Volume 11 Issue 6, June 2010

Neuronal activity triggers the activation of thousands of enhancers and the synthesis of enhancer RNA.

The activation patterns of mitral cells may provide an early processing step in olfactory perception.

The enhanced neurogenesis that is triggered by the interaction of males with their offspring postpartum is important for father–offspring recognition.

Neuronal recordings in humans show mirror-like activity in the medial frontal and medial temporal cortices.

Chronic opioid exposure upregulates δ-opioid receptors, which can synergize with μ-opioid receptors in mediating analgesia.

GABA_B receptors modulate multivesicular release and the Ca²⁺permeability of NMDA receptors at neuronal spines.

CRF receptor 1 regulates anxiety-like behaviour by sensitizing 5-HT₂receptor signalling.

Understanding the molecular basis of a cell's differentiation capacity will greatly aid attempts to use stem cells for therapeutic purposes. In this Review, Hirabayashi and Gotoh discuss the mounting evidence implicating epigenetic mechanisms in the regulation of cell fate during neural development.

Nicotine addiction is notoriously difficult to overcome. In this article, Changeux reviews studies in transgenic mice that have started to reveal which nicotine receptor subunits mediate the effects of nicotine on behaviour, cognition and addiction and so might form therapeutic targets for nicotine addiction.

Microdeletions in chromosome 22q11.2 cause substantial impairments in several areas of attention and increase the risk of developing schizophrenia. Karayiorgou and colleagues discuss the complex genetic and neural substrates that are altered by these microdeletions, drawing on data obtained from human patients and animal models.

Keysers and colleagues review evidence that perceiving the sensations, actions and somatic pain of others induces activation in the somatosensory cortex. Perhaps similar to the mirror system for action understanding, this capacity might contribute to our understanding of other individuals' experiences.

Sir Charles Sherrington's work forms the basis of our current understanding of numerous aspects of nervous system physiology. Inspired by the recent rediscovery of a collection of Sherrington's histology slides, Molnár and Brown revisit his lifetime's achievements in neuroscience.

Two main features make budding yeast a key model organism for eukaryotic biology: its amenability to analysis and its conserved genome and cellular biology. Here, the authors highlight the valuable mechanistic insights into the cell-autonomous mechanisms of neurodegeneration that are emerging from studies inSaccharomyces cerevisiae.