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·August 22, 2012·3 min read

Video Shows the Traffic Inside a Brain Cell

Using bioluminescent proteins from a jellyfish, scientists lit up the inside of a neuron, capturing spectacular video footage that shows the movement of proteins throughout the cell. The video offers a rare peek at how proteins, the brain's building blocks, are directed through neurons to renew its structure.

Autism Featured Neurology

·August 22, 2012·6 min read

Low-dose Sedative Alleviates Autistic-like Behavior in Mice with Dravet Syndrome Mutation

A low dose of the sedative clonazepam alleviated autistic-like behavior in mice with a mutation that causes Dravet syndrome in humans.

Featured Neurology

·August 20, 2012·2 min read

Brain Enzyme is Double Whammy for Alzheimer’s Disease

Researchers discover that an enzyme known for generating toxic brain plaques in Alzheimer's disease also causes additional memory and cognitive deficits via a separate mechanism. They found that BACE1 disrupts the cell's production of other molecules required for PKA function. By that mechanism, BACE1 inactivates PKA and therefore inhibits memory formation in mice, even in the absence of neurotoxic β-amyloid.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·August 16, 2012·3 min read

Multi-dimensional Brain Measurements Can Assess Child’s Age

Researchers have developed a multidimensional set of brain measurements that, when taken together, can accurately assess a child’s age with 92 percent accuracy.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Neuroscience Videos

·August 15, 2012·5 min read

Scientists Discover Previously Unknown Cleansing System in Brain

A previously unrecognized system that drains waste from the brain at a rapid clip has been discovered by neuroscientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center and dubbed the glymphatic system.

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.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·August 6, 2012·4 min read

Brain’s Stem Cells Eavesdrop to Find Out When to Act

Working with mice, Johns Hopkins researchers say they have figured out how stem cells found in a part of the brain responsible for learning, memory and mood regulation decide to remain dormant or create new brain cells. Apparently, the stem cells “listen in” on the chemical communication among nearby neurons to get an idea about what is stressing the system and when they need to act.

Featured Genetics

·August 2, 2012·3 min read

Planarians Offer A Better View of Eye Development

Planarian flatworms have come under intense study for their renowned ability to regenerate any missing body part, even as adults. But now they may take on a starring role as a model system for studying eye development and eye diseases in vertebrates, including humans.

Featured Neuroscience

·August 1, 2012·4 min read

Brain Imaging Can Predict How Intelligent You Are, Study Finds

Research from Washington University in St. Louis suggests that another 10 percent of individual differences in intelligence can be explained by the strength of neural pathways connecting the left lateral prefrontal cortex to the rest of the brain.

Featured Neuroscience

·July 30, 2012·3 min read

Brains Are Different in People with Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory

UC Irvine scientists have discovered intriguing differences in the brains and mental processes of an extraordinary group of people who can effortlessly recall every moment of their lives since about age 10. Research offers the first scientific findings about nearly a dozen people with this highly superior autobiographical memory (HSAM).

Electrophysiology Featured Neuroscience

·July 26, 2012·2 min read

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.

Electrophysiology Featured

·July 25, 2012·2 min read

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.