Special issues in brain plasticity, repair and rehabilitation: 20 years of a publishing strategy.

The journal Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience (RNN) is focused on the emerging field of brain plasticity, repair and rehabilitation, including original and review papers both in basic research (in vitro studies, animal experiments) and in the clinical domain, including brain imaging studies. The publication of special issues on vital topics, summarizing the work of leading experts in the field of restoration and plasticity has become a major strategy of RNN and has attracted worldwide attention. Special issues are typically organized by specialized guest-editors familiar with the respective science field. Special issues cover a particular sub-discipline and often contain laboratory review papers. The first special issue appeared in 1990, and until today RNN has published a total of 25 special issues on a variety of basic science and clinical matters. In this way, RNN promotes the dissemination of information in the field of neuroplasticity, repair and rehabilitation, providing the reader with up-to-date information prepared by leading experts in the field.

Publishing in the field of brain plasticity, repair and rehabilitation: The 20th Anniversary issue of Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience.

The journal Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience (RNN) now celebrates its 20th anniversary. Since 1989 RNN has published scientific findings in the emerging fields of brain plasticity, repair and rehabilitation via original scientific publications and review papers in basic research (animal experiments, in vitro studies) and clinical science. During the last decade RNN had a steady progress in reference value and scientific impact, reaching an ISI-impact factor of 1.978 (2008) and has published a total of 717 papers. The journal's success can be explained by different factors: (1) neuroplasticity, regeneration, recovery and rehabilitation have developed to main stream subjects with a worldwide increase in the number of publications and their citation rate, (2) RNN has published numerous special issues which summarize the work of leading experts in specialized sub-fields, (3) a dedicated, highly qualified editorial board (4) the quality of papers submitted to RNN has increased over time. RNN has now become a visible and leading source of original scientific information in the space of brain plasticity, rehabilitation and repair.

Two faces of calcium activation after optic nerve trauma: life or death of retinal ganglion cells in vivo depends on calcium dynamics.

Calcium elevations after neurotrauma are not only implicated in cell death but may contribute to adaptive plasticity. We now wished to resolve this contradiction by following calcium dynamics after optic nerve crush in vivo. Adult rats received no injury (n = 5), unilateral mild (n = 10) or moderate optic nerve crush (n = 10) (ONC), or axotomy (n = 5). Before surgery, retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) were retrogradely labelled with Oregon Green BAPTA-dextran, a fluorescent calcium marker. Calcium-related fluorescence intensity (FI) was repeatedly measured in individual RGCs in vivo using the in vivo confocal neuroimaging (ICON) method. Four different RGC types were found. Normal RGCs without FI change were found in sham rats and also in both ONC groups. RGCs with mild damage were seen only after mild ONC, showing an initial calcium depression of 26% at day 4 followed by a 169% increase 15 days after ONC. RGCs with moderate damage were found only after moderate ONC and showed calcium hypoactivation followed by a slower return toward baseline and a delayed calcium increase of 72% above baseline. Sixty to sixty-five per cent of the RGCs in both ONC groups and all RGCs in the axotomy group died within 6 days following a fast and massive calcium increase of 316% with a concomitant 156% soma size increase. In conclusion rapid calcium elevation leads to cell death, while an initial calcium depression followed by a delayed and moderate calcium hyperactivation is associated with cell survival. We propose that immediate, massive calcium activation is maladaptive whereas delayed and moderate hyperactivation of surviving cells is adaptive. Implications for pharmacotherapy are discussed.

Publishing in the field of brain plasticity, repair and rehabilitation: an emerging neuroscience niche journal.

The journal Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience (RNN) is now published in its 25th volume since its inception in 1989. RNN focuses on the emerging field of brain plasticity, repair and rehabilitation, including original and review papers both in basic research (animal experiments, in vitro studies) and in the clinical domain, including brain imaging studies. During the last decade RNN has experienced a steady progress in its reference value and scientific impact. The ISI-impact factor has risen from 1.117 (1997) to 2.862 (2006). This places the journal at the 81st rank among all 200 neuroscience journals, i.e. 60% of all neuroscience journals have a lower impact factor. When compared to other journals in the field of rehabilitation, RNN ranks number 1. Causes for this positive development are, among others: (1) the field of neuroplasticity, regeneration, recovery and rehabilitation is an emerging field in medicine and therefore the number of publications and their citation rate overall increases, (2) the special issues strategy, (3) a top level editorial board, and (4) the quality of papers submitted to RNN continuously improves as RNN is gaining increasing acceptance in the scientific community. Thus, in the space of neuroscience in general, and rehabilitation in particular, RNN has become a visible, high impact journal and a leading source of original scientific information pertaining to brain plasticity , rehabilitation and repair. RNN is likely to gain more momentum as the field matures further.