Nature Neuroscience Contents: August 2011 Volume 14 Number 8, pp 941 - 1093

TABLE OF CONTENTS August 2011 Volume 14, Issue 8 Editorial News and Views Brief Communications Articles Technical Reports Recommend to your library Web feed Available online only Subscribe Advertisement Progranulin EIAs Measure in human or mouse serum, plasma, or cell culture supernatants • TRNF agonist involved in neuroinflammation • Double-antibody "sandwich" assay format • Straightforward, highly sensitive readout in just a few hours Progranulin (human) EIA Kit Limit of detection: 32 pg/ml Progranulin (mouse) EIA Kit Limit of detection: 60 pg/ml Advertisement Nature Outlook: Alzheimer’s Disease From dancing to drugs, research on Alzheimer’s disease is moving apace. Our improved understanding of the role that amyloid-ß plays is uncovering new ways to treat and perhaps prevent the disease. Access the Outlook free online for six months. Produced with support from: Eli Lilly and Company   Editorial Top Crafting a revision p941 doi:10.1038/nn0811-941 Responding to referee comments constructively improves the quality of published papers. Full Text | PDF News and Views Top Prior and prejudice pp943 - 945 Emilio Salinas doi:10.1038/nn.2883 To best interpret new sensory information, populations of sensory neurons must represent the lessons of past experience. How do they do this? The same solution to this problem is now reported in two very different sensory systems, providing a classic example of computational convergence. Full Text | PDF See also: Article by Fischer & Peña Anti-TANKyrase weapons promote myelination pp945 - 947 Patrizia Casaccia doi:10.1038/nn.2885 A study identifies mechanisms responsible for the inability to form new myelin after neonatal hypoxia. It identifies Axin2 as a potential therapeutic target for reversing the 'differentiation block' of oligodendrocyte-lineage cells. Full Text | PDF See also: Article by Fancy et al. What birds have to say about language pp947 - 948 Tiffany C Bloomfield, Timothy Q Gentner and Daniel Margoliash doi:10.1038/nn.2884 Controversy surrounds the suggestion that recursion is a uniquely human computational ability that enables language. A study now finds this ability in a songbird and takes steps toward a model system for syntactic competence. Full Text | PDF See also: Article by Abe & Watanabe An overlooked neurotoxic species in Alzheimer's disease pp949 - 950 Iryna Benilova and Bart De Strooper doi:10.1038/nn.2871 A study now finds early memory impairment in a mouse model of amyloid β43 (Aβ43)-overproducing familial Alzheimer's disease and suggests that this overlooked amyloidogenic Aβ species contributes to pathology. Full Text | PDF See also: Article by Saito et al. Reward and autoreceptors p950 Brigitta Gundersen doi:10.1038/nn0811-950 Full Text | PDF See also: Article by Bello et al. Neuroscience JOBS of the week W3-Professor (f / m) for Experimental Neurophysiology DZNE Koln, Germany Director The Luc Hoffmann Institute Gland, Switzerland Postdoc Position (M / F) in Medical Systems Biology DKFZ, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum Heidelberg, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany EMBL Interdisciplinary Postdocs Fellowship (EIPOD) EMBL, European Molecular Biology Laboratory Hamburg and Heidelberg, Germany Technology Platform Managers Regional Centre for Biotechnology Gurgaon, India More Science jobs from Neuroscience EVENT Champalimaud Neuroscience Symposium 18 - 21 September 2011 Lisbon, Portugal More science events from Brief Communications Top In vivo evidence that retinal bipolar cells generate spikes modulated by light pp951 - 952 Elena Dreosti, Federico Esposti, Tom Baden and Leon Lagnado doi:10.1038/nn.2841 It is thought that retinal bipolar cells do not fire action potentials, but calcium imaging in live zebrafish now reveals that in bipolar cells there are 'all or none' calcium transients that are modulated by visual stimulation. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF Preventing interference between different memory tasks pp953 - 955 Daniel A Cohen and Edwin M Robertson doi:10.1038/nn.2840 Learning both a word list and a motor memory task in a short interval usually leads to interference between the two tasks, resulting in poorer performance. Depending on the order of the tasks, the authors were able to directly prevent interference by applying transcranial magnetic stimulation to disrupt processing in either the prefrontal or the motor cortex, which suggests that distinct mechanisms underlie memory interference. First paragraph | Full Text | PDF Articles Top Mammalian Gcm genes induce Hes5 expression by active DNA demethylation and induce neural stem cells pp957 - 964 Seiji Hitoshi, Yugo Ishino, Akhilesh Kumar, Salma Jasmine, Kenji F Tanaka, Takeshi Kondo, Shigeaki Kato, Toshihiko Hosoya, Yoshiki Hotta and Kazuhiro Ikenaka doi:10.1038/nn.2875 The authors report that Hes5, a Notch effector gene, is serially activated by mammalian glial cells missing (Gcm) and later by the canonical