Posts Tagged ‘synaptic plasticity’
Revealing the Stars of Brain Adaptability
Star-shaped brain cells called astrocytes are found to bridge the gap between global brain activity and localized circuits. Global network activity in the brain modulates local neural circuitry via calcium signaling in non-neuronal cells called astrocytes, according to [Read More]
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 [Read More]
Robot Reveals the Inner Workings of Brain Cells – Robotic Whole-Cell Patch Clamping
New method offers automated way to record electrical activity inside neurons in the living brain. Gaining access to the inner workings of a neuron in the living brain offers a wealth of useful information: its patterns of electrical activity, its shape, even a profile of [Read More]
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 [Read More]
Agent Reduces Autism-like Behaviors in Mice
Boosts Sociability, Quells Repetitiveness – NIH Study National Institutes of Health researchers have reversed behaviors in mice resembling two of the three core symptoms of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). An experimental compound, called GRN-529, increased social [Read More]
Primitive Consciousness Emerges First as You Awaken from Anesthesia
Awakening from anesthesia is often associated with an initial phase of delirious struggle before the full restoration of awareness and orientation to one’s surroundings. Scientists now know why this may occur: primitive consciousness emerges first. Using brain imaging [Read More]
Brain Wiring a No-Brainer?
Scans reveal astonishingly simple 3D grid structure. The brain appears to be wired more like the checkerboard streets of New York City than the curvy lanes of Columbia, Md., suggests a new brain imaging study. The most detailed images, to date, reveal a pervasive 3D grid [Read More]
Chronic Stress Spawns Protein Aggregates Linked to Alzheimer’s
Repeated stress triggers the production and accumulation of insoluble tau protein aggregates inside the brain cells of mice, say researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine in a new study published in the March 26 Online Early Edition of [Read More]
Researchers Show that Memories Reside in Specific Brain Cells
Simply activating a tiny number of neurons can conjure an entire memory. Our fond or fearful memories — that first kiss or a bump in the night — leave memory traces that we may conjure up in the remembrance of things past, complete with time, place and all the [Read More]
Researchers Partially Control a Memory
Scripps Research Institute Team Wrests Partial Control of a Memory The work advances understanding of how memories form and offers new insight into disorders such as schizophrenia and post traumatic stress disorder. Scripps Research Institute scientists and their colleagues [Read More]
