Tiny Wireless Device Shines Light on Mouse Brain, Generating Reward
Researchers implant optogenetic electronic device into mouse brains, stimulating dopamine producing neurons by emitting light.
Atypical Brain Circuits May Cause Slower Gaze Shifting in Infants Who Later Develop Autism
Infants at 7 months of age who go on to develop autism are slower to reorient their gaze and attention from one object to another when compared to 7-month-olds who do not develop autism, and this behavioral pattern is in part explained by atypical brain circuits.
How the Brain Forms Categories
Neurobiologists investigated how the brain is able to group external stimuli into stable categories. They found the answer in the discrete dynamics of neuronal circuits.
What Number is Halfway Between 1 and 9? Is it 5 or 3?
A new information-theoretical model of human sensory perception and memory sheds light on some peculiarities of the nervous system. Ask adults from the industrialized world what number is halfway between 1 and 9, and most will say 5. But pose the same question to small children, or people living in some traditional societies, and they’re likely to answer 3.
Drug Reverses Abnormal Brain Function in Rett Syndrome Mice
in a mouse model of Rett syndrome, researchers were able to reverse abnormalities in brain activity and improve neurological function by treating animals with an FDA-approved anesthesia drug, ketamine.
Autistic Adults Have Unreliable Neural Responses, Carnegie Mellon-Led Research Team Finds
Neuroscientists take the first step toward deciphering the connection between general brain function and emergent behavioral patterns in autism. Study shows that autistic adults have unreliable neural sensory responses to visual, auditory and somatosensory, or touch, stimuli.
Blue Brain Project Accurately Predicts Connections Between Neurons
Proof of concept: Researchers identify principles to support brain simulation models. Blue Brain Project has identified key principles that determine synapse-scale connectivity by virtually reconstructing a cortical microcircuit and comparing it to a mammalian sample. These principles now make it possible to predict the locations of synapses in the neocortex.
Disorder of Neural Circuits in Autism Mouse Model is Reversible
Scientists have now identified a specific dysfunction in neuronal circuits that is caused by autism. The scientists also report about their success in reversing these neuronal changes in mouse models.
How Early Social Deprivation Impairs Long-Term Cognitive Function
A study shows social isolation during early life prevents the cells that make up the brain’s white matter from maturing and producing the right amount of myelin, the fatty “insulation” on nerve fibers that helps them transmit long-distance messages within the brain.
Simple Mathematical Computations Underlie Brain Circuits
Neuroscientists report that two major classes of brain cells repress neural activity in specific mathematical ways: One type subtracts from overall activation, while the other divides it.
