2017 marks the 200th anniversary since James Parkinson published his Essay on the Shaking Palsy. To mark this event, Nature Reviews bring together a collection of cutting edge articles that summarize the current basic and clinical research in Parkinson disease.

Recent years have witnessed the launch of several large-scale national and international initiatives that aim to transform our understanding of brain structure and function through collaborative research and the development and implementation of state-of-the-art neurotechnology. These projects are likely to have wide-ranging influences on all aspects of neuroscientific research, from its organization to its funding. Nature Reviews Neuroscience presents a series of Comment articles in which leading neuroscientists provide their thoughts on the issues, challenges and opportunities that these initiatives present.

Acute stress induces signalling in the brain and physiological changes that allow an individual to respond appropriately to the encountered situation or threat, whereas chronic stress can elicit detrimental, long-lasting effects on brain function. Nature Reviews Neurosciencepresents a series of articles on stress that cover topics ranging from the molecular pathways and cellular processes that are affected by stress to its effects at the behavioural level.

Although cannabis has been used for centuries as a recreational drug, the mechanisms of action of its active constituents (cannabinoids) and their endogenous counterparts (endocannabinoids) have only been discovered relatively recently. Nature Reviews Neurosciencepresents a series of articles that examine the multiplicity of roles of the endocannabinoid system in the CNS, from development to behaviour, and the potential for cannabinoid-based therapies in the treatment of a range of brain disorders.

New insights into the neural processes that underlie cognition and behaviour have led to discussions about the relevance of these discoveries for the criminal justice system. Conversely, laws can influence neuroscience, for example, with regard to psychoactive drugs and stem cell research. Nature Reviews Neurosciencepresents a series of articles that explore the interaction between neuroscience and the law.

Chronic pain is estimated to affect over one-quarter of the world's population, and presents a considerable therapeutic challenge. This Nature Collection brings together articles from Nature,Nature Medicine,Nature Neuroscience,Nature Reviews NeurologyandNature Reviews Neurosciencethat highlight recent advances towards understanding the risk factors and mechanisms that underlie chronic pain, and developing effective, non-addictive treatments for this highly prevalent condition.

A fundamental goal of neuroscience research is to understand how the brain's neural circuits are structurally and functionally connected. Nature Reviews Neurosciencepresents a series of articles that explore various approaches to the analysis of the structure and function of neural circuits and describe recent methodological advances that are driving research.

The profound social and economic impact of an ageing population highlights the need to understand the factors that influence cognitive health and the decline that occurs with age. Nature Reviews Neurosciencepresents a series of articles that examine the hallmarks of ageing in the brain, the mechanisms underlying brain ageing and the implications for brain function and disease susceptibility.

Autism spectrum disorder has attracted intense interest from the public and scientists over recent years. Nature sorts fact from fiction in this hot, but sometimes contentious, field: from the debate about soaring diagnoses, to the idea that scientists and engineers are at high risk of having a child with autism. The special includes news and comment fromNature, and articles fromNature Medicine,Nature NeuroscienceandNature Reviews Neuroscience.

Addiction incurs enormous medical, economic and social costs. The currently available pharmacotherapies for addiction are only moderately effective, which further emphasizes the need to improve our understanding of the changes that are induced in the brain by addictive substances. This Focus issue features five articles that discuss recent insights into the neurobiology of addiction — from the molecular to the behavioural level — and highlight the importance of these findings for the development of new treatments.

Evolutionary biology seeks to reconstruct the ancestral relationship among organisms and the pathways that led to the enormous variety of biological forms. This focus issue of Nature Reviews Neurosciencecelebrates the bicentenary of Charles Darwin's birth and the publication of On the Origin of Species 150 years ago. The articles in this special issue discuss the molecular, cellular and structural changes that have contributed to CNS evolution and the functional consequences of these changes.