Salk Institute

Neuroscience

Brain's astrocytes play starring role in long-term memory

Star-shaped cells called astrocytes help the brain establish long-lasting memories, Salk researchers have discovered. The new work adds to a growing body of evidence that astrocytes, long considered to be merely supportive ...

Medical research

Scratching the surface of how your brain senses an itch

Light touch plays a critical role in everyday tasks, such as picking up a glass or playing a musical instrument. The sensation is also an essential part of the body's protective defense system, alerting us to objects in our ...

Neuroscience

Finding a cause of neurodevelopmental disorders

Neurodevelopmental disorders arising from rare genetic mutations can cause atypical cognitive function, intellectual disability, and developmental delays, yet it is unclear why and how this happens. Scientists suspected a ...

Oncology & Cancer

Two therapeutic targets identified for deadly lung cancer

The vast majority of deadly lung cancer cases (85 percent) are termed non-small-cell lung carcinomas (NSCLCs), which often contain a mutated gene called LKB1. Salk Institute researchers have now discovered precisely why inactive ...

Oncology & Cancer

Unlocking therapies for hard-to-treat lung cancers

Now, a new Salk Institute study, published on July 24, 2019, in the journal Science Advances, shows that researchers could target these hard-to-treat cancers by pursuing drugs that keep a cellular "switch," called CREB, from ...

Neuroscience

Deciphering how the brain encodes color and shape

There are hundreds of thousands of distinct colors and shapes that a person can distinguish visually, but how does the brain process all of this information? Scientists previously believed that the visual system initially ...

Oncology & Cancer

New role for a driver of metastatic cancers

Metastatic ovarian, prostate and breast cancers are notoriously difficult to treat and often deadly. Now, Salk Institute researchers have revealed a new role for the CDK12 protein. The findings were published in the print ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

When neurons are out of shape, antidepressants may not work

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the most commonly prescribed medication for major depressive disorder (MDD), yet scientists still do not understand why the treatment does not work in nearly thirty percent ...

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