A combination of advanced optical imaging and cryogenic electron microscopy has been used to explore membrane fusion in a synthetic system and provide new insights into neurotransmitter release.

Novel imaging experiments suggest that fruit flies modify their neural circuitry for walking at slow, medium and fast speeds, and that proprioception is not essential for coordinated walking.

Detailed analysis of umbilical cord cells shows that the associations between DNA methylation, gene expression and genetic variation are complex and context-dependent.

Optogenetics has revealed that synaptic vesicles can be recycled extremely rapidly in nematodes, indicating that existing models for how synapses 'reload' may need to be revised.

During learning, one climbing fiber input instructs plasticity that is expressed in the simple-spike responses of cerebellar Purkinje cells, and causes neural learning that may inhibit future climbing fiber instructions.

A gene found in Drosophila, and named redeye, encodes a protein that accumulates during sleep deprivation and forms part of the homeostatic system that promotes and maintains sleep.

Electrode recordings and optogenetics reveal that the cerebellum can modulate its response to error signals from the brainstem during motor learning.

Increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide reduce the mineral content but increase the levels of starch and sugars found in crop plants; which could exacerbate both obesity and malnutrition in some human populations.

Zebrin-positive cerebellar Purkinje cells fire at lower frequencies than zebrin-negative cells, indicating that cerebellar circuits are not physiologically homogeneous.