The Official Journal of the Japan Neuroscience Society
The international journal publishing original full-length research articles, short communications, technical notes, and reviews on all aspects of neuroscience

1. General
Neuroscience Research publishes experimental studies of nerve cells or nervous systems, including a broad range of approaches from the molecular to the behavioral. Theoretical studies are acceptable if they are relevant for interpretation of experimental data or elucidate principles of general interest. Papers dealing with studies on humans with relevance to neurological and psychiatric disorders are welcome, but case reports are not included in the scope of this journal. Papers should present new, important observations or interpretations that can be of general interest to various areas of neuroscientists.

All manuscripts should be accompanied by a clear statement that the work has not been published elsewhere and is not under review with another journal. When there is more than one author, a clear statement should be made in the cover letter that all co-authors have agreed to the submission of the final manuscript. In the cover letter authors must indicate one of the Receiving Editors (listed below) whose subject area most closely relates to the work submitted.

If illustrations or other small parts of articles or books published elsewhere are used in papers submitted to Neuroscience Research, the written permission of the author(s) and publisher concerned must be included with the manuscript. The original source must be indicated in the legend of the illustration in these cases.

To help ensure that papers are reviewed by the most suitable referees, authors must provide a list of five candidate referees (including names, addresses, fax and e-mail) who do not have conflict of interest in the research being submitted. The Editors reserve the right to choose different referees from the ones suggested.

Receiving Editors will pre-review manuscripts and, in consultation with the Editor-in-Chief, reserve the right to return a manuscript to the author(s) without further review.

Supplementary data: Elsevier now accepts electronic supplementary material (e-components) to support and enhance your scientific research. Supplementary files offer the Author additional possibilities to publish supporting applications, movies, animation sequences, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips and more. Supplementary files supplied will be published online alongside the electronic version of your article in Elsevier Web products, including ScienceDirect: http://www.sciencedirect.com.

2. Submission of manuscripts
It is possible to submit electronic or hardcopy manuscripts. Electronic submission is the preferred route, since submission and peer-review can now be handled entirely over the web.

(A) Electronic Submission
Before submitting, it is essential for authors to refer to the Elsevier Artwork guidelines: http://www.elsevier.com/authors/ (Click on the link "Guide to Publishing with Elsevier".)
Once electronic manuscripts are ready to submit, go to: http://ees.elsevier.com/nsr/
Then,
1) Select the 'log in' link at the top of the page.
2) Enter your user name and password to log in.
(If you have not registered yet, click 'Not yet registered?'. Enter your first name, last name and e-mail address, then click 'Submit'. You will receive your user name and password by e-mail.)
3) After entering your user name and password, click 'Author Login'
4) Select 'Submit New Manuscript' in 'Author Main Menu'.
5) Follow prompts online. Please note that the figures and tables should be submitted as separate items, not being included in manuscripts. At each stage of the submission process, it is possible to go back a step, save the submission to continue later or remove/change any information already entered.
6) After all items are attached, click 'Build PDF for my approval'. The submission tool will generate a PDF file to be used for the reviewing process.
7) You will receive an e-mail which notes that your PDF has been built. You have to approve the PDF to complete your submission. Then you will receive confirmation of your submission, and further progress of your paper at every stage of its review period thereafter, via e-mail.

For more details on the electronic submission system, please refer to the 'Tutorial for Authors' which is available for download from http://ees.elsevier.com/nsr/

B. Hardcopy Submission
Four copies of manuscripts and illustrations must be submitted:
Three copies are to be sent to the Editor-in-Chief, Tadaharu Tsumoto, Hongo Bldg. 9F, 2-2, 7 chome, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033 Japan, tel: +81-3-3813-0295; fax: +81-3-3813-0296, e-mail: editnsr@jnss.org
Please send a CD-ROM containing the manuscripts and illustrations with 3 hardcopies. One copy is to be sent (disk is not necessary) to one of the following Receiving Editors whose subject area most closely relates to the work submitted:

