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The circuitry of the hippocampal CA3 region has long been hypothesized to be well suited to the storage of memories. Mulle and colleagues provide an update on the known types and mechanisms of synaptic plasticity in CA3 and describe evidence for their roles in memory formation and retrieval.
The experience of controlling our own actions is an important feature of human mental life. The processes giving rise to this experience are thought to be disrupted in some psychiatric disorders. In this article, Haggard describes recent developments in our understanding of the cognitive processes and neural mechanisms underlying the sense of agency.
Touch neurons inCaenorhabditis eleganseliminate aggregated or neurotoxic proteins and dysfunctional mitochondria by exporting them in large vesicles called exophers.
Recent human neuroimaging studies suggest that, in addition to its role in visuospatial and sensorimotor processes, the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) also plays an important part in episodic memory retrieval. Here, Sestieri, Shulman and Corbetta present a functional–anatomical model of the involvement of the PPC in memory retrieval.
Impulsivity comes in various forms, with some forms considered more or less advantageous than others. Dalley and Robbins review the different types of impulsivity and their underlying neural mechanisms, and comment on the applicability of measures of impulsivity in research into psychiatric disorders.
In this Opinion article, Hunt and Hayden highlight that many of the models for reward-based choice are based on distinct component processes that occur in series and are functionally localized. They argue that, instead, such choice emerges from repeated computations that are undertaken in many brain areas.
Mutations in the genes encoding the SH3 and multiple ankyrin repeat domains protein (SHANK) family have been linked to autism spectrum disorder, driving a wave of recent studies that aimed to dissect their functional roles in the brain. Monteiro and Feng describe recent findings that have begun to shed light on the important roles of SHANK proteins at the synapse.
Activated microglia induce a subtype of reactive astrocytes that is toxic to various neuronal types and oligodendrocytes and that is found in various neurological disorders.
Micro-connectomics involves determining the principles of how neuronal networks are organized at the cellular level. In this Review, Schröter, Paulsen and Bullmore examine studies that have provided insight into the network organization of relatively small, as well as more complex, nervous systems.
Extended periods of exposure to emotional stimuli result in increased functional connectivity between the amygdala and the anterior hippocampus, which strengthens memory consolidation and subsequent recall of neutral stimuli experienced during this altered brain state.
