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People's quality of life depends on the ability to experience emotions appropriately and to regulate them in response to stressful events. Consequently, it is important to understand how the brain regulates emotions and how this regulation becomes impaired by disorders of emotion. In this issue, we present a collection of reviews on the neurobiology of emotion and disorders of emotion. (pp 1089, 1095, 1110 & 1116)
Regulation of emotion is becoming better understood, but despite the societal costs of disorders like depression and anxiety, their causes remain unclear. Five review articles in this issue provide perspective on this literature.
The mechanisms of sleep have been studied in Drosophila melanogaster, which show behaviors reminiscent of sleep in vertebrates. A new study identifies a growth factor signaling pathway involved in sleep regulation and consolidation in this model. Inhibiting this pathway causes a sleep pattern that is similar to insomnia in humans.
Precursors in the dorsal pallium were thought to give rise exclusively to neocortex during development. A new study finds that a stream of migrating cells from this area also gives rise to a nucleus in the amygdaloid complex.
Lasting synaptic plasticity requires precise local regulation of protein expression. A recent paper reports that the postsynaptic activity–induced arc mRNA is a target for rapid degradation by the 'nonsense-mediated decay' pathway.
Memories for motor skills become resistant to interference during wakefulness within a few hours. A new study shows that such stabilization occurs faster during sleep, possibly by activating a different type of consolidation.
Individual quality of life depends on the ability to experience emotions appropriately and to regulate them in response to stressful events. In addition, depression and anxiety are a substantial public health burden.This special focus contains four reviews and a perspective from leaders in the field, who discuss how the brain regulates emotions, how this regulation becomes impaired by disorders of emotion and which therapies may be effective in treating these disorders.