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Tag: "neurons" at biology news

Brain regions do not communicate efficiently in adults with autism

...es showed both over and under connectivity between neurons in different parts of the cortex, according to Michael Murias, a postdoctoral researcher who headed the study. "Our findings indicate adults with autism show differences in coordinated neural activity," said Murias, "which implies poor internal ...

Fighting like a girl or boy determined by gene in fruit flies

...rn molecular neuroscience research into individual neurons and synapses. ...

A natural chemical found in strawberries boosts memory in healthy mice

...fisetin protects and promotes survival of cultured neurons and boosts memory in healthy mice make it a promising candidate for further studies. Notes Maher, "This is the first time that the function of a defined natural product has been characterized at the molecular level in the central nervous system and a...

Neural stem cells lend the brain a surprising capacity for self-repair

...g the fate of neuroblasts, cells that develop into neurons or other support cells in the insects' brains. Lat...and Numblike, to be critical in the development of neurons in embryonic mice. To investigate the genes' role after birth, Jan's team developed mice in which...

Mirrors in the mind: New studies elucidate how the brain reflects onto itself the actions of others

... Current Biology, published by Cell Press. Mirror neurons were first identified in the cortex of macaque monkeys: A particular subset of these neurons fire when, for example, a monkey picks up a banana, and when the monkey observes a human picking up ...

Psst! Coffee drinkers: Fruit flies have something to tell you about caffeine

...mutant flies missing the Gr66a protein, causes the neurons to produce electrical current "spikes" at a frequency of about 20 spikes per second. Other bitter compounds like quinine generated electrical current spikes at about the same frequency in the mutants. Only flies missing the Gr66a taste receptor pro...

Stem cell activity deciphered in the aging brain

...y and colleagues showed that the production of new neurons in rats slows down dramatically by middle age -- t...ting in dramatic reductions in the addition of new neurons in the hippocampus. To conduct their census, the researchers attached easy-to-spot fluorescent tag...

Brain protein improves stroke symptoms in rats, even when injected after 3 days

...nction in the brain is to control the formation of neurons and counteract neurone death, reduces the size of the area affected by a stroke by a third when injected four hours after the onset of the stroke. The study also shows that regular, delayed injections of G-CSF, starting up to three days after experim...

How brain injury leads to seizures, memory problems

... system, abbreviated GABA(A). Glutamate stimulates neurons to fire, while GABA(A) inhibits that activity. "When lower levels of the KCC2 transporter weaken the dentate gyrus's ability to act as a gatekeeper," said Dr. Cohen, "neurons become more excitable, and seizures can occur." In addition to its role...

To elude bats, a moth keeps its hearing in tune

...rld—they have only two or four vibration-sensitive neurons attached to a small eardrum. Previously, it was thought that these ears were only partially sensitive to the sound frequencies commonly used by bats, and it would seem likely that by using high ultrasound, bats would make their hunting calls inaudibl...

Research links 'ecstasy' to survival of key movement-related cells in brain

...ng new methods to enhance the survival of dopamine neurons is critical in developing new drugs for diseases such as Parkinson's. "While MDMA itself isn't likely to be an appropriate therapy for neurodegenerative diseases, it may provide insights for developing new drugs that have similar properties. "I...

Critical hearing gene helps send auditory messages to brain

...rotein involved in release of chemicals by sensory neurons elsewhere in the body. Their current study provides additional evidence to confirm that notion. They now report that otoferlin activity in the cochlea occurs only in the inner hair cells, where it concentrates in the ribbon-associated synaptic ves...

Parkinson's mutation stunts neurons

...ing to their death. The loss of dopamine-producing neurons is central to the pathology of PD, and loss of connections among such neurons is an early feature of the PD disease process. The researchers, Asa Abeliovich and colleagues at Co...

Enzyme shreds Alzheimer's protein

...ing a pathological form of Aß, called Aß1-42, into neurons increased CatB in young and middle-aged mice with human APP, but not old mice. "Thus, upregulation of CatB may represent a protective mechanism that fails with aging," wrote the researchers, and such failure may play a role in late-onset sporadic AD....

Zinc plays important role in brain circuitry

...iology: why the connections among certain types of neurons contain considerable pools of free zinc ions. And ...ekplexia. The receptor functions as a modulator of neurons in both motor and sensory signaling pathways in the brain and spinal cord. The genetic approach u...

Humpback whales have brain cells also found in humans

...le brain as well. Although the function of spindle neurons is not well understood, they are thought to be inv...isorders such as autism and schizophrenia. Spindle neurons were also found in the same location in toothed whales with the largest brains, which suggests that ...

New biochip helps study living cells, may speed drug development

...cellular changes, the kind which occur in muscles, neurons and the release of insulin from pancreatic cells. The chip currently can detect individual levels of different ions. Porterfield believes that with some modifications, however, the chip will be able to measure multiple ions at once and perform ev...

Chemotherapy temporarily affects the structures of the human brain

...es have shown physical changes in the brain and in neurons caused by chemotherapy drugs. In human studies, however, the little data that is available is only available through imaging and is not consistent in the long-term. In addition, lack of controls in studies makes it difficult discern cancer- versus dr...

Paying attention sets off symphony of cell synchronization

...sts. One hypothesis is that when you pay attention neurons produce stronger brain activity, as if the stimulu...tivity that can come to your rescue as millions of neurons together make the music that represents a vivid conscious experience," added Ken Paller, professor o...

Hard-wiring the fruit fly's visual system

...be genetically programmed but requires activity by neurons or nerve cells in the brain. In a new study publ...Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. "The neurons in vertebrates are born and are genetically programmed to project into a certain brain region. This ...

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