Notch pathway. Loss of both Gcm1 and Gcm2 and subsequent lack of Hes5 upregulation in the neuroepithelium leads to impaired induction of neural stem cells. Abstract | Full Text | PDF Neurod6 expression defines new retinal amacrine cell subtypes and regulates their fate pp965 - 972 Jeremy N Kay, P Emanuela Voinescu, Monica W Chu and Joshua R Sanes doi:10.1038/nn.2859 This study demonstrates the existence of a novel retinal narrow-field amacrine cell subtype that is neither GABAergic nor glycinergic. These cells arise from a late-born glycinergic population and are specified by expression of the transcription factor Neurod6. Abstract | Full Text | PDF A CaMKIIβ signaling pathway at the centrosome regulates dendrite patterning in the brain pp973 - 983 Sidharth V Puram, Albert H Kim, Yoshiho Ikeuchi, Joshua T Wilson-Grady, Andreas Merdes, Steven P Gygi and Azad Bonni doi:10.1038/nn.2857 This study reports that CaMKIIβ is recruited to the centrosome by PCM1, where it promotes dendrite retraction and pruning via the phosphorylation and inhibition of Cdc20-APC. This effect is independent of its association with CaMKIIα. Abstract | Full Text | PDF Regulation of behavioral plasticity by systemic temperature signaling in Caenorhabditis elegans  pp984 - 992 Takuma Sugi, Yukuo Nishida and Ikue Mori doi:10.1038/nn.2854 C. elegans uses a thermotactic neural circuit to sense, move and remember temperature gradients in its surroundings. Here, Sugi and colleagues show that these responses are regulated by the heat-shock transcription factor HSF-1 and subsequent transcriptional programming in both neuronal and non-neuronal cells. Abstract | Full Text | PDF Laminin-332 coordinates mechanotransduction and growth cone bifurcation in sensory neurons pp993 - 1000 Li-Yang Chiang, Kate Poole, Beatriz E Oliveira, Neuza Duarte, Yinth Andrea Bernal Sierra, Leena Bruckner-Tuderman, Manuel Koch, Jing Hu and Gary R Lewin doi:10.1038/nn.2873 Laminin-332 is a major component of the dermo-epidermal skin basement membrane and maintains skin integrity. Here the authors find that it also suppresses a mechanosensitive current by preventing the formation of protein tethers required for current activation and exerts local control of over sensory axon branching behavior. Abstract | Full Text | PDF Loss of activity-induced phosphorylation of MeCP2 enhances synaptogenesis, LTP and spatial memory pp1001 - 1008 Hongda Li, Xiaofen Zhong, Kevin Fongching Chau, Emily Cunningham Williams and Qiang Chang doi:10.1038/nn.2866 The authors generated a knock-in mouse line in which the MeCP2 protein cannot be phosphorylated by neuronal activity, and found that the mice exhibit superior hippocampus-dependent memory performance and enhanced synaptic plasticity by upregulating MeCP2 target genes, including BDNF, and have higher levels of excitatory synaptogenesis. Abstract | Full Text | PDF Axin2 as regulatory and therapeutic target in newborn brain injury and remyelination pp1009 - 1016 Stephen P J Fancy, Emily P Harrington, Tracy J Yuen, John C Silbereis, Chao Zhao, Sergio E Baranzini, Charlotte C Bruce, Jose J Otero, Eric J Huang, Roel Nusse, Robin J M Franklin and David H Rowitch doi:10.1038/nn.2855 Premyelinating oligodendrocytes are vulnerable to hypoxic injuries, especially during the neonatal period. Here, Fancy et al. find that the Wnt scaffolding molecule Axin2 is crucial for normal remyelination after hypoxic injuries and demonstrate that pharmacological inhibition of tankyrase, which stabilizes Axin2 levels, can promote oligodendrocyte differentiation and recovery after hypoxic and demyelinating injuries. Abstract | Full Text | PDF See also: News and Views by Casaccia Zinc alleviates pain through high-affinity binding to the NMDA receptor NR2A subunit pp1017 - 1022 Chihiro Nozaki, Angela Maria Vergnano, Dominique Filliol, Abdel-Mouttalib Ouagazzal, Anne Le Goff, Stéphanie Carvalho, David Reiss, Claire Gaveriaux-Ruff, Jacques Neyton, Pierre Paoletti and Brigitte L Kieffer doi:10.1038/nn.2844 The authors use transgenic mice to show that zinc modulates NMDA receptors containing the NR2A subunit, and that this interaction influences pain control in vivo. Abstract | Full Text | PDF Potent amyloidogenicity and pathogenicity of Aβ43 pp1023 - 1032 Takashi Saito, Takahiro Suemoto, Nathalie Brouwers, Kristel Sleegers, Satoru Funamoto, Naomi Mihira, Yukio Matsuba, Kazuyuki Yamada, Per Nilsson, Jiro Takano, Masaki Nishimura, Nobuhisa Iwata, Christine Van Broeckhoven, Yasuo Ihara and Takaomi C Saido doi:10.1038/nn.2858 In addition to neurotoxic Aβ42, the Aβ43 variant is also abundant in Aβ plaques in the brains of individuals with sporadic and familial Alzheimer's disease. As the functional difference between the two species of Aβ fragments are not known, Saido et al. used a presenilin-1 (PS1) mutation that increases Aβ43 production over other Aβ fragments and generated a knock-in mouse line mimicking the human PS1 mutation. They report that Aβ43 is highly amyloidogenic in this line of mice and leads to behavioral