The initiation of mammalian puberty requires an increase in pulsatile release of GnRH from the hypothalamus. This increase is brought about by coordinated changes in transsynaptic and glial-neuronal communication. As the neuronal and glial excitatory inputs to the GnRH neuronal network increase, the transsynaptic inhibitory tone decreases, leading to the pubertal activation of GnRH secretion. T...

Predicting the chances of recovery of consciousness and communication in patientswho survive their comabut transit in a vegetative state orminimally conscious state (MCS) remains a major challenge for their medical caregivers. Very few studies have examined the slow neuronal changes underlying functional recovery of consciousness from severe chronic brain damage. A case study in this issue of t...

In the course of plant evolution, there is an obvious trend toward an increased complexity of plant bodies, as well as an increased sophistication of plant behavior and communication. Phenotypic plasticity of plants is based on the polar auxin transport machinery that is directly linked with plant sensory systems impinging on plant behavior and adaptive responses. Similar to the emergence and e...

The high level of intercellular communication mediated by gap junctions between astrocytes indicates that, besides individual astrocytic domains, a second level of organization might exist for these glial cells as they form communicating networks. Therefore,the contribution of astrocytes to brain function should also be considered to result from coordinated groups of cells. To evaluate the shap...

Due to improved survival rates and outcome of human infants experiencing a hypoxic-ischemic episode, cognitive dysfunctions have become prominent. They might result from abnormal communication within prefrontal-hippocampal networks, as synchrony and directed interactions between the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus account for mnemonic and executive performance. Here, we elucidate the structur...

Reciprocal interactions between neurons and oligodendrocytes are not only crucial for myelination, but also for long-term survival of axons. Degeneration of axons occurs in several human myelin diseases, however the molecular mechanisms of axon-glia communication maintaining axon integrity are poorly understood. Here, we describe the signal-mediated transfer of exosomes from oligodendrocytes to...

Neuronal oscillations in the gamma band (30-80 Hz) have been suggested to play a central role in feature binding or establishing channels for neural communication. For these functions, the gamma rhythm frequency must be consistent across neural assemblies encoding the features of a stimulus. Here we test the dependence of gamma frequency on stimulus contrast in V1 cortex of awake behaving macaq...

Brain development in mammals has been proposed to be promoted by successful adaptations to the social complexity as well as to the social and non-social chemical environment. Therefore, the communication via chemosensory signals might have been and might still be a phylogenetically ancient communication channel transmitting evolutionary significant information. In humans, the neuronal underpinn...

The integrity and function of neurons depend on their continuous interactions with glial cells. In the peripheral nervous system glial functions are exerted by Schwann cells (SCs). SCs sense synaptic and extrasynaptic manifestations of action potential propagation and adapt their physiology to support neuronal activity. We review here existing literature data on extrasynaptic bidirectional axon...