Neurons That Control Overeating Also Drive Appetite for Cocaine
Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have zeroed in on a set of neurons in the part of the brain that controls hunger, and found that these neurons are not only associated with overeating, but also linked to non-food associated behaviors, like novelty-seeking and drug addiction. Published in the June 24 online issue of Nature [...]
Remembering to Forget
New research suggests that it is possible to suppress emotional autobiographical memories. The study published this month by psychologists at the University of St Andrews reveals that individuals can be trained to forget particular details associated with emotional memories. The important findings may offer exciting new potential for therapeutic interventions for individuals suffering from emotional [...]
Scientists Identify Protein Required to Regrow Injured Nerves in Limbs
A protein required to regrow injured peripheral nerves has been identified by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The finding, in mice, has implications for improving recovery after nerve injury in the extremities. It also opens new avenues of investigation toward triggering nerve regeneration in the central nervous system, notorious for [...]
Clues to Nervous System Evolution Found in Nerve-less Sponge
UC Santa Barbara scientists turned to the simple sponge to find clues about the evolution of the complex nervous system and found that, but for a mechanism that coordinates the expression of genes that lead to the formation of neural synapses, sponges and the rest of the animal world may not be so distant after [...]
Study Reveals How Brain Performs Motor Chunking Tasks
You pick up your cell phone and dial the new number of a friend. Ten numbers. One. Number. At. A. Time. Because you haven’t actually typed the number before, your brain handles each button press separately, as a sequence of distinct movements. After dialing the number a few more times, you find yourself typing it [...]
Between the Ear and Brain, an Orderly Orchestra of Synapses
A new study finds that the ear delivers sound information to the brain in a surprisingly organized fashion. The brain receives information from the ear in a surprisingly orderly fashion, according to a University at Buffalo study scheduled to appear June 6 in the Journal of Neuroscience. The research focuses on a section of the [...]
Walking Again After Spinal Cord Injury
Neuroprosthetics and robot rehabilitation wake up the ‘spinal brain’ and restore voluntary movement. Rats with spinal cord injuries and severe paralysis are now walking (and running) thanks to researchers at EPFL. Published in the June 1, 2012 issue of Science, the results show that a severed section of the spinal cord can make a comeback [...]
Pavlov’s Electronic Dog
Nanotechnology scientists and memory researchers at the Kiel University redesigned a mental learning process using electronic circuits. The bell rings and the dog starts drooling. Such a reaction was part of studies performed by Ivan Pavlov, a famous Russian psychologist and physiologist and winner of the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine in 1904. His [...]
Glycogen Accumulation in Neurons Causes Brain Damage and Shortens Lives of Flies and Mice
Work by IRB Barcelona researchers will further the study of neurodegenerative diseases such as Lafora progressive myoclonic epilepsy. Collaborative research by groups headed by scientists Joan J. Guinovart and Marco Milán at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) has revealed conclusive evidence about the harmful effects of the accumulation of glucose chains (glycogen) [...]
Learning Mechanism of the Adult Brain Revealed
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Fortunately, this is not always true. Researchers at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN-KNAW) have now discovered how the adult brain can adapt to new situations. The Dutch researchers’ findings are published on Wednesday in the prestigious journal Neuron. Their study may be significant in [...]
