Tag: "spikes" at biology news

Carnegie Mellon scientists show brain uses optimal code for sound

...We've found that timing of just a sparse number of spikes actually encodes the whole range of nature sounds, including components of speech such as vowels and consonants, and natural environment sounds like footsteps in a forest or a flowing stream," said Michael Lewicki, associate professor of computer sci...

Study reveals how ADHD drugs work in brain

...igh doses. High-dose stimulants can cause dramatic spikes in neurotransmitter levels in the brain, which can in turn impair attention and heighten the risk of developing addiction. "It is surprising that no one was looking at low-dose [ADHD] drugs because we know that the drugs are most effective only at ...

Septum keeps neurons in synch, can reduce epileptic seizures by 90 percent

...g rates in relation to the controls, from about 14 spikes per second to about 29 spikes per second. Two promising lines of research Colom and his fellow researchers at the University ...

Brain-computer link lets paralyzed patients convert thoughts into actions

...ta and build filters to convert patterns of neural spikes into two- dimensional commands. "Training patients to move things with their minds is different with each patient," said Maryam Saleh, who worked with the first two patients as a Cyberkinetics technician and is now a doctoral student in Hatsopoulos...

UCSD study reveals how plants respond to elevated carbon dioxide

...tion was increased, the rapid drum roll of calcium spikes within the cells changed to a slower beat. The cel...imes the calcium sensors to respond to the calcium spikes in the cell. Since changes in calcium concentration are used in other communication processes within...

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

...trical 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 protein we...

A green way to slag off bunnies

...ress it as spiky structures on their leaves. These spikes put rabbits off their feed, abrading their teeth and giving them stomach-ache (Pest Management Science DOI:10.1002/ps.1302). Humans only eat the grain, so the repellent would only affect the vermin. But when the slag-treated plants were compared ...

Global 'sunscreen' has likely thinned, report NASA scientists

...o 1978. The resulting data show large, short-lived spikes in global aerosols caused by major volcanic eruptions in 1982 and 1991, but a gradual decline since about 1990. By 2005, global aerosols had dropped as much as 20 percent from the relatively stable level between 1986 and 1991. The NASA study also ...

Genomic Analysis Uncovers New Targets for HIV Vaccine

...nfected with HIV, the amount of virus in the blood spikes as the virus multiplies. After this peak, the amount of virus in the blood, known as the viral load, gradually decreases and then levels off, a period during which patients do not exhibit symptoms of their disease. The viral load during this leveling...

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