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Hallucinations and delusions are striking features of schizophrenia that have been difficult to explain. Fletcher and Frith discuss cognitive theories of the positive symptoms of schizophrenia and describe how abnormalities in error-dependent learning could underlie both hallucinations and delusions.
Facial expressions of emotion are universal, but the sensitivity with which these expressions are recognized differs between individuals. Leppänen and Nelson discuss how a network of emotional and visual processing areas develops through experience-expectant and experience-dependent mechanisms.
Brain banking has supported many important advances in neuroscience research. Kretzschmar describes the advantages and opportunities offered by brain banking and provides insight into the challenges facing brain banks in the future.
Event-related potentials (ERPs) have been widely used to investigate language processing in the brain. Lau and colleagues discuss how localization data can contribute to the functional interpretation of one particular component of the ERP — the N400 response.
Recent studies have identified networks of brain areas that underlie voluntary action. Patrick Haggard reviews these circuits, describes the types of decision that are involved in making a voluntary action and discusses how volition is linked to conscious experience.
Many psychiatric disorders emerge in adolescence, when profound changes take place in the brain. Paus and colleagues provide an overview of the neurobiological changes that occur during adolescence and discuss their possible relationship to the emergence of psychopathology.
Recent work has shown that VPS10P-domain receptors have important roles in neuronal signalling pathways. Willnow and colleagues outline the evidence for the contributions of two of these proteins, sortilin and SORLA, to neuronal viability and function.
Sleep has long been viewed as a property of the whole animal that is regulated by sleep- and wake-promoting neuronal networks. Here, Krueger and colleagues review the evidence that sleep might instead be regulated locally, at the level of neuronal assemblies.
The complex morphology of neurons requires distinctive adaptations for the molecular mechanisms of protein degradation. These are discussed by Tai and Schuman with respect to normal function and dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases.
In the CNS, remyelination of denuded axons occurs to reinstate neuronal function. Franklin and ffrench-Constant consider the cells and molecular signals that are required for remyelination and how this knowledge can be channelled towards more effective therapies for demyelinating diseases.
Silent synapses cannot mediate neurotransmission. Kerchner and Nicoll discuss different mechanisms that have been proposed to underlie synaptic silence, and conclude that LTP and synaptic unsilencing occur by a postsynaptic mechanism that involves AMPA receptor recruitment.
As neuroscience research in Asia undergoes unprecedented growth, collaborations are being established between laboratories in Asia and the West. Four neuroscientists describe their experiences of such collaborations and give their input on the challenges and opportunities that they provide.
The supplementary motor complex has a role in regulating action, but whether each of its subregions has a distinct function is unclear. Husain and colleagues review the literature and discuss outstanding issues regarding the function of this complex.
Selective remodelling of synapses contributes to the successful wiring of the nervous system during development. Perry and O'Connor discuss recent studies that have implicated a key component of the immune system, the complement cascade, in this process.
Since their discovery as factors that were upregulated by psychostimulant drugs, CART peptides have emerged as major neurotransmitters and hormones. Here, Kuhar and colleagues provide an overview of the various effects of CART peptides.
Studies of the genetic causes of Alzheimer's disease have yielded a bewildering array of candidate genes. Bertram and Tanzi describe the results of ongoing systematic meta-analyses of these studies and discuss how some of the risk factors identified might contribute to disease pathology.
Cognitive therapy and antidepressant medication are both effective treatments for depression. Derubeis and colleagues propose common and divergent neural changes that might underlie the antidepressant effects of both types of treatment and that could explain the enduring, relapse-preventing effects of cognitive therapy. An interview with Rob DeRubeis for Neuropod is available for download.
High-content analysis (HCA), the combination of automated microscopy and automated image analysis, has the potential to be a powerful tool for neuroscience research. Mike Dragunow outlines the factors to consider when adopting HCA in an academic setting, and the benefits that researchers can expect.
Parkinson's disease is characterized by progressive neurodegeneration, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Brundin and colleagues discuss how recent reports on the outcome of neuronal grafts carried out in patients with Parkinson's disease might shed light on the disease's progression.
Aging is a major risk factor for the development of human neurodegenerative diseases. Here, Cohen and Dillin discuss the roles of insulin/IGF1 signalling in toxic protein aggregation and the links between this pathway and the emergence of late-onset neurodegenerative disease.
