abstract：:Sex differences in the nervous system are found throughout the animal kingdom. Here, we discuss three prominent genetic models: nematodes, fruit flies, and mice. In all three, differential cell death is central to sexual differentiation and shared molecular mechanisms have been identified. Our knowledge of the precise...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Forger NG,de Vries GJ

更新日期：2010-12-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Vestibulo-ocular reflexes (VOR) assist retinal image stabilization during vertebrate locomotion thereby ensuring accurate visual perception. The importance of this motor behavior for animal survival requires that the underlying circuitry and all individual components are fully developed and functional as soon as post-...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Straka H

更新日期：2010-12-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The recent invention of super-resolution fluorescence microscopy brings more than an order of magnitude gain in the spatial resolution of light microscopy. New opportunities keep emerging with the multicolor, three-dimensional, and live imaging functionalities gained in the past three years. The power of this technolo...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Dani A,Huang B

更新日期：2010-10-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Fast synaptic inhibition is largely mediated by GABA(A) receptors (GABA(A)Rs), ligand-gated chloride channels that play an essential role in the control of cell and network activity in the brain. Recent work has demonstrated that the delivery, number and stability of GABA(A)Rs at inhibitory synapses play a key role in...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Smith KR,Kittler JT

更新日期：2010-10-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Almost 30 years ago, actin was identified as the major cytoskeletal component of dendritic spines. Since then, its role in the remarkable dynamics of spine morphology have been detailed with live-cell views establishing that spine shape dynamics are an important requirement for synaptogenesis and synaptic plasticity. ...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Frost NA,Kerr JM,Lu HE,Blanpied TA

更新日期：2010-10-01 00:00:00

abstract：:In recent years spectacular advances in the field of epigenetics have taken place. Multiple lines of evidence that connect epigenetic regulation to brain functions have been accumulating. Neurons daily convert a variety of external stimuli into rapid or long-lasting changes in gene expression. Control is achieved thro...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Zocchi L,Sassone-Corsi P

更新日期：2010-08-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The plasticity of the nervous system is due to the ability of neurons to change their properties by altering the function of their proteome. A major mechanism for this is through altering the amount of proteins by regulating their translation. In this review, we focus on recent advances in the elucidation of the mecha...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Sossin WS,Lacaille JC

更新日期：2010-08-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Activity in cortical networks is heterogeneous, sparse and often precisely timed. The functional significance of sparseness and precise spike timing is debated, but our understanding of the developmental and synaptic mechanisms that shape neuronal discharge patterns has improved. Evidence for highly specialized, selec...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Wolfe J,Houweling AR,Brecht M

更新日期：2010-06-01 00:00:00

abstract：:'Auditory scenes' often contain contributions from multiple acoustic sources. These are usually heard as separate auditory 'streams', which can be selectively followed over time. How and where these auditory streams are formed in the auditory system is one of the most fascinating questions facing auditory scientists t...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Shamma SA,Micheyl C

更新日期：2010-06-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The visual system is tasked with extracting stimulus content (e.g. the identity of an object) from the spatiotemporal light pattern falling on the retina. However, visual information can be ambiguous with regard to content (e.g. an object when viewed from far away), requiring the system to also consider contextual inf...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Rust NC,Stocker AA

更新日期：2010-06-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Biology provides examples of efficient machines which greatly outperform conventional technology. Designers in neuromorphic engineering aim to construct electronic systems with the same efficient style of computation. This task requires a melding of novel engineering principles with knowledge gleaned from neuroscience...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Liu SC,Delbruck T

更新日期：2010-06-01 00:00:00

abstract：:In bilaterally symmetric organisms, the midline is a critical organizing center for the developing central nervous system. There is a striking conservation of the molecules and mechanisms that control axon path finding at the midline in vertebrate and invertebrate nervous systems. The majority of axons in the CNS cros...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Evans TA,Bashaw GJ

更新日期：2010-02-01 00:00:00

abstract：:A long standing goal in motor control is to determine the fundamental output controlled by the CNS: does the CNS control the activation of individual motor units, individual muscles, groups of muscles, kinematic or dynamic features of movement, or does it simply care about accomplishing a task? Of course, the output c...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Tresch MC,Jarc A

