Abstract
Uncovering cell signaling mechanisms is requisite for understanding nearly all facets of brain development and function. This issue of Current Opinion in Neurobiology contains 13 articles that discuss a number of burning issues in the field, ranging from the role of semaphorin signaling, to mechanisms of synapse development, to assembly of visual circuits. This diversity of subjects reflects the broad importance of signaling mechanisms throughout neuroscience and the rapid progress that is being made on multiple fronts. This collection of reviews highlights the excitement and fusion of neuroscience across traditional boundaries of molecular mechanism and systems analysis. We discuss below some of the fundamental advances covered in this collection of reviews, and their wider implications.