Volume 15 Issue 8, August 2014

Studies show that postganglionic parasympathetic neurons originate from nerve-associated Schwann cell precursors.

Noradrenaline released during arousal controls the ability of astrocytes to respond to local neuronal activity.

In mice with mechanical hyperalgesia, reactivation of the sensitized pain pathways renders the hyperalgesic state labile and susceptible to being reversed.

A study by Krepleet al. shows that acid-sensitive ion channel 1A in the nucleus accumbens inhibits cocaine-related synaptic plasticity and cocaine-conditioned behaviour in rodents.

Retrotransposons — endogenous DNA sequences that can change their position within the genome — have been found to be active in neurons. Here, Gage and colleagues describe the regulation of retrotransposition in the nervous system and consider its functions in neuronal development, evolution and disease.

Retinal bipolar cells provide the link between photoreceptors and retinal ganglion cells, the output neurons of the eye. In this Review, Euler and colleagues explore the features of retinal bipolar cells and examine how they shape the visual signal.

Superior colliculus neurons develop the ability to integrate information from different senses postnatally based on experience with cross-modal events. In this Review, Steinet al. discuss how this experience-dependent process ensures that this multisensory circuit and the behaviours it mediates are adapted to the environment in which they will operate.

The ventral temporal cortex (VTC) rapidly and flexibly categorizes visual stimuli. In this Review, Grill-Spector and Weiner discuss how the structural features of the VTC support the computations that are necessary to achieve this categorization.

Do social decisions and material decisions involve the same neural circuits and computations? In this article, Ruff and Fehr review the social decision-making literature and propose a theoretical framework that may help to address this question.