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Exp Brain Res (2010) 200:123124 DOI 10.1007/s00221-009-2151-4
EDITORIAL
Developmental, cellular and molecular neurobiology
T. Deller J. C. Jen
Published online: 5 January 2010 Springer-Verlag 2010
The second issue of the 200th volume of Experimental Brain Research is devoted to developmental, cellular and molecular neurobiology. It stands in the long tradition of the Journal, which aims at understanding complex functions of the nervous system from the mechanistic to the behavioral level. One group of papers (Bramham et al. 2010; Reid and Harley 2010; Suge et al. 2010) focuses on the molecular mechanisms of learning and memory, whereas a second group addresses questions of adult neuro-genesis (Haas et al. 2010; Colditz et al. 2010) and synaptic maturation (Walz et al. 2010).
In the paper by Bramham and colleagues (2010), the role of arc in learning and memory is reviewed. It is pointed out that the transcription of the arc gene depends on changes in neuronal activity patterns. In response to these changes, arc mRNA is transported to the dendrites and locally translated by neurons. Since arc is involved in the regulation of actin dynamics and glutamate receptor traYcking at synapses, arc likely plays a critical role in the protein synthesis-dependent modiWcation of activated synapses. Thus, arc could be...