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The combined actions of immune cells, vascular cells and neurons mediate a 'neuroinflammatory' response to pathogens, trauma and degeneration in the CNS. Here, Xanthos and Sandkühler show that similar responses can be evoked by neural activity and describe the physiological and pathological roles of this 'neurogenic neuroinflammation'.
Neural insults in conditions such as multiple sclerosis induce changes in the brain's extracellular matrix (ECM) that can inhibit myelin repair. In this Opinion article, Yong and colleagues examine such changes and how the ECM could be targeted to promote remyelination in disease.
The implications of compartmentalization of protein synthesis and distribution within dendrites are not well understood. In this Opinion article, Hanus and Schuman discuss how the morphological complexity of dendrites and specialist regulatory mechanisms influence protein distribution and therefore the synaptic response to activity.
Sleep is characterized by globally synchronized neuronal activity. Vyazovskiy and Harris propose that the synchronous 'down states' of neuronal populations during sleep enable neurons to perform prophylactic maintenance in the absence of synaptic inputs and spiking activity, and hypothesize that this is a key function of sleep.
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.
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.
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.
