Reviews & Analysis

Emerging evidence suggests that there is an inverse comorbidity relationship between certain neurological disorders and certain cancers. In this Opinion article, Tabarés-Seisdedos and Rubenstein discuss the evidence for this intriguing association and possible underlying mechanisms.

Myosins II, V and VI are actin-based cytoskeletal motors that have specific pre- and postsynaptic roles. Kneussel and Wagner review their diverse functions, which include the regulation of actin cytoskeleton dynamics in dendritic spines and powering of synaptic cargo transport.

The aquaporins (AQPs) are a family of integral membrane proteins that are involved in water movement across cell membranes. In this Review, Papadopoulos and Verkman examine the roles of AQPs in the functioning of the mammalian nervous system and in various neurological conditions.

In this Review, Robberecht and Philips provide a comprehensive summary of the current understanding of the causes and mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The emerging phenotypic heterogeneity of this neurodegenerative disease is leading to the concept that the term ALS covers several conditions and not just one disease.

Attention can enhance performance in tasks that involve the visual system's spatial resolution. In this Review, Anton-Erxleben and Carrasco propose a framework that seeks to explain this effect and that also has implications for the representation of spatial information.

The distal axon and soma of a neuron may be a considerable distance apart, but they are still required to efficiently communicate with each other. In this Review, Harrington and Ginty examine how long-distance retrograde growth factor signalling is achieved between these compartments and its functions.

The neural mechanisms underlying the perception of duration have proved difficult to unravel and remain unclear. Here, Wittmann explores why this has been the case and presents recent theoretical developments and empirical findings indicating that 'climbing' neural activity has a central role in time perception.

Defects in axonal transport are a feature of various neurodegenerative disorders. In this article, Millecamps and Julien provide an overview of the components of the microtubule-based axonal transport system, before examining how defects in this system might cause or influence neurodegeneration in various diseases.

Homeostatic maintenance of the state of the body within an optimal range is essential for survival. Damasio and Carvalho discuss how feelings derived from body states enhance the effectiveness of the corrective response and suggest a cellular mechanism for how feelings might be generated.

Microsaccades are small, rapid eye movements that occur when we are attempting to fix our gaze on one spot. Martinez-Condeet al. review the physiology and functions of microsaccades and conclude that they form part of a continuum with larger saccades.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity in humans, but the therapeutic options for TBI are limited. Xionget al. critically review animal models of TBI and discuss how studies involving such models could be improved to develop more-effective TBI treatments.

Long-lasting memories require specific gene expression programmes that are, in part, orchestrated by epigenetic mechanisms such as histone acetylation. Gräff and Tsai review the roles of histone acetylation in memory and consider whether histone deacetylase inhibitors might have promise as therapeutic interventions against cognitive frailty.

The emergence of human cognition during evolution did not just involve mutations in brain-related genes. In this Review, Khaitovich and colleagues consider the contribution of human-specific changes in metabolism and gene expression, and their underlying mechanisms, to the human cognitive phenotype.