Latest

neural circuits

A brain scan is shown with a highlighted area

·March 20, 2013·3 min read

Atypical Brain Circuits May Cause Slower Gaze Shifting in Infants Who Later Develop Autism

Infants at 7 months of age who go on to develop autism are slower to reorient their gaze and attention from one object to another when compared to 7-month-olds who do not develop autism, and this behavioral pattern is in part explained by atypical brain circuits.

Featured Neuroscience

·October 19, 2012·2 min read

How the Brain Forms Categories

Neurobiologists investigated how the brain is able to group external stimuli into stable categories. They found the answer in the discrete dynamics of neuronal circuits.

The numbers 1 through 9 are shown over a brain with two question marks over 3 and 5.

Featured Psychology

·October 5, 2012·4 min read

What Number is Halfway Between 1 and 9? Is it 5 or 3?

A new information-theoretical model of human sensory perception and memory sheds light on some peculiarities of the nervous system. Ask adults from the industrialized world what number is halfway between 1 and 9, and most will say 5. But pose the same question to small children, or people living in some traditional societies, and they're likely to answer 3.

Featured Neurology

·October 3, 2012·3 min read

Drug Reverses Abnormal Brain Function in Rett Syndrome Mice

in a mouse model of Rett syndrome, researchers were able to reverse abnormalities in brain activity and improve neurological function by treating animals with an FDA-approved anesthesia drug, ketamine.

Autism Featured

·September 19, 2012·5 min read

Autistic Adults Have Unreliable Neural Responses, Carnegie Mellon-Led Research Team Finds

Neuroscientists take the first step toward deciphering the connection between general brain function and emergent behavioral patterns in autism. Study shows that autistic adults have unreliable neural sensory responses to visual, auditory and somatosensory, or touch, stimuli.

Featured Neuroscience

·September 17, 2012·4 min read

Blue Brain Project Accurately Predicts Connections Between Neurons

Proof of concept: Researchers identify principles to support brain simulation models. Blue Brain Project has identified key principles that determine synapse-scale connectivity by virtually reconstructing a cortical microcircuit and comparing it to a mammalian sample. These principles now make it possible to predict the locations of synapses in the neocortex.

Autism Featured Neurology

·September 14, 2012·2 min read

Disorder of Neural Circuits in Autism Mouse Model is Reversible

Scientists have now identified a specific dysfunction in neuronal circuits that is caused by autism. The scientists also report about their success in reversing these neuronal changes in mouse models.

Featured Psychology

·September 13, 2012·3 min read

How Early Social Deprivation Impairs Long-Term Cognitive Function

A study shows social isolation during early life prevents the cells that make up the brain's white matter from maturing and producing the right amount of myelin, the fatty "insulation" on nerve fibers that helps them transmit long-distance messages within the brain.

Featured Neuroscience

·August 8, 2012·4 min read

Simple Mathematical Computations Underlie Brain Circuits

Neuroscientists report that two major classes of brain cells repress neural activity in specific mathematical ways: One type subtracts from overall activation, while the other divides it.