Molecular Neuroscience
1. Heinrich Betz, Department of Neurochemistry, Max-Planck-Institute for Brain Research, Deutschordenstrasse 46, 60528 Frankfurt, Germany, tel: +49-69-96769-220, fax: +49-69-96769-441, e-mail: neurochemie@mpih-frankfurt.mpg.de
2. Nobutaka Hirokawa, Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033 Japan, tel: +81-3-5841-3326, fax: +81-3-5802-8646, e-mail: hirokawa@m.u-tokyo.ac.jp
3. Katsuhiko Mikoshiba, Laboratory for Developmental Neurobiology, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, 2-1 Hirosawa Wako, Saitama 351-0198 Japan, tel: +81-48-467-9745, fax: +81-48-467-9744, e-mail: mikosiba@brain.riken.jp

Developmental Neuroscience
1. Lynn T. Landmesser, Department of Neuroscience, Case Western Reserve University, School of Medicine, Room E653, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106 USA, tel: +1-216-368-3996, fax: +1-216-368-4650, e-mail: lynn.landmesser@case.edu
2. Fujio Murakami, Laboratory of Neuroscience, Graduate School of Frontier Biosciences, Osaka University, 1-3 Yamadaoka, Suita, 565-0871 Japan, tel: +81-6-6879-4655, fax: +81-6-6879-4659, e-mail: murakami@fbs.osaka-u.ac.jp
3. Hideyuki Okano, Department of Physiology, Keio University School of Medicine, 35 Shinanomaci, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 160-8582 Japan, tel: +81-3-5363-3746, fax: +81-3-3357-5445, e-mail: hidokano@med.keio.ac.jp

Cellular Neuroscience
1. Arthur Konnerth, Institut fuer Neurowissenschaften, Technische Universitaet Muenchen Biedersteinerstr. 29, 80802 Muenchen, Germany, tel: +49-89-4140-3350, fax: +49-89-4140-3352,e-mail: arthur.konnerth@lrz.tum.de
2. Toshio Kosaka, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8582 Japan. Tel: +81 92 642 6047, Fax: +81 92 642 6059, e-mail kosaka@a3rd.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp
3. Seiji Ozawa, Executive Director & Vice President, Gunma University, 4-2 Aramaki, Maebashi, Gunma, 371-8510, Japan, tel: +81-27-220-7530, fax: +81-27-220-7535, e-mail: ozawas@med.gunma-u.ac.jp

System/Behavioral Neuroscience
1. Ulf Eysel, Department of Neurophysiology, MA 4/149, Ruhr University Bochum, D-44780, Bochum, Germany, Tel: +49 234 32 23849, Fax: +49 234 32 14192, e-mail eysel@neurop.rub.de
2. Takeshi Kaneko, Department of Morphological Brain Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501 Japan, Tel: +81 75 753 4331, Fax: +81 75 753 4340, e-mail kaneko@mbs.med.kyoto-u.ac.jp
3. Jun Tanji, Brain Science Research Center, Research Institute Tamagawa University, 1-1-6, Tamagawagakuen, Machida, Tokyo, 194-8610 Japan, tel: +81-42-739-8667, fax: +81-42-739-8663, e-mail: tanjij@lab.tamagawa.ac.jp
4. David Van Essen, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S Euclid Avenue, St Louis, MO 63110 USA, tel: +1-314-362-7043, fax: +1-314-747-3436, e-mail: vanessen@v1.wustl.edu

