The Frontiers endeavor starts its second year in full gear. Around 2,000 of the world's top researchers from 45 countries are now helping to manage Frontiers and shape neuroscience publishing. The 300th article was submitted in January 2009, one year after its launch. The Frontiers website is now visited by more than 96,000 readers from 120 countries and regularly used as a resource by over 57,000 researchers. We must be doing something right. With this pace, and with your enthusiasm, Frontiers will grow even faster to become an attractive and successful model for publishing and dissemination of high-quality scientific knowledge worldwide.

The Open Access (OA) publishing model is the foundation for Frontiers' success. This simple and fundamental right, that everybody will have open access to any knowledge, is growing fast in acceptance. Strong economic forces, heavy tradition, fear of change and the mere lack of energy are some of the reasons for the difficult transformation from the old scientific (and exclusive) publishing system to the OA system. But the word is out and the winds are changing. President Obama included Harold Varmus, a visionary who started the first major drive for Open Access, in his Scientific Advisory Council. In the present issue of Frontiers in Neuroscience, a Frontiers journalist provides an interesting account of the progress of the OA publishing concept, where it was and where it is headed.

Frontiers state-of-the-art interactive Internet system has selected seven papers that crossed the threshold of readership in the specialty first tier journals. The authors were invited to provide the wider neuroscience community a view of their discoveries in the form of a "Focused Review Article". An additional four articles were close to the climbing threshold and the corresponding Review Editors were invited to write a Frontiers Commentary on these findings. I believe that you will enjoy reading about auditory hallucinations in Schizophrenia, fluid reasoning, suppressing anxiety, the key role of the Ih ion channel in epilepsy, about the notion of feeling present in a virtual reality environment, and about coding with spike bursts, all are among the fascinating topics assembled in this issue.

It was always puzzling for me, and still is, how our profoundly delicate and fragile brain machinery works so incredibly well. Even following mild trauma and injuries, the nervous system possesses the capability to repair itself and find ways to overcome some of the dysfunctions it suffers. Unfortunately, in cases of major trauma such as stroke or spinal cord injury or in severe neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's or Alzheimer's, the mammalian nervous system, and in particular that of Humans, is limited in its capacity to self-repair. But the brain itself has developed the neuroscientific research agenda to heal itself. Major global research, development and technological efforts are focused on unraveling the basic mechanisms involved, and that can be called on to restore and even augment cognition.

In this issue, Frontiers launches its mission to bring to you a global perspective on the various major themes in neuroscience, starting with "Augmenting Cognition". Frontiers invited you, the community, to tell us about the very latest research, insights and thoughts on this critical research area. Leading technology companies, and their efforts to translate this knowledge into products that actually make a difference to people's lives, are highlighted to show us all the consequences of our fundamental discoveries for society. In addition, foundations were interviewed by Frontiers and invited to share their views on how this critical area of research is being funded and what their contribution to the global research effort is. The result is a most comprehensive global view - an eye opener - on the up-to-date state of this important research field. Contributions range from the importance of music, dance, sleep, nutrition and education for enhanced cognition, as well as the use of drugs and various technologies such as stem cells, brain-machine interfaces, virtual reality and deep brain stimulation, to repair and enhance cognition. These are only some of the topics that are presented in this exciting issue.

In this context, we also pay tribute to the remarkable work of Michael Merzenich, one of our generation's greatest visionaries, whose passionate belief in the ability of the brain to adapt and heal itself, and enhance its capabilities at any age, has shaped so much of the neuroscientific agenda. A pioneer in the field of brain plasticity, Michael has also turned his insights into technology products that make a difference to children, adults and the aged throughout the world.

I am very thankful to our colleagues who so constructively invested their time and thoughts into this first-of-its-kind special Frontiers Theme. It demonstrates a true community effort in shaping neuroscience. We at Frontiers plan to provide you a global perspective on a variety of brain-related efforts, such as Brain and Art, Neuroscience and Ethics, Consciousness, Creativity, Diseases of the Brain, Neuroscience and Education and many more. I would like to invite you all to send me suggestions for such future Frontiers Themes and I wish you an absorbing intellectual and visually beautiful journey into the issue that you helped create and now hold.