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Researchers visualize precise mechanisms of calcium-dependent kinase during synaptic plasticity

Researchers at Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience optimized imaging methods to visualize the activation of CaMKII during synaptic plasticity with unprecedented resolution.

18 May 2017

Machine learning could help reduce false positives from mammography screening

Machine learning (or coding) could help reduce false positives from mammography screening, according to an article study published online in the May 4, 2017 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association Oncology.

8 May 2017

Discovery of signaling pathway offers new functional framework for treating schizophrenia

Neuroscientists at Tufts University School of Medicine have discovered a new signaling pathway that directly connects two major receptors in the brain associated with learning and memory – the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) and the alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (a7nAChR) – which has significance for current efforts to develop drugs to treat schizophrenia.

4 May 2017

MIT researchers develop new technique to make high-resolution images of tissues

MIT researchers have developed a way to make extremely high-resolution images of tissue samples, at a fraction of the cost of other techniques that offer similar resolution.

17 Apr 2017

Microscopic probes simplify process of measuring electrical signals in small animals

Microscopic probes developed at Rice University have simplified the process of measuring electrical activity in individual cells of small living animals. The technique allows a single animal like a worm to be tested again and again and could revolutionize data-gathering for disease characterization and drug interactions.

17 Apr 2017

Biomedical engineers develop new method for delivering drugs to specific neurons

Biomedical engineers have developed a way to deliver drugs to specific types of neurons in the brain, providing an unprecedented ability to study neurological diseases while also promising a more targeted way to treat them.

6 Apr 2017

Shutting down key protein could slow or prevent Alzheimer’s disease, study shows

In experiments with a protein called Ephexin5 that appears to be elevated in the brain cells of Alzheimer's disease patients and mouse models of the disease, Johns Hopkins researchers say removing it prevents animals from developing Alzheimer's characteristic memory losses.

28 Mar 2017

Astrocytes prove to be surprisingly vital players in the body's clock

Until recently, work on biological clocks that dictate daily fluctuations in most body functions, including core body temperature and alertness, focused on neurons, those electrically excitable cells that are the divas of the central nervous system.

25 Mar 2017

Scientists achieve closest view of working nerve synapses using custom-built microscope

The brain hosts an extraordinarily complex network of interconnected nerve cells that are constantly exchanging electrical and chemical signals at speeds difficult to comprehend.

24 Mar 2017

MPFI researchers develop new tool to study CaMKII kinetics in learning and memory

As we learn, the structure of individual neurons in our brains change to strengthen important connections and weaken less important ones, a process known as structural plasticity.

16 Mar 2017

Researchers discover cellular defects that underlie familial form of Parkinson's disease

Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers have introduced a genetic mutation found in some patients with early onset Parkinson's disease into mice, creating a new animal model of the disease.

14 Mar 2017

UCLA study provides new insights into how the brain works

A new UCLA study could change scientists' understanding of how the brain works — and could lead to new approaches for treating neurological disorders and for developing computers that "think" more like humans.

10 Mar 2017

Precise inactivation of neurotransmitter receptors using CALI technique erases fear memory in mice

The delivery of chemical messenger (neurotransmitter) receptors to the junctions between nerve cells (synapses) is crucial to cognitive processes such as memory.

23 Feb 2017

Vision scientists uncover reasons behind unusual perceptual properties of the eye's fovea

Vision scientists have uncovered some of the reasons behind the unusual perceptual properties of the eye's fovea. Only humans and other primates have this dimple-like structure in their retinas.

23 Feb 2017

Study provides new insights into molecular mechanisms behind short-term neuronal plasticity

In a study published in Cell Reports in February 2017, Matt Rowan, Ph.D., a Post-doctoral researcher in the lab of Dr. Jason Christie, sought to understand the molecular mechanisms behind a type of short-term neuronal plasticity that may have importance for motor control.

23 Feb 2017

Crowdsourcing effort helps develop mathematical model to forecast scent of molecule

You can anticipate a color before you see it, based solely on the length of light waves. Music can be interpreted from notes on a page without being heard. Not so with odor. The only way to tell if something will smell like roses or turpentine, sea breeze or gasoline, is to sniff it.

21 Feb 2017

Researchers identify new unexpected cause for hidden hearing loss

Patients who complain they can't hear their friends at a noisy restaurant, but pass a hearing test in their doctor's office, may be describing hidden hearing loss.

20 Feb 2017

UNIST researchers make breakthrough in search for potential root causes of bipolar disorder

A team of researchers, affiliated with UNIST has made a significant breakthrough in the search for the potential root causes of bipolar disorder.

15 Feb 2017

New study uncovers important links between glioblastoma and epileptic seizures

Detecting brain tumors at the earliest possible stage and eliminating them before seizures begin might be possible one day, according to research by scientists at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital.

7 Feb 2017

Sleep helps recalibrate brain cells responsible for learning and memory, mice study shows

Studying mice, scientists at Johns Hopkins have fortified evidence that a key purpose of sleep is to recalibrate the brain cells responsible for learning and memory so the animals can "solidify" lessons learned and use them when they awaken -- in the case of nocturnal mice, the next evening.

3 Feb 2017

Synapse News and Research

Researchers visualize precise mechanisms of calcium-dependent kinase during synaptic plasticity

Machine learning could help reduce false positives from mammography screening

Discovery of signaling pathway offers new functional framework for treating schizophrenia

MIT researchers develop new technique to make high-resolution images of tissues

Microscopic probes simplify process of measuring electrical signals in small animals

Biomedical engineers develop new method for delivering drugs to specific neurons

Shutting down key protein could slow or prevent Alzheimer’s disease, study shows

Astrocytes prove to be surprisingly vital players in the body's clock

Scientists achieve closest view of working nerve synapses using custom-built microscope

MPFI researchers develop new tool to study CaMKII kinetics in learning and memory

Researchers discover cellular defects that underlie familial form of Parkinson's disease

UCLA study provides new insights into how the brain works

Precise inactivation of neurotransmitter receptors using CALI technique erases fear memory in mice

Vision scientists uncover reasons behind unusual perceptual properties of the eye's fovea

Study provides new insights into molecular mechanisms behind short-term neuronal plasticity

Crowdsourcing effort helps develop mathematical model to forecast scent of molecule

Researchers identify new unexpected cause for hidden hearing loss

UNIST researchers make breakthrough in search for potential root causes of bipolar disorder

New study uncovers important links between glioblastoma and epileptic seizures

Sleep helps recalibrate brain cells responsible for learning and memory, mice study shows

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

How microplastics and bacteria interact to drive antibiotic resistance

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