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Motor activity in a paralysed hand is restored by directly translating neural signals in the motor cortex into muscle contractions, bypassing the spinal cord.
The use of sophisticated molecular and genetic techniques has revealed the complexity and diversity of the protein composition of different synapses. Smith and colleagues describe methods for investigating synaptic diversity and show how knowledge gained from these studies can advance our understanding of neural circuit organization and function.
GABAB receptor activity is integral to the proper functioning of many neural systems. In this Review, Gassmann and Bettler examine our understanding of the subunit composition of such receptors and how this affects GABABreceptor properties, neuronal processes and higher brain functions.
Caspases are most well known for their role in programmed cell death (apoptosis), but more recently, it has emerged that when caspases are expressed in a localized and restricted manner, they can regulate normal physiological functions such as circuit refinement through axon pruning and synapse elimination.
Neuronal activity in the brain gives rise to transmembrane and extracellular electromagnetic fields that can be measured in the extracellular medium using several approaches. In this Review, Buzsáki and colleagues provide an overview of the mechanisms that underlie the generation of extracellular currents and fields.
The experience of social rejection, exclusion or loss is often described as 'painful'. Naomi Eisenberger here outlines the evidence that the processing of these forms of 'social pain' share many underlying neural substrates with physical pain mechanisms and considers the implications of this convergent neural circuitry.
The conservation of processes associated with normal ageing across species suggests that model systems can contribute to our understanding of human brain ageing. In this Perspective article the authors review the insights into longevity emerging from model organisms and highlight the need for the new paradigms in gerontology to be applied to the CNS.
