Humans can learn new information during sleep

During sleep, humans can strengthen previously acquired memories, but whether they can acquire entirely new information remains unknown. The nonverbal nature of the olfactory sniff response, in which pleasant odors drive stronger sniffs and unpleasant odors drive weaker sniffs, allowed us to test learning in humans during sleep. Using partial-reinforcement trace conditioning, the authors paired pleasant and unpleasant odors with different tones during sleep and then measured the sniff response to tones alone during the same nights' sleep and during ensuing wake. They found that sleeping subjects learned novel associations between tones and odors such that they then sniffed in response to tones alone. Moreover, these newly learned tone-induced sniffs differed according to the odor pleasantness that was previously associated with the tone during sleep. This acquired behavior persisted throughout the night and into ensuing wake, without later awareness of the learning process. Thus, humans learned new information during sleep.

Anat Arzi, Noam Sobel et al.
Nature Neuroscience 15, 1460–1465 (2012) doi:10.1038/nn.3193

Published online 26 August 2012

Multisensory brain mechanisms of bodily self-consciousness

Recent research has linked bodily self-consciousness to the processing and integration of multisensory bodily signals in temporoparietal, premotor, posterior parietal and extrastriate cortices. Studies in which subjects receive ambiguous multisensory information about the location and appearance of their own body have shown that these brain areas reflect the conscious experience of identifying with the body (self-identification (also known as body-ownership)), the experience of where 'I' am in space (self-location) and the experience of the position from where 'I' perceive the world (first-person perspective). Along with phenomena of altered states of self-consciousness in neurological patients and electrophysiological data from non-human primates, these findings may form the basis for a neurobiological model of bodily self-consciousness

Olaf Blanke

Nature Reviews Neuroscience 13, 556-571 (August 2012) | doi:10.1038/nrn3292

XENON100 announced the new results from 225 days data

The XENON100 collaboration submitted a paper with the new results of a 225 days to PRL, excluding previously unexplored parameter space and questioning the light WIMP interpretation of the DAMA and CoGeNT results.

The preprint can be found here:

http://arxiv.org/abs/1207.5988

Emerging roles of non-coding RNAs in brain evolution, development, plasticity and disease

Novel classes of small and long non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are being characterized at a rapid pace, driven by recent paradigm shifts in our understanding of genomic architecture, regulation and transcriptional output, as well as by innovations in sequencing technologies and computational and systems biology. These ncRNAs can interact with DNA, RNA and protein molecules; engage in diverse structural, functional and regulatory activities; and have roles in nuclear organization and transcriptional, post-transcriptional and epigenetic processes. This expanding inventory of ncRNAs is implicated in mediating a broad spectrum of processes including brain evolution, development, synaptic plasticity and disease pathogenesis.

Irfan A. Qureshi, et al.
Nature Reviews Neuroscience 13, 528-541 (August 2012) | doi:10.1038/nrn3234

The Attention System of the Human Brain: 20 Years After

Here, the author update their 1990 Annual Review of Neuroscience article, “The Attention System of the Human Brain.” The framework presented in the original article has helped to integrate behavioral, systems, cellular, and molecular approaches to common problems in attention research. Research on orienting and executive functions has supported the addition of new networks of brain regions. Developmental studies have shown important changes in control systems between infancy and childhood. In some cases, evidence has supported the role of specific genetic variations, often in conjunction with experience, that account for some of the individual differences in the efficiency of attentional networks. The findings have led to increased understanding of aspects of pathology and to some new interventions.

