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Fibroblasts from patients with schizophrenia have been reprogrammed into neurons, and reveal expected and unexpected changes in neuronal connectivity and gene expression.
Computational models can aid the study of complex biological processes such as neural development. In this Review, van Ooyen describes theoretical models of each of the major stages of neural development, and discusses their influence on the current understanding of the mechanisms that govern these events.
Neuronal communication in the cerebellum occurs through rate coding, but recent evidence indicates that spatiotemporal spiking patterns also contain information. De Zeeuw and colleagues review the evidence for such spatiotemporal coding in the cerebellum, and show that the two coding mechanisms together may enable precise control of cerebellar output.
Despite protective barriers, the nervous system is vulnerable to the invasion of pathogens. This Review discusses mechanisms by which microbes enter the nervous system and cause persistent or life-threatening infections.
Collieret al. revisit the idea that age-related and Parkinson's disease-related changes in midbrain dopamine neurons are unrelated. They review studies showing that markers of cellular risk factors accumulate with age in a pattern that mimics the pattern of degeneration seen in Parkinson's disease and propose that ageing induces a pre-parkinsonian state.
