61 research outputs found
A Gallery of Our Mental Machinery <b>Portraits of the Mind</b> Visualizing the Brain from Antiquity to the 21st Century <i> <b>by Carl Schoonover</b> </i> Abrams, New York, 2010. 240 pp. 42, £22.50. ISBN 9780810990333.
No full textSchoonover's collection of neuroanatomical images and the accompanying explanatory essays resemble an art book as much as a science text.</jats:p
Electron Microscopy at Scale
No full textThe essential details of cellular interactions at synaptic level in the brain are still largely unknown. In this issue, Kasthuri et al. report new experimental and computational technologies for large-scale electron microscopy data collection and analysis, and through saturated reconstruction uncover synaptic connectional specificity that cannot be predicted by simple axonal-dendritic proximity
Upregulation of eIF4E, but not other translation initiation factors, in dendritic spines during memory formation
No full textLocal translation can provide a rapid, spatially targeted supply of new proteins in distal dendrites to support synaptic changes that underlie learning. Learning and memory are especially sensitive to manipulations of translational control mechanisms, particularly those that target the initiation step, and translation initiation at synapses could be a means of maintaining synapse specificity during plasticity. Initiation predominantly occurs via recruitment of ribosomes to the 5’ mRNA cap by complexes of eukaryotic initiation factors (eIFs), and the interaction between eIF4E and eIF4G1 is a particularly important target of translational control pathways. Pharmacological inhibition of eIF4E-eIF4G1 binding impairs formation of memory for aversive Pavlovian conditioning as well as the accompanying increase in polyribosomes in the heads of dendritic spines in the lateral amygdala (LA). This is consistent with a role for initiation at synapses in memory formation, but whether eIFs are even present near synapses is unknown. To determine whether dendritic spines contain eIFs and whether eIF distribution is affected by learning, we combined immunolabeling with serial section transmission electron microscopy (ssTEM) volume reconstructions of LA dendrites after Pavlovian conditioning. Labeling for eIF4E, eIF4G1, and eIF2α – another key target of regulation – occurred in roughly half of dendritic spines, but learning effects were only found for eIF4E, which was upregulated in the heads of dendritic spines. Our results support the possibility of regulated translation initiation as a means of synapse-specific protein targeting during learning and are consistent with the model of eIF4E availability as a central point of control
Molecular Mechanisms of Fear Learning and Memory
No full textPavlovian fear conditioning is a particularly useful behavioral paradigm for exploring the molecular mechanisms of learning and memory because a well-defined response to a specific environmental stimulus is produced through associative learning processes. Synaptic plasticity in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala (LA) underlies this form of associative learning. Here, we summarize the molecular mechanisms that contribute to this synaptic plasticity in the context of auditory fear conditioning, the form of fear conditioning best understood at the molecular level. We discuss the neurotransmitter systems and signaling cascades that contribute to three phases of auditory fear conditioning: acquisition, consolidation, and reconsolidation. These studies suggest that multiple intracellular signaling pathways, including those triggered by activation of Hebbian processes and neuromodulatory receptors, interact to produce neural plasticity in the LA and behavioral fear conditioning. Collectively, this body of research illustrates the power of fear conditioning as a model system for characterizing the mechanisms of learning and memory in mammals and potentially for understanding fear-related disorders, such as PTSD and phobias
UNDERSTANDING RIGHTS REVERSION: When, Why, & How to Regain Copyright and Make Your Book More Available
No full textAre you an author who would like to increase your book’s availability? Have you already entered into a publishing agreement for your book? If you answered “yes” to both of these questions, then read on! This guide addresses the needs of authors who wish to make their works available to a wider audience in ways that may be prohibited by the terms of their existing publishing agreements.
For example, this guide will help authors who want to do things like: • Bring their out-of-print books back into print • Publish digital versions of their books • Make their books openly accessible • Publish updated editions of their books • Create new works derived from their books (e.g., translations, audio editions, cinematic adaptions, etc.) • And much more.
This guide addresses common issues facing all authors who seek to increase their books’ availability, regardless of whether an author has a literary agent. However, authors with agents may be restricted by the terms of their agency agreements from approaching their publishers directly—or they may prefer to have their agents speak with their publishers on their behalf. Regardless of what an agent-author contract might stipulate, authors who consult this guide will be better informed about strategies for making their books more available.
WHAT IS THIS GUIDE? This guide is the product of extensive interviews with authors, publishers, and literary agents who shared their perspectives on reverting rights, the author-publisher relationship, and keeping books available in today’s publishing environment. This guide compiles information, strategies, and examples gleaned from these interviews to empower authors to take an active role in increasing their books’ availability. For some authors, this may mean exercising or negotiating rights of reversion; for other authors, it may mean securing their publishers’ permission to make their books available in the ways that they want, or working with their publishers to revive their books’ availability
- …
