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UC Berkeley biologists discover potential target for unisex contraceptives

UC Berkeley biologists have discovered the switch that triggers the power kick sperm use to penetrate and fertilize a human egg, uncovering a possible source of male infertility but also a potential target for contraceptives that work in both men and women.

26 Mar 2016

Neuroscientists decipher new pathway in stem cell differentiation

How do neurons become neurons? They all begin as stem cells, undifferentiated and with the potential to become any cell in the body.Until now, however, exactly how that happens has been somewhat of a scientific mystery. New research conducted by UC Santa Barbara neuroscientists has deciphered some of the earliest changes that occur before stems cells transform into neurons and other cell types.

25 Mar 2016

DNA sequence features predict genome-wide binding pattern of key protein involved in brain disorders

Researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of California-Davis are combining in vivo experimentation with computation for highly accurate prediction of the genome-wide binding pattern of a key protein involved in brain disorders.

25 Mar 2016

Findings could help explain origin of type 2 diabetes in children of obese mothers

A new study led by researchers at The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles reports that the presence of leptin - a hormone secreted by fat cells that is critical to maintaining energy balance in the body -- inhibits the prenatal development of neuronal connections between the brain and pancreas. The findings could help explain the origin of type 2 diabetes, particularly in children of obese mothers.

25 Mar 2016

Lack of UBE3A gene causes Angelman syndrome

The gene UBE3A plays a critical role in early neurological development. If UBE3A is overexpressed - or if the enzymatic function of UBE3A protein is hyperactive - autism ensues. A lack of functional UBE3A causes Angelman syndrome (AS), a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by severe developmental delay, motor deficits, absence of speech, and, in most cases, epilepsy.

25 Mar 2016

Scientists unravel genetic basis of autism spectrum disorder

The types of gene mutations that contribute to autism are more diverse than previously thought, report researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine in the March 24 online issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics. The findings, they say, represent a significant advance in efforts to unravel the genetic basis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

25 Mar 2016

Sweet foods invoke different brain circuits

Different brain circuits are invoked by the pleasure we derive from eating sweet foods and the calories they supply.

25 Mar 2016

Neurons in hypothalamus help maintain blood glucose levels, study finds

To learn what different cells do, scientists switch them on and off and observe what the effects are. There are many methods that do this, but they all have problems: too invasive, or too slow, or not precise enough. Now, a new method to control the activity of neurons in mice, devised by scientists at Rockefeller University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, avoids these downfalls by using magnetic forces to remotely control the flow of ions into specifically targeted cells.

24 Mar 2016

Wide-field imaging approach can help study underlying mechanisms of brain function

University of Oregon scientists have looked into the brains of living mice to see in real time the processing of sensory information and generation of behavioral responses.

24 Mar 2016

Researchers link AFD activity to sensory responses and behavior

When the surrounding environment makes us uncomfortable, we are inclined to move to a more agreeable one. Studies have shown that animals do the same. They organize sequences of movements to migrate to preferred environments. Understanding how environmental information is converted to sensory information in the brain is vital for a deeper understanding of animal behavior and human perception.

23 Mar 2016

Synchronized waves of calcium in the brain can reduce depressive symptoms

Researchers at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Japan have discovered that the benefits of stimulating the brain with direct current come from its effects on astrocytes -- not neurons -- in the mouse brain.

23 Mar 2016

Sleep suppresses homeostatic rebalancing of brain activity

Why humans and other animals sleep is one of the remaining deep mysteries of physiology. One prominent theory in neuroscience is that sleep is when the brain replays memories "offline" to better encode them ("memory consolidation").

22 Mar 2016

Researchers develop unique approach to track, label neural stem cells

An overwhelming number of researchers still struggle within the black hole of the effectiveness and safety of stem cell therapy for neurological diseases. While the complexity of understanding how neurons grow, connect and function has long been studied, it remains a mystery, one that graduate student Forrest Goodfellow in the University of Georgia Regenerative Bioscience Center is helping unravel.

22 Mar 2016

KORs could be potential drug target for treatment of addiction, anxiety disorders

University of North Carolina researchers uncovered a cellular mechanism by which kappa opioid receptors (KOR) drive anxiety. These proteins inhibit the release of the neurotransmitter glutamate in a part of the brain that regulates emotion.

21 Mar 2016

IUPUI investigators use stem cells to identify potential therapies to prevent glaucoma

Using stem cells derived from human skin cells, researchers led by Jason Meyer, assistant professor of biology, along with graduate student Sarah Ohlemacher of the School of Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, have successfully demonstrated the ability to turn stem cells into retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), the neurons that conduct visual information from the eye to the brain.

21 Mar 2016

Scientists discover neural pathway that induces forgetting by actively erasing memories

They say that once you've learned to ride a bicycle, you never forget how to do it. But new research suggests that while learning, the brain is actively trying to forget. The study, by scientists at EMBL and University Pablo Olavide in Sevilla, Spain, is published today in Nature Communications

21 Mar 2016

New type of nerve cells appears to control feeding behaviors in mice

While researching the brain's learning and memory system, scientists at Johns Hopkins say they stumbled upon a new type of nerve cell that seems to control feeding behaviors in mice. The finding, they report, adds significant detail to the way brains tell animals when to stop eating and, if confirmed in humans, could lead to new tools for fighting obesity. Details of the study will be published by the journal Science on March 18.

20 Mar 2016

New scaffold technology could someday help treat Parkinson's disease, other brain-related conditions

Scientists at Rutgers and Stanford universities have created a new technology that could someday help treat Parkinson's disease and other devastating brain-related conditions that affect millions of people.

18 Mar 2016

New study provides insight into working memory

When you hold in mind a sentence you have just read or a phone number you're about to dial, you're engaging a critical brain system known as working memory.

18 Mar 2016

UW-Madison neuroscientist discover genetic machinery that causes maturation in young nerve cells

In one of the first studies to 'read' the genetic activity inside individual brain cells, University of Wisconsin-Madison neuroscientist Xinyu Zhao has identified the genetic machinery that causes maturation in a young nerve cell. The cells under study came from the hippocampus, a memory-related structure that is the only place in a mammal's brain where new neurons can form throughout life.

18 Mar 2016

Neurons News and Research

UC Berkeley biologists discover potential target for unisex contraceptives

Neuroscientists decipher new pathway in stem cell differentiation

DNA sequence features predict genome-wide binding pattern of key protein involved in brain disorders

Findings could help explain origin of type 2 diabetes in children of obese mothers

Lack of UBE3A gene causes Angelman syndrome

Scientists unravel genetic basis of autism spectrum disorder

Sweet foods invoke different brain circuits

Neurons in hypothalamus help maintain blood glucose levels, study finds

Wide-field imaging approach can help study underlying mechanisms of brain function

Researchers link AFD activity to sensory responses and behavior

Synchronized waves of calcium in the brain can reduce depressive symptoms

Sleep suppresses homeostatic rebalancing of brain activity

Researchers develop unique approach to track, label neural stem cells

KORs could be potential drug target for treatment of addiction, anxiety disorders

IUPUI investigators use stem cells to identify potential therapies to prevent glaucoma

Scientists discover neural pathway that induces forgetting by actively erasing memories

New type of nerve cells appears to control feeding behaviors in mice

New scaffold technology could someday help treat Parkinson's disease, other brain-related conditions

New study provides insight into working memory

UW-Madison neuroscientist discover genetic machinery that causes maturation in young nerve cells

eBook: Advancing neurodegenerative research with iPSC-derived microglia models eBook

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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