The calendar year 2011 was one of change for the Journal of Comparative Neurology, as we have undergone a transition in the Editor-in-chief. In the Fall of 2010, Dr. Saper, who had been the Editor-in-chief since January, 1994, informed the publisher, Mr. Joseph Ingram of John Wiley and Sons, that he wished to step down from that position. However, Mr. Ingram had his own announcement, that he had planned to retire at the end of 2010. We therefore agreed that we would delay the transition in Editors until Wiley and Sons had chosen a new publisher. Dr. Matt Giampoala began as the new publisher in February, 2011, and a search was begun for a new Editor-in-chief. The members of the Search Committee, in addition to Dr. Saper and Dr. Giampoala, included the Associate Editors and an Editorial Board member, Dr. Ann Graybiel. The Committee received twenty-five applications for the position, asked for further information on the editorial plans from five of the candidates, and ultimately chose Dr. Patrick Hof to become the new Editor-in-chief. Dr. Hof began working in August, 2011, as Editor-in-chief Designate, handling all papers submitted after July 4, 2011. Because of the time lag in such papers reaching print (due to one, or more often two or more rounds of review, time for compositing the papers, and then for the printing process), the first papers for which he served as Editor-in-chief are just now reaching print. Hence, it is appropriate that he take over officially as Editor-in-chief as of the first issue of 2012. Dr. Saper will meanwhile step back to being Editor Emeritus. This position will be similar to an Associate Editor, and will involve handling papers submitted by other Editors of the Journal, as well as trouble-shooting problems at Dr. Hof's request. Because both Drs. Saper and Hof have contributed to the transition at the Journal over the last six months of 2011, it seemed fitting to have Dr. Saper review the past year and to have Dr. Hof address the coming year, in our annual message to our readers and contributors. The transition in publisher for the Journal has also been a smooth one. Joe Ingram, who had been publisher since 2000, had been extremely supportive of the goals of the Journal. He had supported the expansion of the Editorial team to eight Associate Editors and had seen the journal through a shift in its emphasis toward Systems Neuroscience. Indeed, with the loss of Departments of Anatomy and the paucity of scientists who were trained as neuroanatomists per se, the traditional emphasis of the Journal on neuromorphology had seemed to be addressing a shrinking field. At the same time, the opportunities for the application of morphological methods to Systems Neuroscience had never been greater, with many papers published in more general neuroscience journals, or even in journals classically devoted to neurophysiology or neurochemistry including more and more morphological data. Thus, the addition to the Journal's masthead of the phrase, “Research in Systems Neuroscience,” marked a major transition for the Journal. Mr. Ingram also led a team at Wiley that recrafted the Journal's cover and page style, with the help of the Editors. The loss of Joe Ingram is compensated only by the excellent working relationship and support the Journal has enjoyed from his successor, Dr. Giampoala. We also must thank the members of the Editorial Board who are rotating off at the end of their four year terms. We are grateful to Drs. Donata Oertel and Aldo Rustioni, who will be rotating off the Editorial Board with this issue, for their loyal help during this period of transitions at the Journal. We especially remember the many contributions to the Journal by Dr. Ted Jones, who had been an Associate Editor in the 1980's and had recently returned to the Editorial Board, but then died suddenly last summer. We also thank Drs. Jean-Marc Fritschy, Jon Kaas, Glenn Northcutt, Ed Rubel, Reinhard Stocker, David Vaney, and Mario Wulliman, who were re-elected for