Cognitive/Computational Neuroscience
1. Okhide Hikosaka, Lab. of Sensorimotor Research, National Eye Institute, NIH, 49 Convent Drive, Bidg 49, Room 2A50, Bethesda, MD20892-4435, USA, tel: +1 301 402 7959, fax: +1 301 402 0511, e-mail oh@lsr.nei.nih.gov
2. Atsushi Iriki, Laboratory for Symbolic Cognitive Development, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Hirosawa 2-1, Wako, 351-0198, Japan, tel: +81-48-467-9637, fax: +81-48-467-9645, e-mail:iriki@brain.riken.jp
3. Yasushi Miyashita, Department of Physiology, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033 Japan, tel: +81-3-5841-3457 fax: +81-3-5800-6847, e-mail: physiol@m.u-tokyo.ac.jp
4. Keiji Tanaka, Laboratory for Cognitive Brain Mapping, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama, 351-0198 Japan, tel: +81-48-467-9342, fax: +81-48-462-4651, e-mail: keiji@postman.riken.jp

Neurochemistry
1. Michihiro Igarashi, Division of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Department of Signal Transduction Research, Niigata University, Graduate School of Medicine and Dental Science, Niigata, Japan, tel: +81-25-227-2083, fax: +81-25-227-0758, e-mail: tarokaja@med.niigata-u.ac.jp
2. Kunihiko Obata, Neural Network Research Group, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, 351-0198, Japam, tel: +81-48 467 9623, fax: +81-48 462 4697, e-mail: obata@brain.riken.jp
3. Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath, National Brain Research Centre, Nainwal Mode, Manesar, Haryana 122050, India, tel: +91-124-233-8929, fax: +91-124-233-8928, e-mail: vijir@nbrc.ac.in

Neuroscience of Disease
1. Nobumasa Kato, Department of Psychiatry, Showa University School of Medicine, 11-11-6 Kitakarasuyama, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, 157-8577 Japan, tel: +81-3-3300-5233, fax: +81-3-3308-9710, e-mail: katon@med.showa-u.ac.jp
2. Tadafumi Kato, Laboratory for Molecular Dynamics of Mental Disorders, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Hirosawa 2-1, Wako, 351-0198, Japan, tel: +81-48-467-6949, fax: +81-48-467-6947, e-mail: kato@brain.riken.jp
3. Robert McCarley, Neuroscience Laboratory, Harvard Department of Psychiatry, VA Brockton, Campus Psychiatry 116A, 940 Belmont St., Brockton, MA 02301 USA, tel: +1-774-826-2479, fax: +1-508-586-0894, e-mail: robert_mccarley@hms.harvard.edu
4. Nobuyuki Nukina, Molecular Neuropathology Group, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako 351-0198 Japan, tel:+81-48-467-9702, fax;+81-48-462-4796, e-mail: nukina@brain.riken.jp

3. Types of articles
(a) Research Reports reporting original results of research within the field of neuroscience, usually 3000-5000 words.
(b) Rapid Communications reporting on research which has progressed to the stage when it is considered necessary that the results be rapidly made known to other workers in the field. Priority for rapid publication will be given to this category of paper at all stages. The maximum length is 2000 words, with a summary of maximum 100 words. Rapid Communications should contain no section headings, a maximum of 4 figures and a maximum of 30 References.
(c) Review Articles should give a survey, evaluation and critical interpretation of recent research, data and concepts in the fields covered by the journal.
(d) Update Articles are brief personal commentaries, hypotheses, viewpoints and spotlight reviews. Their aim is to give an update on rapid progress in the field of neuroscience.
(e) Technical notes are technical reports of, as a guideline, a maximum of 2000 words.
(f) Letters to the Editors should be comments and clarifications on articles that have been published in Neuroscience Research, and should be limited to a maximum of 1000 words.

