, including neurotransmission, cell survival and inflammation. Bazinet and Layé review PUFA metabolism and functions in the brain and discuss the potential for PUFA supplementation in psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders.
New oligodendrocytes that are derived from oligodendrocyte-precursor cells and express myelin regulatory factor are important for the learning of novel motor skills.
Developmental dyslexia occurs across languages and has a major impact on the lives of affected individuals. Here, Usha Goswami considers the evidence for several prominent 'sensory' theories of dyslexia and outlines the key challenges for research in this area.
During memory retrieval the hippocampus is required for the reactivation of cortical activity patterns that occurred during encoding, but artificial reactivation of the cortical representation of a memory alone is sufficient to drive recall.
Suicide is one of the leading causes of death for people of all ages in the developed world and is associated with various risk factors. Here, Gustavo Turecki reviews the molecular processes that may predispose individuals to suicide, mediate suicidal ideation and behaviour, and trigger suicidal events.
