JNeurosci: Highlights From the November 9 Issue

Check out these newsworthy symposia featured in the November 9, 2016, issue of JNeurosci. The symposia will be presented during Neuroscience 2016, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) and the world’s largest source of emerging news about brain science and health. Media interested in obtaining the full text of the studies should contact media@sfn.org. Media can register for Neuroscience 2016 here to access embargoed news releases and live webcasts of nine press conferences during the meeting. 

Aberrant Brain Cell Scaffolding May Be Linked to Developmental Disorders

Many neurons receive incoming chemical messages at microscopic protrusions called dendritic spines that decorate the surface of neurons. Protein scaffolding, or cytoskeleton, inside dendritic spines is remodeled when new spines are added during memory formation. In a symposium at Neuroscience 2016, researchers discuss a growing body of evidence linking disruptions in the cytoskeleton to a number of developmental brain disorders, including schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder. Many genetic variants associated with these disorders regulate cytoskeleton remodeling in response to incoming chemical messages, and individuals with developmental brain disorders often have abnormal dendritic spines.

Symposium: Synaptic Actin Dysregulation: A Convergent Mechanism of Mental Disorders?

Saturday, Nov. 12, 1:30-4 p.m. PST, San Diego Convention Center: Room 6B

Chair: Scott H. Soderling, scott.soderling@duke.edu

Web-Like Structures Surrounding Neurons Constrain Brain Plasticity

Web-like structures made of proteins and carbohydrates wrap around certain neurons in the brain and spinal cord. Called perineuronal nets, these structures form during nervous system development and constrain synaptic plasticity, or the ability of neurons to remodel and strengthen their connections with each other. In a minisymposium at Neuroscience 2016, researchers discuss how perineuronal nets control plasticity in both the young and aging brain. They also explore emerging evidence that perineuronal nets are altered in Alzheimer’s disease, addiction, and developmental psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia.

Minisymposium: Casting a Wide Net: Role of Perineuronal Nets in Neuronal Plasticity

Monday, Nov. 14, 1:30-4 p.m. PST; San Diego Convention Center: Room 29D

Chair: Barbara A. Sorg, sorg@vetmed.wsu.edu

Brain’s Motivation Circuits Battle With Energy Signals to Control Food Intake

How do we know when to eat? And what tells us to stop? The answer, in part, lies in cells lining the gastrointestinal tract and fat cells, which secrete hormones signaling hunger and satiety. These hormones interact with brain circuits governing motivation and reward to prompt or suppress feeding. In a minisymposium at Neuroscience 2016, researchers review how specific areas of the brain control food intake and how hunger and satiety signals alter their activity. They also discuss an emerging hypothesis positing the maladaptive eating behaviors in eating disorders and obesity result from impaired interactions between energy signals and the brain.

Minisymposium: Homeostasis Versus Motivation in the Battle to Control Food Intake

Saturday, Nov. 12, 1:30-4 p.m. PST; San Diego Convention Center: Room 29D

Chair: Eoin C. O’Connor, eoin.oconnor@unige.ch

The Journal of Neuroscience is published by the Society for Neuroscience, an organization of nearly 38,000 basic scientists and clinicians who study the brain and nervous system.