更新日期：2009-12-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Neuroeconomics is an interdisciplinary field, crossing boundaries between Economics, Psychology, and Neuroscience. Its original program was to provide a test for a large number of competitive theories of decision making. It has in part realized this program, and we review the main findings here. But its results are al...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Rustichini A

更新日期：2009-12-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The unfolded protein response (UPR) comprises kinase signaling and transcription factor activation cascades delineated over the past 20 years. Most studies conclude that this stress response is adaptive but, nevertheless, includes maladaptive programs involving CHOP expression that drives cell-autonomous apoptosis. He...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Gow A,Wrabetz L

更新日期：2009-10-01 00:00:00

abstract：:How does auditory cortex represent auditory stimuli, and how do these representations contribute to behavior? Recent experimental evidence suggests that activity in auditory cortex consists of sparse and highly synchronized volleys of activity, observed both in anesthetized and awake animals. Many neurons are capable ...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Hromádka T,Zador AM

更新日期：2009-08-01 00:00:00

abstract：:MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a recently discovered, extensive class of small noncoding RNAs that act as post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression. miRNAs have been implicated in most aspects of animal development and in pathological processes such as cancer. In neurons, miRNAs are expressed at all stages of develop...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Schratt G

更新日期：2009-04-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Visual system development utilizes global and local cues to assemble a topographic map of the visual world, arranging synaptic connections into columns and layers. Recent genetic studies have provided new insights into the mechanisms that underlie these processes. In flies, a precise temporal sequence of neural differ...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Clandinin TR,Feldheim DA

更新日期：2009-04-01 00:00:00

abstract：:It has been suggested that many aspects of reward-guided behaviour can be understood within the framework of a computational account of decision making. The account emphasises representation of expectations about decision outcomes and the revision of future expectations in the light of the prediction error-the discrep...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Rushworth MF,Mars RB,Summerfield C

更新日期：2009-02-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The issue of whether encoding of geometric information for navigational purposes crucially depends on environmental experience or whether it is innately predisposed in the brain has been recently addressed in controlled rearing studies. Non-human animals can make use of the geometric shape of an environment for spatia...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Vallortigara G,Sovrano VA,Chiandetti C

更新日期：2009-02-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Human children benefit from a possibly unique set of adaptations facilitating the acquisition of knowledge about material culture. They represent artifacts (human-made objects) as tools with specific functions and seek for functional information about novel objects. Even young infants pay attention to functionally rel...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Hernik M,Csibra G

更新日期：2009-02-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Canonically, 'mirror neurons' are cells in area F5 of the ventral premotor cortex that are active during both observation and execution of goal-directed movements. Recently, cells with similar properties have been observed in a number of other areas in the motor system, including the primary motor cortex. Mirror neuro...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Tkach D,Reimer J,Hatsopoulos NG

更新日期：2008-12-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The mechanisms for delivering components to nerve terminals are diverse and highly regulated. The diversity of kinesin motors alone is insufficient to account for the specificity of delivery. Additional specificity and control are contributed by adaptor proteins and associated regulatory molecules. The interaction of ...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Goldstein AY,Wang X,Schwarz TL

更新日期：2008-10-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Modulation of local protein synthesis in neuronal dendrites plays a key role in the production of long-term, activity-dependent changes in synapse structure and functional efficacy. Such long-term changes also require regulation of actin dynamics in dendritic spines. Recent evidence couples local protein synthesis to ...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Bramham CR

更新日期：2008-10-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The perception of music depends on many culture-specific factors, but is also constrained by properties of the auditory system. This has been best characterized for those aspects of music that involve pitch. Pitch sequences are heard in terms of relative as well as absolute pitch. Pitch combinations give rise to emerg...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： McDermott JH,Oxenham AJ

更新日期：2008-08-01 00:00:00

abstract：:In the mouse olfactory system, there are approximately 1000 types of odorant receptors (ORs), which perform multiple functions in olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs). In addition to detecting odors, the functional OR protein ensures the singular gene choice of the OR by negative-feedback regulation. ORs also direct the a...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Imai T,Sakano H

更新日期：2008-06-01 00:00:00

abstract：:In the mammalian cortex, the classic view assumes that the output information of a neuron is encoded in rather stereotyped action potentials, which provide an all-or-none or digital way of communication between cell body and axonal boutons. A role for subthreshold signal propagation within cortical axons has largely b...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Alle H,Geiger JR

