: Neuroscience Articles
Brief Communication: Excess protein synthesis in Drosophila Fragile X mutants impairs long-term memoryIt was previously known that a lack of FMRP can lead to a broad increase in protein synthesis. In this manuscript, the authors demonstrate a direct association between enhanced protein synthesis and the cognitive deficits observed in animal models lacking FMRP. Nature Neuroscience, vol. 11 #10, pp1143-1145 |
Brief Communication: ERK-dependent PSD-95 induction in the gustatory cortex is necessary for taste learning, but not retrievalSynaptic plasticity is believed to underlie the formation of long-term memories, but the mechanisms are not well understood. Elkobi and colleagues now report that induction of PSD-95, a synaptic protein, parallels taste learning, and attenuation of PSD-95 expression in taste cortex blocks learning of novel tastes, but not recollection of familiar ones. Nature Neuroscience, vol. 11 #10, pp1149-1151 |
Brief Communication: miR-19, miR-101 and miR-130 co-regulate ATXN1 levels to potentially modulate SCA1 pathogenesisThis study demonstrates that several microRNA species co-regulate the levels of the ataxin1, a gene implicated in the development of spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 (SCA1). With ataxin1 dosage contributing to disease severity, this regulation pathway may influence SCA1 progression. Nature Neuroscience, vol. 11 #10, pp1137-1139 |
Brief Communication: Changes in neuronal excitability serve as a mechanism of long-term memory for operant conditioningIn addition to the changes in synaptic efficacy, modifications in the intrinsic excitability of neurons are seen after learning. Using in vitro operant conditioning of feeding in Aplysia, Mozzachiodi et al. demonstrate that a long-term increase in the neuronal excitability can contribute to the storage of long-term memory. Nature Neuroscience, vol. 11 #10, pp1146-1148 |
Brief Communication: Laminar analysis of the role of GluR1 in experience-dependent and synaptic depression in barrel cortexThere are many mechanisms for LTD, but it remains unknown which one underlies experience-dependent plasticity during development. Wright and colleagues now report that LTD in response to developmental deprivation depends on the GluR1 subunit in barrel cortex layers 2/3 and 4. Nature Neuroscience, vol. 11 #10, pp1140-1142 |
News and Views: FoxP1: conducting the Hox symphony in spinal motor neuronsThe transcription factor FoxP1 is important for the establishment of motor neuron diversification and connectivity. New studies indicate that it acts as an accessory factor for the transcriptional output of the Hox transcription factor network. Nature Neuroscience, vol. 11 #10, pp1122-1124 |
News and Views: Right way neuronsThe visual and vestibular systems encode different, but complementary, aspects of self motion. A study in this issue sheds light on how the brain combines cues from these disparate sources, which are encoded by single neurons in the monkey extrastriate visual cortex, to support the perception of heading direction. Nature Neuroscience, vol. 11 #10, pp1121-1122 |
News and Views: Regenerating your senses: multiple roles for neurogenesis in the adult brainThe adult mouse brain continuously supplies new neurons to the olfactory bulb and hippocampus. A new study in this issue shows that ongoing neurogenesis is essential for maintenance of the olfactory bulb and for spatial memory. Nature Neuroscience, vol. 11 #10, pp1124-1126 |
News and Views: Pavlov's moth: olfactory learning and spike timing–dependent plasticitySpike-timing dependent plasticity is a favored synaptic mechanism for learning. However, a surprising new study by Ito and colleagues in the insect mushroom body suggests that it cannot account for a paradigmatic form of learning. Nature Neuroscience, vol. 11 #10, pp1126-1127 |