4.The form of the manuscript
Manuscripts, in English, must be in double-spaced typing on pages of uniform size (preferably A4 or 8.5 x 11"). As a rule, papers should be divided into sections headed by a caption (e.g., Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, References).
(a) Disks in case of hardcopy submission
The storage medium for text should be a CD-ROM in MS-DOS or Macintosh format. Please specify the type of computer on the package. The word-processing format should be Microsoft Word. It is recommended that the authors send the cover letter and the title and abstract pages to the Editor-in-Chief by e-mail simultaneously with submission by post. This part in the e-mail will be used in the process for choosing appropriate reviewers by e-mail, if the authors agree. The submission of electronic files for illustration is welcome, but do not import the illustrations into the file for text. Further information on text and electronic graphic files is obtained from the website http://www.authors.elsevier.com/ (Click on the link "Artwork instructions" on the right side of the page.)
(b) Title Page.
This must include a title, the author's name(s), the address(es) from which the work originated, the name and address of the person who will deal with correspondence, including proofs. The total number of pages, figures and tables being submitted should also be indicated on this page. At the top right-hand corner of the page should be the name of the Receiving Editor who deals with the manuscript.
(c) Abstract
An abstract of not more than 200 words (100 words in case of Rapid Communications and Technical Notes) should be given in the second page of the manuscript.
(d) Key words
Normally 6-8 items should be included in the Abstract page after the Abstract. They may be words or phrases that appear in the title.
(e) Illustrations
There is no limit set on the number of illustrations, but authors should use them sparingly, making sure that each figure is relevant to the text and that the figures are presented in the order in which they are mentioned in the text. Legends for figures must be typed, also with double spacing, on separate pages. Each figure submitted should be clearly labeled with the name of the author(s), the title of the paper and the figure number on the back. Wherever possible, figures should be submitted in their desired final size, to fit the width of a single column of text, i.e. 84 mm wide, or where it is necessary they should be 176 mm in maximum width. The final size of the printed figure cannot exceed 250 × 200 mm including legends, and where a reduction is required this should be indicated on the back of figures.
All signs and letters should be large enough for the final reduction and should be shown clearly against the background. Where several figures are mounted together, they should be squared accurately and separated by about 5 mm. All of the figures in such a group should have approximately the same contrast values. Photographs should be of sufficient quality with respect to detail, contrast and fineness of grain to withstand the inevitable loss of detail inherent in the printing process and should not require a reduction of more than 80%. Please indicate magnification by a bar on the photograph.

Free colour reproduction: If, together with an accepted article, author(s) submit usable colour figures then Elsevier will ensure, at no additional charge, that these figures will appear in colour on the web (e.g., ScienceDirect and other sites) regardless of whether or not these illustrations are reproduced in colour in the printed version. For colour reproduction in print, the author(s) will receive information regarding the costs from Elsevier after receipt of the accepted article. Generally, one colour illustration for eacharticle will be published free of charge in the hardcopy, at the discretion of the Editorial Board. For further information on the preparation of electronic artwork, please see http://www.elsevier.com/artworkinstructions

Please note: Because of technical complications which can arise by converting colour figures to 'grey scale' (for the printed version should the author(s) not opt for colour in print) in addition usable black and white prints corresponding to all the colour illustrations should be submitted. For manuscripts submitted online, a file of a black and white version of each colour figure should be uploaded, in addition to the colour figure file.
Cover illustration: The authors may suggest the Editor-in-Chief to use a color figure for the cover of the journal, although there is no guarantee that it will be selected. The figure should have a short legend to the Editor-in-Chief, indicating to which paper the photograph belongs. It need not necessarily appear in the paper but can be related to it.
(f) Tables must be typed (with double spacing) on separate pages, and should be provided with a short descriptive heading and, if applicable, a legend.
(g) References
Citations in the text should be by author(s) and year in chronological not alphabetical order. When papers written by three or more authors are cited in the text, the abbreviation 'et al.' should be used following the name of the leading author. Citations of two or more articles by the same author(s) in the same year should be distinguished by 'a,b,c' etc. after the year. [Examples: (Starr et al., 1991),(Kowler, 1990; Kolb, 1990)].
All references cited in the text must be listed at the end of the paper in double spaced typing and arranged in alphabetical order of first author's name (Harvard system). References must be complete, including initial(s) of author(s) cited, year of publication, title of paper referred to, journal, volume, and page numbers. Journal titles should be abbreviated according to Index Medicus, List of Journals Indexed, Latest edition. For citations of books the following uniform sequence should be maintained: author(s), year of publication, editor(s), complete title of book, publisher, place of publication, and page numbers (see examples given below). All references cited in the text must be in the reference list and vice versa. Manuscripts in preparation and submitted but not accepted as well as 'personal communications' should not appear in the reference list, but can be cited at the appropriate place in the text. This journal should be abbreviated as Neurosci. Res.

