Volume 5 Issue 10, October 2002

Using a clever stimulus that separates local from global motion features, the authors of a new paper show that perceptual learning occurs at low cortical levels when the motion is irrelevant to the observer's task, whereas higher-level learning of the same stimulus requires attention.

Recordings from song premotor circuits in singing birds show how a population of neurons may form an explicit representation of time in a motor sequence.

Netrin-1 initially attracts and later repels retinal axons. A new paper shows that both intrinsic and extrinsic cues are involved in regulating this developmental switch in responsiveness.

A region of the hypothalamus that is critical in controlling sleep/wake states is now shown to mediate the sedative effects of anesthetics that act at the GABA_A receptor.