更新日期：2008-06-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Reinforcement learning provides both qualitative and quantitative frameworks for understanding and modeling adaptive decision-making in the face of rewards and punishments. Here we review the latest dispatches from the forefront of this field, and map out some of the territories where lie monsters. ...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Dayan P,Niv Y

更新日期：2008-04-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The control of movement relies on the precision with which motor circuits are assembled during development. Spinal motor neurons (MNs) provide the trigger to signal the appropriate sequence of muscle contractions and initiate movement. This task is accommodated by the diversification of MNs into discrete subpopulation...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Dalla Torre di Sanguinetto SA,Dasen JS,Arber S

更新日期：2008-02-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Here we review the mechanisms that determine projection neuron identity during cortical development. Pyramidal neurons in the mammalian cerebral cortex can be classified into two major classes: corticocortical projection neurons, which are concentrated in the upper layers of the cortex, and subcortical projection neur...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Leone DP,Srinivasan K,Chen B,Alcamo E,McConnell SK

更新日期：2008-02-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Though many neuronal cell fate decisions result in reproducible outcomes, stochastic choices often lead to spatial randomization of cell subtypes. This is often the case in sensory systems where expression of a specific sensory receptor gene is selected randomly from a set of possible outcomes. Here, we describe recen...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Johnston RJ Jr,Desplan C

更新日期：2008-02-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The astonishing cellular diversity in the central nervous system (CNS) arises from neural progenitors which can undergo different modes of symmetric and asymmetric divisions to self-renew as well as produce differentiated neuronal and glial progeny. Drosophila CNS neural progenitor cells, neuroblasts, have been utilis...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Zhong W,Chia W

更新日期：2008-02-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Synapses are specialized sites of cell contact that mediate information flow between neurons and their targets. Genetic screens in the nematode C. elegans have led to the discovery of a number of molecules required for synapse patterning and assembly. Recent studies have demonstrated the importance of guidepost cells ...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Margeta MA,Shen K,Grill B

更新日期：2008-02-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The crucial role of dopamine (DA) in movement control is illustrated by the spectrum of motor disorders caused by either a deficiency or a hyperactivity of dopaminergic transmission in the basal ganglia. The degeneration of nigrostriatal DA neurons in Parkinson's disease causes poverty and slowness of movement. These ...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Cenci MA,Lindgren HS

更新日期：2007-12-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Genetically encoded sensors of neural activity enable visualization of circuit-level function in the central nervous system. Although our understanding of the molecular events that regulate neuronal firing, synaptic function, and plasticity has expanded rapidly over the past 15 years, an appreciation for how cellular ...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Barth AL

更新日期：2007-10-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Six highly temperature-sensitive ion channels of the transient receptor potential (TRP) family have been implicated to mediate temperature sensation. These channels, expressed in sensory neurons innervating the skin or the skin itself, are active at specific temperatures ranging from noxious cold to burning heat. In a...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Bandell M,Macpherson LJ,Patapoutian A

更新日期：2007-08-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Understanding how the brain performs computations requires understanding neuronal firing patterns at successive levels of processing-a daunting and seemingly intractable task. Two recent studies have made dramatic progress on this problem by showing how its dimensionality can be reduced. Using the retina as a model sy...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Nirenberg SH,Victor JD

更新日期：2007-08-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Recent studies show that anatomical and functional brain networks exhibit similar small-world properties. However, the networks that are compared often differ in what the nodes represent (e.g. sensors or brain areas), what kind of connectivity is measured, and what temporal and spatial scales are probed. Here, I revie...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Ioannides AA

更新日期：2007-04-01 00:00:00

abstract：:The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and adjacent areas of the medial frontal cortex (MFC) have been implicated in monitoring behaviour and in detecting errors. Recent evidence, however, suggests that the ACC not only registers the occurrence of errors but also represents other aspects of the reinforcement history that...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Rushworth MF,Buckley MJ,Behrens TE,Walton ME,Bannerman DM

更新日期：2007-04-01 00:00:00

abstract：:Priming is a nonconscious form of memory in which an encounter with a stimulus influences the subsequent identification, production or classification of the same or a related stimulus. Neuroimaging studies have revealed that behavioral priming is typically accompanied by reduced activity in several cortical regions. W...

journal_title：Current opinion in neurobiology

authors： Schacter DL,Wig GS,Stevens WD

更新日期：2007-04-01 00:00:00