deficits. Abstract | Full Text | PDF See also: News and Views by Benilova & De Strooper Cocaine supersensitivity and enhanced motivation for reward in mice lacking dopamine D2 autoreceptors pp1033 - 1038 Estefanía P Bello, Yolanda Mateo, Diego M Gelman, Daniela Noaín, Jung H Shin, Malcolm J Low, Veronica A Alvarez, David M Lovinger and Marcelo Rubinstein doi:10.1038/nn.2862 The authors provide definitive evidence for the in vivo contribution of D2 autoreceptors to dopamine-mediated behavior by studying mice deficient in D2 autoreceptors. These mice lack dopamine-mediated somatodendritic responses and inhibition of dopamine release, and show supersensitivity to the psychomotor effects of cocaine. Abstract | Full Text | PDF Precise olfactory responses tile the sniff cycle pp1039 - 1044 Roman Shusterman, Matthew C Smear, Alexei A Koulakov and Dmitry Rinberg doi:10.1038/nn.2877 Sniffing controls the exposure of receptors to odors. Here the authors show that mitral/tufted cells in the olfactory bulb provide precise temporal information with regard to sniff phase that can facilitate coding of odors. Abstract | Full Text | PDF Differential connectivity and response dynamics of excitatory and inhibitory neurons in visual cortex pp1045 - 1052 Sonja B Hofer, Ho Ko, Bruno Pichler, Joshua Vogelstein, Hana Ros, Hongkui Zeng, Ed Lein, Nicholas A Lesica and Thomas D Mrsic-Flogel doi:10.1038/nn.2876 Using two-photon calcium imaging in vivo and intracellular recordings in vitro, the authors find that visual stimulation only weakly modifies coactivation patterns of inhibitory neurons, whereas excitatory neuron correlations are largely stimulus dependent. Abstract | Full Text | PDF Adaptation of the simple or complex nature of V1 receptive fields to visual statistics pp1053 - 1060 Julien Fournier, Cyril Monier, Marc Pananceau and Yves Frégnac doi:10.1038/nn.2861 This study uses a combination of electrophysiological recordings and computational modeling to show that the properties of visual simple and complex cells (defined by the differing properties of their receptive fields) are modulated by the properties of the stimulus received by these cells. This modulation appears to serve a normalization function. Abstract | Full Text | PDF Owl's behavior and neural representation predicted by Bayesian inference pp1061 - 1066 Brian J Fischer and José Luis Peña doi:10.1038/nn.2872 Owls accurately localize sound sources near the center of gaze, but systematically underestimate peripheral source directions. Here the authors demonstrate that this behavior is predicted by statistical inference and show that the owl's map of auditory space decoded by a population vector is consistent with the behavioral model. Abstract | Full Text | PDF See also: News and Views by Salinas Songbirds possess the spontaneous ability to discriminate syntactic rules pp1067 - 1074 Kentaro Abe and Dai Watanabe doi:10.1038/nn.2869 The human capacity for language is unique, but other animals may have abilities in some of the domains that are required for processing language. Abe and Watanabe find that songbirds have the capacity to learn an artificial grammar and to process hierarchical structures, an ability thought to be unique to humans. Abstract | Full Text | PDF See also: News and Views by Bloomfield et al. Generalized associative representations in parietal cortex pp1075 - 1079 Jamie K Fitzgerald, David J Freedman and John A Assad doi:10.1038/nn.2878 Previous work suggests that individual neurons in the lateral intraparietal area (LIP) can reflect specific learned associations. Here the authors find that individual LIP neurons can encode two completely different learned associations in two separate tasks. This suggests that LIP neurons can represent generic categorical outcomes. Abstract | Full Text | PDF Technical Reports Top High-accuracy neurite reconstruction for high-throughput neuroanatomy pp1081 - 1088 Moritz Helmstaedter, Kevin L Briggman and Winfried Denk doi:10.1038/nn.2868 This Technical Report describes an automated algorithm to trace densely labeled neurons and reconstruct their structure, thus providing a new tool in functional connectome analysis. Abstract | Full Text | PDF Two-photon calcium imaging of evoked activity from L5 somatosensory neurons in vivo  pp1089 - 1093 Wolfgang Mittmann, Damian J Wallace, Uwe Czubayko, Jan T Herb, Andreas T Schaefer, Loren L Looger, Winfried Denk and Jason N D Kerr doi:10.1038/nn.2879 Two-photon calcium imaging has previously only been useful for imaging ongoing neuronal activity in the superficial cortical layers in vivo. Here the authors describe technology that enables imaging of sensory-evoked neuronal activity in layer 5 of adult mouse somatosensory cortex. Abstract | Full Text | PDF Top Advertisement The Fundación Reina Sofía, the Fundación Pasquall Maragall, and Nature Medicine present: Present and Future Alzheimer's Research September 22- 23, 2011 • Madrid, Spain Attendance at the conference is by application only. 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