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Study for better understanding of neural circuitry and dynamic mechanisms controlling memory

A study just published in the prestigious Nature Neuroscience journal by, Sylvain Williams, PhD, and his team, of the Research Centre of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute and McGill University, opens the door towards better understanding of the neural circuitry and dynamic mechanisms controlling memory as well of the role of an essential element of the hippocampus - a sub-region named the subiculum.

1 Sep 2014

Scientists develop synthetic amino acid that can impact 3D structure of bioactive peptides

One of the greatest challenges in modern medicine is developing drugs that are highly effective against a target, but with minimal toxicity and side-effects to the patient. Such properties are directly related to the 3D structure of the drug molecule.

1 Sep 2014

Findings could lead to improved treatments for stroke, other brain injuries

Learning a new skill is easier when it is related to ability that we already possess. For example, a trained pianist might learn a new melody more easily than learning how to hit a tennis serve.

28 Aug 2014

Scientists alter emotional associations of specific memories

By manipulating neural circuits in the brain of mice, scientists have altered the emotional associations of specific memories.

28 Aug 2014

Brain's motor cortex can directly turn down hearing

When we want to listen carefully to someone, the first thing we do is stop talking. The second thing we do is stop moving altogether. This strategy helps us hear better by preventing unwanted sounds generated by our own movements.

28 Aug 2014

Study provides neural explanation for why some skills are easier to learn than others

Learning is easier when it only requires nerve cells to rearrange existing patterns of activity than when the nerve cells have to generate new patterns, a study of monkeys has found. The scientists explored the brain's capacity to learn through recordings of electrical activity of brain cell networks.

27 Aug 2014

Researchers help to gain greater insight into biological clock that sets pace for daily life

Casey Diekman, assistant professor of mathematical sciences at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), is helping to gain greater insight into the biological clock that sets the pace for daily life.

27 Aug 2014

Scientists find that lack of naturally occurring protein linked to early signs of dementia

Scientists at the University of Warwick have provided the first evidence that the lack of a naturally occurring protein is linked to early signs of dementia.

27 Aug 2014

Zebrafish and virus help scientists map the living brain

A virus and a zebrafish are helping scientists map the living brain. "You can kinda draw a diagram and see how cells within it are connected in a functioning brain," said Dr. Albert Pan, neuroscientist at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University.

26 Aug 2014

Researchers show how neurons respond to sequences of familiar objects

The world grows increasingly more chaotic year after year, and our brains are constantly bombarded with images.

26 Aug 2014

Finding suggests that retina acts as type of window to the brain

Researchers at the Gladstone Institutes and University of California, San Francisco have shown that a loss of cells in the retina is one of the earliest signs of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) in people with a genetic risk for the disorder-even before any changes appear in their behavior.

25 Aug 2014

Researchers endow mice with greater touch sensitivity by striking brain rhythm

By striking up the right rhythm in the right brain region at the right time, Brown University neuroscientists report in Nature Neuroscience that they managed to endow mice with greater touch sensitivity than other mice, making hard-to-perceive vibrations suddenly more vivid to them.

25 Aug 2014

New mouse model to open door to research on epilepsy, Alzheimer's

University of Utah scientists have developed a genetically engineered line of mice that is expected to open the door to new research on epilepsy, Alzheimer's and other diseases.

22 Aug 2014

Understanding neuron development: an interview with Dr. Brock Grill, The Scripps Research Institute

There’s a big difference between understanding coordination and actually building connectivity. In terms of building connectivity, several molecules have been identified that control this process and a lot has been learned from both genetic and biochemical research in a variety of different systems, particularly studies in the nematode C. elegans, the fruit fly Drosophila and mice.

22 Aug 2014

Children and adolescents with autism have surplus of synapses in brain

Children and adolescents with autism have a surplus of synapses in the brain, and this excess is due to a slowdown in a normal brain "pruning" process during development, according to a study by neuroscientists at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC).

22 Aug 2014

Allen Institute for Brain Science welcomes visiting scientist engineer

The Allen Institute for Brain Science welcomes a visiting scientist from Harvard and a visiting engineer from Georgia Tech: Sharad Ramanathan, Ph.D.; and Craig Forest, Ph.D. Both Ramanathan and Forest will bring their distinct knowledge and backgrounds to the expanding scientific teams at the Allen Institute.

22 Aug 2014

Researchers uncover reasons for decreasing sleep quality as we age

Researchers from the United States have shed light on why people experience more fragmented sleep as they grow older.

21 Aug 2014

Researchers reveal important clue for treating absence seizures

A group of Korean researchers have succeeded in revealing a principle mechanism of a neural network in the human brain, which will provide an important clue to potential treatments for absence seizures.

21 Aug 2014

Study helps explain why sleep becomes more fragmented with age

As people grow older, they often have difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep, and tend to awaken too early in the morning.

20 Aug 2014

Study shows bryostatin plays key role in slowing or reversing Alzheimer's disease

Neurotrope, Inc. (OTCQB: NTRP) today announced that results from a new study, entitled, "PKCe Deficits in Alzheimer's Disease Brains and Skin Fibroblasts," published in the recent edition of the peer-reviewed Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and co-authored by Tapan K. Khan, Ph.D.; Abhik Sen, Ph.D.; Jarin Hongpaisan, Ph.D.; Chol S. Lim, Ph.D.; Thomas J. Nelson, Ph.D., and; Dr. Daniel L. Alkon, each of the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (BRNI), provide further indication of the role that protein kinase C epsilon (PKCe) may play in the potential treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD).

19 Aug 2014