COVER ILLUSTRATION The origins of brain development. Frontal view on the neural folds of a neurulation stage (embryonic day 8.5) mouse embryo. The confocal microscopy image shows the result a whole mount immunofluorescence staining. At this early stage the developing brain consists of a single layer of neuroepithelial cells delineated here with an antibody labelling the tight junction protein 1 (ZO-1; cyan). Each neuroepithelial cell is decorated with a single antenna-like structure, the primary cilium, labelled with an antibody against ADP-ribosylation factor-like 13B (ARL13b; orange). Primary cilia sense the extracellular and intracellular signalling cues and thus integrate the control of cell identity and cell morphology, allowing for the large-scale patterning and morphogenesis of neural tube.

Abstract Sensory input across modalities is highly dynamic, continuously confronting the brain with the task of making sense of the external world. Olfaction is a key sense that many species depend on for survival, for example to locate food sources and mating partners or to avoid encountering predators. In the absence of visual cues, olfactory cues are especially useful, as they provide information over a large range of distances. Natural odours form temporally complex plumes that show rapid fluctuations in odour concentration carrying information about the location of an odour source. This review focuses on how primarily mammals use this spatial information from olfactory cues to navigate their environment. I highlight progress made on the physical description of dynamically fluctuating odours, behavioural paradigms to investigate odour-guided navigation and review initial findings on the underlying neural mechanisms that allow mammals to extract spatial information from the dynamic odour landscape.

COVER ILLUSTRATION Neuroglia interactions in the central and peripheral nervous system in neuropathic pain involve proinflammatory

Abstract To provide a compact and efficient input to the brain, sensory systems separate the incoming information into parallel feature channels. In the visual system, parallel processing starts in the retina. Here, the image is decomposed into multiple retinal output channels, each selective for a specific set of visual features like motion, contrast, or edges. In this article, we will summarize recent findings on the functional organization of the retinal output, the neural mechanisms underlying its diversity, and how single visual features, like color, are extracted by the retinal network. Unraveling how the retina – as the first stage of the visual system – filters the visual input is an important step toward understanding how visual information processing guides behavior.

Abstract Progress in microscopy technology has a long history of triggering major advances in neuroscience. Super-resolution microscopy (SRM), famous for shattering the diffraction barrier of light microscopy, is no exception. SRM gives access to anatomical designs and dynamics of nanostructures, which are impossible to resolve using conventional light microscopy, from the elaborate anatomy of neurons and glial cells, to the organelles and molecules inside of them. In this review, we will mainly focus on a particular SRM technique (STED microscopy), and explain a series of technical developments we have made over the years to make it practical and viable in the field of neuroscience. We will also highlight several neurobiological findings on the dynamic structure-function relationship of neurons and glia cells, which illustrate the value of live-cell STED microscopy, especially when combined with other modern approaches to investigate the nanoscale behavior of brain cells.

Abstract The synaptic vesicle (SV) cycle, a trafficking pathway by which SV fuses with the plasma membrane to release neurotransmitters at the neuronal synapse, resides at the heart of neurotransmission. SV fusion consumes vesicle membrane and proteins, whose availability is limited, and these components must be recycled quickly to prevent synaptic fatigue. Biochemical, genetic and physiological approaches over the past five decades have led to a discovery of a large directory of proteins and lipids central to the SV cycle and several models on how these constituents account for the synapse function. The complexity of the SV cycle is starting to be comprehended, which opens new perspectives for our understanding of neuronal physiology and provides mechanistic explanations for several neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. Here, selected classic and recent insights into the mechanisms of two key SV trafficking steps (exocytosis and endocytosis) are reviewed, as well as their links to selected brain pathologies.