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

Bit by Bit: The Darwinian Basis of Life

All known examples of life belong to the same biology, but there is increasing enthusiasm among astronomers, astrobiologists, and synthetic biologists that other forms of life may soon be discovered or synthesized. This enthusiasm should be tempered by the fact that the probability for life to originate is not known. As a guiding principle in parsing potential examples of alternative life, one should ask: How many heritable “bits” of information are involved, and where did they come from? A genetic system that contains more bits than the number that were required to initiate its operation might reasonably be considered a new form of life.

Science Daily, May 8, 2012

Joyce GF (2012) Bit by Bit: The Darwinian Basis of Life. 

PLoS Biol 10(5): e1001323. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001323

Rats Recall Past to Make Daily Decisions

 UCSF scientists have identified patterns of brain activity in the rat brain that play a role in the formation and recall of memories and decision-making. The discovery, which builds on the team's previous findings, offers a path for studying learning, decision-making and post-traumatic stress syndrome.  In the journal Science this week (online May 3, 2012), the UCSF researchers demonstrated that the brain activity is critical for memory formation and recall. Moreover, they showed that the brain patterns through which the rats see rapid replays of past experiences are fundamental to their ability to make decisions. Disturbing those particular brain patterns impaired the animals' ability to learn rules based on memories of things that had happened in the past.
Science Daily, May 3, 2012

Shantanu P. Jadhav, Caleb Kemere, P. Walter German and Loren M. Frank.

Awake Hippocampal Sharp-Wave Ripples Support Spatial Memory.

Science, May 4, 2012 DOI: 10.1126/science.1217230