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Neuroscientists decode how visual cues can reorganize the activity of compass neurons

If you've ever woken up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and stumbled around in the dark, banging into walls or dressers in a room you've walked through countless times, you've experienced the effects of inadequately calibrated neurons.

21 Nov 2019

Exploring the links between chronic stress, inflammation and depression

Chronic stress can inflame our brain, destroy the connections between our neurons and result in depression, scientists say.

21 Nov 2019

Rapamycin prevents age-related brain vascular deterioration, study shows

A just-released study by UT Health San Antonio and collaborating institutions shows age-related decreases in blood flow to the brain and memory loss can be modified with the drug rapamycin.

6 Nov 2019

Researchers use 3D electron microscopy to unravel dense networks in the cerebral cortex

Unlike any other organ, our brains contain extremely densely packed networks of membranous cables that are used by our about 86 billion nerve cells for communication amongst each other.

24 Oct 2019

Unhealthy gut microbiome reduces brain synaptic pruning, impairs learning

A new study by Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell University has come up with more explanations of how gut microbes communicate with the brain neurons. The study, published in the journal Nature on October 23, 2019, examined the brains of mouse models and found that when the gut microbiome is significantly reduced, there are changes in gene expression in the brain’s microglial cells.

24 Oct 2019

Link between pregnancy stress, immune activation, and postpartum depression

A new study presented at the Society for Neuroscience meeting on October 19, 2019, at Chicago, shows for the first time how postpartum depression could actually be due to abnormal immune system activation within the brain, which in turn is set off by chronic pregnancy stress. This is the earliest study to show this link in animals.

22 Oct 2019

Scientists decipher assembly line of glutamate receptors

Rapid communication of neurons in the brain, as well as the ability to learn, fundamentally rely on neurotransmitter receptors located in the contact sites of neurons, the synapses. The most important receptors in the mammalian brain are glutamate receptors of the AMPA-type that generate the electrical signal required for fast communication between neurons.

16 Oct 2019

‘Sticky’ gene may boost the nerve calming effects of Valium

Between 1999 and 2017, the United States experienced a 10-fold increase in the number of people who died from overdoses of Valium and other benzodiazepines.

10 Oct 2019

New insight into presynaptic distribution and profile of mitochondria in calyx of Held

The ability to hear relies on neurons to constantly transmit information at very rapid timescales. This rapid rate of information transmission results in intense energetic demands. Within our cells, microscopic power plants called mitochondria provide the main source of energy keeping our bodies moving.

9 Oct 2019

How tau protein causes brain damage in Alzheimer’s disease

Researches have described a new technique to find out how Alzheimer's disease (AD) affects nerve cells.

27 Sep 2019

New technique can rapidly image synaptic proteins at high resolution

Our brains contain millions of synapses -- the connections that transmit messages from neuron to neuron. Within these synapses are hundreds of different proteins, and dysfunction of these proteins can lead to conditions such as schizophrenia and autism.

26 Sep 2019

Brain tumors hijack healthy neurons in order to grow

Scientists have discovered that brain tumors integrate themselves with the brain’s healthy neuronal network to support their growth.

19 Sep 2019

NMDAR receptor is responsible for breast-to-brain metastases, shows study

In 2018, breast cancer was the most common cancer in women worldwide, accounting for about a quarter of all reported cancers. One of the biggest problems with any type of cancer is metastasis; and when breast cancer metastasizes, the brain is a common destination.

19 Sep 2019

Synthetic cell intercepts and deciphers hidden messages of the immune system

When immune cells detect harmful pathogens or cancer, they mobilize and coordinate a competent defense response.

17 Sep 2019

Message transfer between mammal neurons regulated by 'clamp'

A fundamental question in nerve biology brings to mind a race car at the starting line: The engine is revving, but the brake is on. The system is ready to go, but under tight control.

9 Sep 2019

Zika virus damages the adult human brain and impairs memory in mouse model

Zika virus attracted worldwide attention in recent years due to the devastating consequences of infection for pregnant women and their fetuses, many of which were born with microcephaly and other severe neurological malformations.

5 Sep 2019

Neurobiological pathophysiology of schizophrenia differs based on gender

The neurobiological pathophysiology of schizophrenia differs significantly between males and females, according to a new study.

4 Sep 2019

Cannabis use may alter gene linked to autism in male sperm

Researchers from Duke University Medical centre, Durham, USA have come up with an important study that shows that use of cannabis among men could alter a specific gene in their sperm that is linked to autism. The study titled, “Cannabis use is associated with potentially heritable widespread changes in autism candidate gene DLGAP2 DNA methylation in sperm,” and is published in the latest issue of the journal Epigenetics.

28 Aug 2019

Reliable response of cortical neurons amidst noise and chaos

Neurons communicate with each other by sending out rapid pulses of electrical signals called spikes. At first glance, the generation of these spikes can be very reliable: when an isolated neuron is repeatedly given exactly the same electrical input, we find the same pattern of spikes.

22 Aug 2019

Research explains why many psychiatric drugs that work in the lab don’t work in people

Current drug development for neuropsychiatric disorders is in crisis, say experts. More than 90 percent of all drugs that are developed for illnesses like schizophrenia, depression, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), or the brain tumor glioblastoma complete successful trials in mice but then come to a grinding halt in human trials, wasting billions of dollars in drug research. This is partly because of obvious behavioral differences between the two species.

22 Aug 2019