Psychologists Link Emotion to Vividness of Perception and Creation of Vivid Memories
Have you ever wondered why you can remember things from long ago as if they happened yesterday, yet sometimes can’t recall what you ate for dinner last night? A new study suggests it’s because how much something means to you actually influences how you see it as well as how vividly you can recall it later.
Controlling Monkey Brains and Behavior With Light
Researchers can control the behavior of monkeys by using pulses of blue light to very specifically activate particular brain cells. The findings represent a key advance for optogenetics, a state-of-the-art method for making causal connections between brain activity and behavior. Researchers say that similar light-based mind control could likely also be made to work in humans for therapeutic ends.
Ion Selectivity in Neuronal Signaling Channels Evolved Twice in Animals
Scientists have now revealed that voltage-gated sodium channels, which are responsible for neuronal signaling in the nerves of animals, evolved twice in higher and lower animals.
Cylindrical Cell Structure Parts May Aid in Targeting Diseases Such as Cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s
The model of microtubule assembly that most people accept shows the individual subunits, dimers of the protein tubulin, just adding to the grow cylinder. But another model indicates that tubulin dimmers first form an open sheet structure that later closes into the cylinder. Xing and his team concluded that their computational study of the models indicate that the second model should be seriously considered for further testing.
Scientists Read Monkeys’ Inner Thoughts
By decoding brain activity, scientists were able to ‘see’ that 2 monkeys were planning to approach the same reaching task differently – even before they moved a muscle.
Protein Build-Up Leads to Neurons Misfiring
Using a two-photon microscope capable of peering deep within living tissue, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found new evidence that alpha-synuclein protein build-up inside neurons causes them to not only become leaky, but also to misfire due to calcium fluxes.
Large, Medically Important Class of Proteins Starts to Yield Its Secrets
Five recent research papers shed light on elusive G protein-coupled receptors. New techniques and insights used to solve the GPCR structures are discussed.
Why the Thrill is Gone: Scientists Identify Potential Target for Treating Major Symptom of Depression
Scientists have laid bare a novel molecular mechanism responsible for the major depression symptom, anhedonia, the loss of the ability to experience pleasure. The brain circuit involved in this newly elucidated pathway is largely identical between rodents and humans, upping the odds that the findings point toward new therapies for depression and other disorders. Additionally, opinion leaders hailed the study’s inventive methodology, saying it may offer a much sounder approach to testing new antidepressants.
Robot Vision: Muscle-Like Action Allows Camera to Mimic Human Eye Movement
Using piezoelectric materials, researchers have replicated the muscle motion of the human eye to control camera systems in a way designed to improve the operation of robots. This new muscle-like action could help make robotic tools safer and more effective for MRI-guided surgery and robotic rehabilitation.
Researchers Show Neural Fingerprints of Memory Associations
Researchers have long been interested in discovering the ways that human brains represent thoughts through a complex interplay of electrical signals. Recent improvements in brain recording and statistical methods have given researchers unprecedented insight into the physical processes underlying thoughts. For example, researchers have begun to show that it is possible to use brain recordings [...]