Steven E. Petersen and Michael I. Posner
The Attention System of the Human Brain: 20 Years AfterAnnual Review of Neuroscience
Vol. 35: 73-89 (Volume publication date July 2012)
First published online as a Review in Advance on April 12, 2012
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-neuro-062111-150525

piRNAs Can Trigger a Multigenerational Epigenetic Memory in the Germline of C. elegans

Transgenerational effects have wide-ranging implications for human health, biological adaptation, and evolution; however, their mechanisms and biology remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that a germline nuclear small RNA/chromatin pathway can maintain stable inheritance for many generations when triggered by a piRNA-dependent foreign RNA response in C. elegans. Using forward genetic screens and candidate approaches, we find that a core set of nuclear RNAi and chromatin factors is required for multigenerational inheritance of environmental RNAi and piRNA silencing. These include a germline-specific nuclear Argonaute HRDE1/WAGO-9, a HP1 ortholog HPL-2, and two putative histone methyltransferases, SET-25 and SET-32. piRNAs can trigger highly stable long-term silencing lasting at least 20 generations. Once established, this long-term memory becomes independent of the piRNA trigger but remains dependent on the nuclear RNAi/chromatin pathway. Our data present a multigenerational epigenetic inheritance mechanism induced by piRNAs.

Alyson Ashe et al.

Cell. 2012 July 6; 150(1): 88–99.
doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2012.06.018

Higgs Particle has been discovered by LHC!

Finally the Higgs Particle has been discovered by LHC!
Here is the Higgs -> two gamma decay, observed by CMS.
The paper is available here.

Early Events in Axon/Dendrite Polarization

Differentiation of axons and dendrites is a critical step in neuronal development. Here we review the evidence that axon/dendrite formation during neuronal polarization depends on the intrinsic cytoplasmic asymmetry inherited by the postmitotic neuron, the exposure of the neuron to extracellular chemical factors, and the action of anisotropic mechanical forces imposed by the environment. To better delineate the functions of early signals among a myriad of cellular components that were shown to influence axon/dendrite formation, the authors discuss their functions by distinguishing their roles as determinants, mediators, or modulators and consider selective degradation of these components as a potential mechanism for axon/dendrite polarization. Finally, we examine whether these early events of axon/dendrite formation involve local autocatalytic activation and long-range inhibition, as postulated by Alan Turing for the morphogenesis of patterned biological structure.

Pei-lin Cheng and Mu-ming Poo
Annual Review of Neuroscience
Vol. 35: 181-201 (Volume publication date July 2012)
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-neuro-061010-113618

Evolution of Synapse Complexity and Diversity

Proteomic studies of the composition of mammalian synapses have revealed a high degree of complexity. The postsynaptic and presynaptic terminals are molecular systems with highly organized protein networks producing emergent physiological and behavioral properties. The major classes of synapse proteins and their respective functions in intercellular communication and adaptive responses evolved in prokaryotes and eukaryotes prior to the origins of neurons in metazoa. In eukaryotes, the organization of individual proteins into multiprotein complexes comprising scaffold proteins, receptors, and signaling enzymes formed the precursor to the core adaptive machinery of the metazoan postsynaptic terminal. Multiplicative increases in the complexity of this protosynapse machinery secondary to genome duplications drove synaptic, neuronal, and behavioral novelty in vertebrates. Natural selection has constrained diversification in mammalian postsynaptic mechanisms and the repertoire of adaptive and innate behaviors. The evolution and organization of synapse proteomes underlie the origins and complexity of nervous systems and behavior.

Richard D. Emes1 and Seth G.N. Grant2
Annual Review of Neuroscience
Vol. 35: 111-131 (Volume publication date July 2012)
DOI: 10.1146/annurev-neuro-062111-150433

Motor Circuits in Action: Specification, Connectivity, and Function

Mammalian motor behavior is enabled by a hierarchy of interleaved circuit modules constructed by interneurons in the spinal cord, sensory feedback loops, and bilateral communication with supraspinal centers. Neuronal subpopulations are specified through a process of precisely timed neurogenesis, acquisition of transcriptional programs, and migration to spatially confined domains. Developmental and genetic programs instruct stereotyped and highly specific connectivity patterns, binding functionally distinct neuronal subpopulations into motor circuit modules at all hierarchical levels. Recent work demonstrates that spatial organization of motor circuits relates to precise connectivity patterns and that these patterns frequently correlate with specific behavioral functions of motor output. This Review highlights key examples of how developmental specification dictates organization of motor circuit connectivity and thereby controls movement.

Silvia Arber
Neuron, Volume 74, Issue 6, 21 June 2012, Pages 975–989

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0896627312004771