Newly identified dendritic action potentials give humans unique brain power
Computational power is amplified in the brain by newly discovered action potentials in dendrites.... Read More...
dendrites
Dendrites filtering neuron’s excitement
Purkinje cells can modulate and filter incoming signals. The findings shed new light on learning mechanisms within the cerebellum.... Read More...
How gene mutation causes autism and intellectual disability
Genetic mutations in Usp9X results in the brain growing fewer synapses during development. The mutation also causes hyperactivity and an increased risk of anxiety. The findings shed new light on the cause of autism and other intellectual disabilities.... Read More...
Fundamental insight into how memory changes with age
New memories are laid down via different mechanisms in older mice compared to younger mice. Additionally, synaptic changes linked to new memory formation were harder to modify in older mice.... Read More...
Lack of oxygen doesn’t kill infant brain cells, as previously thought
A lack of oxygen as a result of preterm birth does not cause hippocampal neurons to die but does impair hippocampal development. Hypoxia causes hippocampal cells to fail to mature normally, causing a reduction in long-term potentiation and impaired learning.... Read More...
Looking to the body to better understand the brain
From researching the microbiome and immune system to nociception, scientists are looking beyond the nervous system to gain a better understanding of neurological and mental health disorders.... Read More...
Super-resolution microscopy sheds light on how dementia protein becomes dysfunctional
A microscopy study revealed tau controls Fyn clustering in dendrites. The findings shed new light on how certain forms of dementia may occur.... Read More...
The way a single neuron processes information is never the same
When a neuron receives information, dendrites functionally work together to adjust for the complexity of the input.... Read More...
Short bout of exercise enhances brain function
Short bursts of exercise, equivalent to a pick-up game of basketball, boosts the function of a gene that increases dendritic spines in the hippocampus, helping to improve memory and learning.... Read More...
Stem cells reprogrammed into neurons could reveal drugs harmful to pregnancy
A new experimental system which uses embryonic stem cells reprogrammed into neurons has the potential to assess the pathogenic effects of a drug on brain development.... Read More...
Neurons’ “antennae” are unexpectedly active in neural computation
When the soma of specific neurons is active, the dendrites of the same neuron are also active, even when animals are not engaged in a cognitively demanding task. ... Read More...
New research offers insight into the proteins in the brain that detect cannabis
The secretory pathway delivery of cannabinoid type 1 receptor is axonally based, and surface expressed CB1R is more stable in axons than dendrites.... Read More...