Cover legend: At one bank of the river (top), the apical dendritic trees of hippocampal pyramidal neurons show reduced expression of NR1 subunit and severe loss of synaptic NMDA receptor currents, resembling leafless trees in a winter landscape. On the other bank (bottom), the apical dendritic trees of normal hippocampal pyramidal neurons display dendritic spines stained in red. For more information, see the article by Alvarez et al. in this issue (pages 7365–7376).