Neocortex News and Research

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Researchers discover mechanism that regulates neocortical dendrite development

The research group of Takao Kohno (Nagoya City University) and Mitsuharu Hattori (Nagoya City University), Takahiko Kawasaki (National Institute of Genetics), and Kazunori Nakajima (Keio University School of Medicine) found a new mechanism by which superficial neurons correctly develop their dendrites.

16 Oct 2020

Researchers gain deep insights into the structure of birds’ brains

Some birds can perform amazing cognitive feats – even though their forebrains seem to just consist of lumps of grey cells, while mammalian forebrains harbour a highly complex neocortex.

26 Sep 2020

Researchers discover mechanisms underlying learning and memory formation in the brain

Seeking an answer, researchers at CHU Sainte-Justine Hospital and Université de Montréal have made a major discovery in understanding the mechanisms underlying learning and memory formation.

26 Aug 2020

Study offers fundamental insights about sensory thalamic subnetworks

The thalamus is a "Grand Central Station" for sensory information coming to our brains. Almost every sight, sound, taste and touch we perceive travels to our brain's cortex via the thalamus.

23 Jul 2020

New radiotracer can directly measure synaptic changes following stroke

A new radiotracer, 18F-SynVesT-2, can directly assess synaptic density changes in the brain, providing an objective and quantitative measure of disease progression after stroke.

13 Jul 2020

New research shows promise for treating neuropsychiatric diseases

When trying to complete a task we are constantly bombarded by distracting stimuli. How does the brain filter out these distractions and enable us to focus on the task at hand?

9 Jul 2020

Family environment and socioeconomic status affect brain development during adolescence

Childhood environment and socioeconomic status affect cognitive ability and brain development during adolescence independently of genetic factors, researchers at Karolinska Institutet report in a new study published in the journal PNAS.

20 May 2020

Paternal alcohol consumption before conception could affect child development

Scientists at the University of California, Riverside, have explored the relationship between parental alcohol consumption -- before conception in the case of fathers and during pregnancy in the case of mothers -- and offspring development.

30 Mar 2020

High-speed microscope records the passage of millisecond electrical pulses through neurons

Electrical and chemical signals flash through our brains constantly as we move through the world, but it would take a high-speed camera and a window into the brain to capture their fleeting paths.

19 Mar 2020

Cannabinoid 1 receptor expression displays sexually dimorphic pattern in the mouse brain

A major challenge in neuroscience lies in understanding how molecular and circuit differences in the brain synergistically contribute to sex differences in behavioral phenotypes. Sex differences in the brain may arise from the identity, distribution and relative abundance of cell types.

17 Mar 2020

Innovative method bolsters memory processes in the brain during sleep

A new joint study by Tel Aviv University and Weizmann Institute of Science researchers has yielded an innovative method for bolstering memory processes in the brain during sleep.

5 Mar 2020

Study unveils new layers of mystery about visual memory, amblyopia

In decades of studying how neural circuits in the brain's visual cortex adapt to experience, MIT Professor Mark Bear's lab has followed the science wherever it has led, yielding the discovery of cellular mechanisms serving visual recognition memory, in which the brain learns what sights are familiar so it can focus on what's new, and of a potential therapy for amblyopia, a disorder where children born with disrupted vision in one eye can lose visual acuity there permanently without intervention.

14 Dec 2019

Research identifies neural pathway involved in memory consolidation during sleep

A new study could supply the missing link in the story of the brain consolidates floating memories into a permanent structure while we sleep. The study, published in the journal eNeuro, shows how a brain region, appropriately called the nucleus reuniens, ‘goes between’ two other memory-linked structures – the hippocampus and the prefrontal cortex.

6 Nov 2019

Neural networks predict which images optimally excite particular neurons

A new study published in Neuroscience reveals how computation can be used to find out the visual stimulation to which the brain cells respond most frequently and productively.

5 Nov 2019

More brain pathology and hospitalizations associated with faster rate of cognitive decline

Older people who experienced more hospitalizations and also had more Alzheimer's pathology in their brain experienced the fastest rates of cognitive decline, according to study results published in the October 15 online issue of the Annals of Neurology.

22 Oct 2019

Neuroscientists show how different brain regions interact to create and retrieve memories

Neuroscientists at the University of Birmingham have proved how different parts of the human brain work together to create and retrieve episodic memory.

10 Oct 2019

Researchers identify how neurons in the mouse neocortex form billion synaptic connections

The structure of synaptic connections between neurons shapes their activity and function. Measuring a comprehensive snapshot of this so-called connectome has so far only been accomplished within tiny volumes, smaller than the head of a pin.

30 Aug 2019

Researchers uncover how the brain remembers motor sequences

Ever wondered what was going on in the brain of John Coltrane when he played the famous solo on his album Giant Steps? Researchers at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Japan, and Western University, Canada, have succeeded in visualizing how information is represented in a widespread area in the human cerebral cortex during a performance of skilled finger movement sequences.

28 Aug 2019

Researchers identify previously unknown pathways for sensory learning in the brain

We've all heard the saying that individuals learn at their own pace. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed an automated, robotic training device that allows mice to learn at their leisure.

19 Jul 2019

Researchers discover 'mystical' psychedelic compound in normal brains

In the past few years, thrill-seekers from Hollywood, Silicon Valley and beyond have been travelling to South America to take part in so-called Ayahuasca retreats.

27 Jun 2019