Examples:

Kolb, B., 1990. Animal models for human PFC-related disorders. In: Uylings, H.B.M., van Eden, C.G., de Bruin, J.P.C., Corner, M.A., Feenstra. M.G.P. (Eds.), The Prefrontal Cortex: Its Structure, Function and Pathology, Progress in Brain Research, vol. 85. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 501-519.

Kowler, E., 1990. Reviews in Oculomotor Research, vol. 4, Eye Movements and Their Role in Visual and Cognitive Processes. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 486.

Starr, A., Kristeva. R., Cheyne, D., Lindinger, G., Deecke, L., 1991. Localization of brain activity during auditory verbal short-term memory derived from magnetic recordings. Brain Res. 558, 181-190.

5. Supplementary data
In order to ensure that your submitted supplementary files (movies, animation sequences, high-resolution images, background datasets, sound clips, etc.) is directly usable, please ensure that data is provided in one of our recommended file formats. Authors should submit the material in electronic format (there is a special upoad area for this on the submission website) together with the article during online submission, and supply a concise and descriptive caption for each file. For more detailed instructions please visit our artwork instruction pages at http://authors.elsevier.com/artwork.

6. Experimental subjects
When human subjects are used, manuscripts must be accompanied by a statement that the experiments were undertaken with the understanding and written consent of each subject. Authors should be aware of the Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki), which has been printed in the British Medical Journal (18 July 1964). Also the authors should follow the Guidelines Regarding Ethical Issues of "Non-invasive Studies of Human Brain Function", the summary of which has been printed in Neuroscience Research (Vol. 42, No. 3, page IV-VI, 2002) and appears in the web site of Neuroscience Research editorial office http://www.jnss.org/NSRoffice/.
When experimental animals are used the methods section must clearly indicate that adequate measures were taken to minimize pain or discomfort. Editors reserve the right to reject papers if there is doubt whether appropriate procedures have been used.

7. Page proofs
Page proofs will be sent to the corresponding author of an article unless an alternative is requested in the title page of the manuscript. Proofs should be checked carefully and returned to the publisher within 2 days of receipt. Only typesetting errors may be corrected; no change in or additions to the edited original manuscript will be allowed at this stage.

8. Reprints
The corresponding author, at no cost, will be provided with a PDF file of the article via e-mail. The PDF file is a watermarked version of the published article and includes a cover sheet with the journal cover image and a disclaimer outlining the terms and conditions of use.

9. Copyright
It is a condition of publication in the Journal that authors assign copyright to the Japanese Neuroscience Society and the Publisher. Requests from third parties to reproduce articles are handled by the Publisher on behalf of itself and the Japan Neuroscience Society to make the procedures simpler. In assigning copyright, authors may use their own material in other publications provided that the Journal is acknowledged as the original place of publication, and Elsevier is notified in writing and in advance.

10. Enquiries concerning manuscripts and proofs
Questions arising before acceptance of the manuscript should be directed to the Editor-in-Chief. Questions after acceptance of the manuscript, especially thoses relating to proofs, should be directed to: Elsevier Author Support (E-mail: authorsupport@elsevier.com), specifying the reference/manuscript number, authors and title of the paper.

Elsevier Author Support; Phone :+353 61 709190 (8am - 4pm GMT) or +1 888 834 7287 (toll-free for US & Canadian customers) Fax: +353 61709115 ( http://authors.elsevier.com/ContactUs.html?dc=CU)