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Featured Neuroscience

·October 19, 2012·3 min read

First Micro-Structure Atlas of the Human Brain Completed

A European team of scientists have built the first atlas of white-matter microstructure in the human brain.

Featured Neurology

·October 18, 2012·5 min read

Using the Eye as a Window into the Brain

An inexpensive, five-minute eye scan can accurately assess the amount of brain damage in people with the debilitating autoimmune disorder multiple sclerosis (MS), and offer clues about how quickly the disease is progressing.

Neurons and a neural network are shown. Caption describes well.

Electrophysiology Featured Neuroscience

·October 18, 2012·3 min read

A Glance at the Brain’s Circuit Diagram

Scientists developed a method for decoding neural circuit diagrams. Using measurements of total neuronal activity, they can determine the probability that two neurons are connected with each other.

A skull is shown with an electrode on it.

Featured Neurology

·October 16, 2012·3 min read

Less Invasive Method of Brain Stimulation Helps Patients with Parkinson’s Disease

Electrical stimulation using extradural electrodes—placed underneath the skull but not implanted in the brain, is a safe approach with meaningful benefits for patients with Parkinson's disease according to new research.

Cocaine with a needles and a razor blade are shown.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Abstracts

·October 15, 2012·4 min read

Does Motherhood Dampen Cocaine’s Effects?

Mother rats respond much differently to cocaine than female rats that have never given birth, according to new University of Michigan research that looks at both behavior and brain chemistry.

Psychology

·October 15, 2012·3 min read

Language is Shaped by Brain’s Desire for Clarity and Ease

Using an artificial language in a carefully controlled laboratory experiment, researchers found that many changes to language are simply the brain's way of ensuring that communication is as precise and concise as possible.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience Videos

·October 11, 2012·4 min read

Engineered Flies Spill Secret of Seizures

Scientists have observed the neurological mechanism behind temperature-dependent febrile seizures by genetically engineering fruit flies to harbor a mutation analogous to one that causes epileptic seizures in people. Their new study also highlights the first use of genetic engineering to swap a human genetic disease mutation into a directly analogous gene in a fly.

An image of fly spinal cord equivalent is shown.

Featured Neuroscience

·October 11, 2012·6 min read

Novel Mechanisms Underlying Major Childhood Neuromuscular Disease Identified

A study suggests that spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a genetic neuromuscular disease in infants and children, results primarily from motor circuit dysfunction, not motor neuron or muscle cell dysfunction, as is commonly thought. In a second study, the researchers identified the molecular pathway in SMA that leads to problems with motor function.

A statue of a child playing an accordion is shown.

Featured Neuroscience

·October 9, 2012·2 min read

Neuroscientists Launch 5 Year Study of Music Education and Child Brain Development

Researchers at USC Brain and Creativity Institute will explore the effects of intense music training on cognitive development in LA Phil's YOLA at HOLA program. The five-year research project will offer researchers an opportunity to provide new insights and add data about the role of early music engagement in learning and brain function.

Electrophysiology Featured Neuroscience

·October 8, 2012·2 min read

Discovery of Gatekeeper Nerve Cells Explains the Effect of Nicotine on Learning and Memory

Researchers discovered a new group of nerve cells that regulate processes of learning and memory. These cells act as gatekeepers and carry a receptor for nicotine, which can help explain our ability to remember and sort information. The newly discovered gatekeeper nerve cells, also called OLM-alpha2 cells, provide an explanation to how the flow of information is controlled in the hippocampus.

Entorhinal cortical neurons and traces are shown and described in the caption.

Electrophysiology Featured Neuroscience

·October 8, 2012·5 min read

Researchers Discover that the Sleeping Brain Behaves as if it’s Remembering Something

UCLA researchers have for the first time measured the activity of a brain region known to be involved in learning, memory and Alzheimer's disease during sleep. They discovered that the entorhinal cortex behaves as if it's remembering something, even under anesthesia, a finding that counters conventional theories about memory consolidation during sleep.

A brain image is next to a drawing of a 1918 brain map.

Featured Neuroscience

·October 4, 2012·2 min read

Researchers Create a Universal Map of Vision in the Human Brain

Researchers create a map of vision in the brain based upon an individual's brain structure, even for people who cannot see. Their result can, among other things, guide efforts to restore vision using a neural prosthesis that stimulates the surface of the brain.