another four year term on the Editorial Board for their continued service. With this issue, we welcome Drs. Holly Cline, Robert Marc, Loretta Medina, Elliot Mufson, Yoland Smith, and Scott Zahm, who will begin new terms on the Editorial Board with this issue. Finally, the Journal as always relies upon the willingness of our volunteer reviewers to maintain its high standards. These unsung heroes spend their own time, without compensation, working in anonymity, to improve the quality of virtually every paper that we publish. We are more than grateful, actually dependent, upon them, and wish to convey our thanks by listing them below. Those who have contributed three or more reviews over the course of the last year are marked by an asterisk. We remind our community that the new members of the Editoral Board are chosen each year largely from those who have done the most reviews for the Journal, and who have returned their reviews within the required time period. Their cooperation is critical in allowing us to keep our commitment to our authors of limiting our review cycle to an average of 35 days. The Journal of Comparative Neurology has enjoyed a status of excellence as the primary journal of neuroanatomy and systems neuroscience for 120 years. As the new Editor-in-chief, Dr. Hof brings to the Journal his expertise in brain systems anatomy and brain evolution, human neuroanatomy and neuropathology, and familiarity with animal models of brain disease. The long tradition of scholarly works on comparative brain anatomy, in vertebrates and invertebrates, is a feature of the Journal that makes it unique, and one that Dr. Hof is committed to maintain. The Journal of Comparative Neurology will continue to provide an optimal home for studies that represent definitive contributions to the field of neuroanatomy. Neuropathology being invaluable in promoting normative studies of the human brain, the publication of outstanding papers on relevant models of human disease will be encouraged, as will comprehensive, rigorous human neuropathologic studies that address systems-oriented questions. Such studies, which, in the case of animal models, frequently bridge several disciplines, including quantitative neuropathology, neural system physiology or electrophysiology, and behavior, contribute broadly to comparative and functional neuroscience, while pursuing a focus on neural systems and addressing issues relevant to human neuroscience and biology of brain disorders. Another domain in which the Journal of Comparative Neurology can expand very successfully and emerge as a desirable place to publish is that of structural and functional brain imaging. This will attract papers on the structural and functional organization of our own species, as well as capture imaging studies in animal models, in an integrated manner with studies of brain diseases and specific systems. This represents a substantial endeavor that will require reinforcing the Editorial Board by appointing a couple of additional experts on brain imaging and eventually bringing a new Associate Editor to represent this discipline. Through its well established presence in key domains of modern neurobiology, the Journal of Comparative Neurology, while being dynamically adaptive to the changes in the field, will continue to provide the neuroscience community with a vehicle to publish definitive studies in Systems Neuroscience in an efficient manner, without sacrificing the quality of technical and analytical approaches to the need for speed and newsworthiness, and maintain the essential and unique role that it has enjoyed over its long history. Peter Ahnelt Matti Airaksinen Roger Albin *George Alheid Richard Altschuler Alessandro Alunni *Francisco Alvarez David Amaral Brad Amendt *Ramon Anadon Susan Andersen Colin Anderson Stewart Anderson Goffinet Andre Zane Andrews *Siew-Lan Ang Alessandra Angelucci *Miklos Antal Anita Aperia Lydia Arbogast Michael Ariel Paola Arlotta Antonio Armario Carol Armstrong Urmas