Exposure to nicotine during development inhibits the function of neurons controlling the tongue, according to research in newborn rats recently published in eNeuro. This impairment may be a factor in sudden infant death syndrome in humans.

A drug commonly used to treat Type II diabetes abolishes the characteristic signs of nicotine withdrawal in rats and mice, according to new research published in JNeurosci. The finding may offer an important new strategy in the battle to quit smoking.

The fundamental organization of brain networks is established in utero during the second and third trimesters of fetal development, according to research published in JNeurosci. The finding lays the groundwork for understanding how the prenatal period shapes future brain function.

Tau can quickly spread between neurons but is not immediately harmful, according to research in mouse neurons published in JNeurosci. Intervening during the initial accumulation of tau could potentially halt the progression of Alzheimer's disease.

The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) will award the Nemko Prize in Cellular or Molecular Neuroscience to Lauren Mackenzie Reynolds, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at Sorbonne Université in Paris. The Nemko Prize recognizes a young neuroscientist for his or her PhD thesis that advances the understanding of molecular, genetic or cellular mechanisms underlying higher brain function and cognition.

The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) will present the Jacob P. Waletzky Award to Thomas Kash, PhD, at Neuroscience 2019. The award, supported by the Waletzky Award Prize Fund and the Waletzky Family, is given to a young scientist whose independent research has led to significant conceptual and empirical contributions to the understanding of drug addiction.

The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) will present Stefano Sandrone, PhD; Cristian Zaelzer-Perez, PhD; Victoria Heimer-McGinn, PhD; and representatives from Project Bridge with this year’s Science Education and Outreach Awards, comprising the Science Educator and the Next Generation Award.

John Rinzel, PhD, will receive the 2019 Swartz Prize for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience. The prize, supported by the Swartz Foundation, honors an individual whose work has produced a significant cumulative contribution to theoretical models or computational methods in neuroscience or who has made a particularly noteworthy recent advance to the field.

The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) will present Kafui Dzirasa, MD, PhD, with this year’s Young Investigator Award. The award, supported by the pharmaceutical company Sunovion, recognizes the outstanding achievements and contributions by a young neuroscientist who has demonstrated scholarly independence.

The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) will present the Julius Axelrod Prize to Huda Akil, PhD, of the University of Michigan during Neuroscience 2019, SfN's annual meeting and the world's largest source of emerging news about brain science and health.