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An old picture shows a man on a tight rope crossing Niagara River.

·October 19, 2012·4 min read

Researchers Explore How the Brain Perceives Direction and Location

The Who asked “who are you?” but Dartmouth neurobiologist Jeffrey Taube “where are you?” and “where are you going?” Taube is not asking philosophical or theological questions. He is investigating nerve cells in the brain that function in establishing one’s location and direction.

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.

An image of stem cells is shown. Caption describes well.

Featured Neurology

·October 19, 2012·4 min read

Scientists Pinpoint Key Player in Parkinson’s Disease Neuron Loss

Stem cell study may help to unravel how a genetic mutation leads to Parkinson's symptoms. By reprogramming skin cells from Parkinson's disease patients with a known genetic mutation, researchers identified damage to neural stem cells as a powerful player in Parkinson's disease.

A brain with multiple colored areas is shown.

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.

Featured Neuroscience

·October 17, 2012·2 min read

Discovery of Two Opposite Ways Humans Voluntarily Forget Unwanted Memories

If only there were a way to forget that humiliating faux pas at last night's dinner party. It turns out there's not one, but two opposite ways in which the brain allows us to voluntarily forget unwanted memories, according to research.

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.

Featured Neuroscience

·October 16, 2012·3 min read

Attack! Silent Watchmen Charge to Defend the Nervous System

Research provides the first evidence that mechanisms regulated by the Runx1 gene control the balance between the surveillant versus activated microglia states.

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.

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.