Arumäe Wolfgang Baehr Herwig Baier Harriet Baker Vijay Balasubramanian *William Baldridge Rita Balice-Gordon *Laure Bally-Cuif Jacques Balthazart *Neal Barmack Carol Barnes *Allan Basbaum *Andrew Bass Klaus Baumann Mark Baxter Douglas Bayliss Michael Beattie *Jonathan Beckel Catherina Becker James Bellingham Barbara Beltz Paul Benjamin Michael V. Bennett *Deanna Benson Nicoletta Berardi Jean-François Bernard *David Berson *Hans-Rudolf Berthoud Edward Bertram Ranjita Betarbet Enrica Bianchi *Martha E Bickford Seth Blackshaw José Miguel Blasco-Ibanez *Gene Blatt Stewart Bloomfield J. Paul Bolam Luca Bonfanti Daniel Bonthius Richard Born Joel Bornstein Victor Borrell James Bourne Bruce Brandhorst Peter Bräunig Steven Brauth Nicholas Brecha Farran Briggs Christian Broberger Jonas Broman J.M. Bronstein Simon Brookes Ian Brown Laura Bruce Gert Brückner Jean-Francois Brunet Peter Brunjes Randy Bruno *Paul Buckmaster Mary Bunge *R. Michael Burger *Robert Burke *Andreas Burkhalter Alan Burns Margaret Byers David Calkins Heather Cameron Serge Campeau Rowan Candy Jianhua Cang *Nell Cant Newton Canteras John Carlson *Catherine Carr Pascal Carrive Hector Caruncho Paul Carvey Vivien Casagrande Vincent Cassone Bernardo Castellano Kenneth Catania Constance Cepko Fernanda Ceriani Nancy Chamberlin Jonah Chan Pokman Chan *Barbara Chapman Nirupa Chaudhari *Shuk Han Cheng Jerold Chun Myung-Hoon Chun Olivier Civelli Jonathan Clarke *Hollis Cline Jean-François Cloutier Avis Cohen Diego Contreras *Jeremy Cook Mark Cookson Helen Cooper Oliver Cooper Philip Copenhaver Joseph Corless Deborah Cory-Slechta Karina Cramer Harold Cremer Andras Csillag Staffan Cullheim Catherine Cusick Dennis Dacey Nadia Dahmane *Niels Danbolt Steven Danzer Robin Davis Glyn Dawson Angel L De Blas Fernando de Castro Horacio de la Iglesia Luis de Lecea Michael Deans William DeBello Nihal Delanerolle Thomas Deller Catherine Dermon Martin Deschenes Dean Dessem Marshall Devor Geert DeVries Anna Di Cosmo Krikor Dikranian Heinrich Dircksen Paul Donaldson Hong Wei Dong Ronald Douglas *Pascal Dournaud James Dowling Réjean Dubuc Carsten Duch Richard Dum Nae Dun Jeffrey Dupree Mayank Dutia Mathias Dutschmann Charles Duyckaerts *Michael Dyer Ford Ebner J Eggermont *Karoly Elekes *Chris Elliott *Joel Elmquist Maurice Elphick Marina Emborg Patrick Emery Grigori Enikolopov Jonathan Erichsen Cagla Eroglu John Ewer Donald Faber Susan Fahrbach Andreas Faissner Isabel Farinas Aldo Fasolo *David Feldheim Daniel Feldman Daniel Felleman Russell Fernald Donna Ferriero Joseph Fetcho John Fike Thomas Finger Andy Fischer Katherine Fite Erica Fletcher Douglas Forrest Edward Fox Michael Fox Peter Fox Gregory Fraley Christopher Frederickson Marc Freeman Eckhard Friauf Kaj Fried *Jean-Marc Fritschy Bernd Fritzsch *Michael Frotscher Paul Fuchs Fred Gage *Christine Gall Gianluca Gallo Luis Miguel Garcia-Segura Preston Garraghty Wei Ge *John Gensel Charles Gerfen Christine Gerin Dwight German Michael Gershon Changiz Geula Fredrik Ghosh Alain Ghysen Ian Gibbins Robert Gibbs Alan Gibson Glenn Giesler Deda Gillespie Raymon M. 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Hirano Shinju Hirotsune *Patrick Hof *Hans Hofmann *Tomas Hokfelt Elly Hol Gert Holstege Jan Holstege Uwe Homberg Donald B. Hoover *David Hopkins jean-pierre Hornung Jonathan Horton David Hsu James Hu *Andrew Huberman Charles Hubscher M. O. Huising *Hans Hultborn Stephen Hunt Molly Huntsman Masafumi Ihara Ricardo Insausti Ole Isacson Etsuro Ito Erich Jarvis Thomas Jhou Frank Johnson John Johnson Barbara Jones Edward Jones Kathryn Jones *Theresa A. Jones *Jon Kaas *Olivier Kah Eric Kandel Karl Kandler Chris Kaneko Takeshi Kaneko Harvey Karten Charanjit Kaur Michael Kawaja *Henry Kennedy Mary Kennedy Ronald Killiany Daniel Kilpatrick Marcy Kingsbury Christoph Kleineidam David Kline Linda Klumpers Chien-Ping Ko Zaal Kokaia Helga Kolb Anthony Koleske Natalia Kononenko Christine Köppl Horst-Werner Korf Elias D. 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