http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College have uncovered a mechanism that guides the exquisite wiring of neural circuits in a developing brain—gaining unprecedented insight into the faulty circuits that may lead to brain disorders ranging from autism to mental retardation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-brain-circuits-miswired.html Neuroscience Thu, 06 Jun 2013 15:07:20 EST news289750032 Humans and most mammals can determine the spatial origin of sounds with remarkable acuity. We use this ability all the time—crossing the street; locating an invisible ringing cell phone in a cluttered bedroom. To accomplish this small daily miracle, the brain has developed a circuit that's rapid enough to detect the tiny lag that occurs between the moment the auditory information reaches one of our ears, and the moment it reaches the other. The mastermind of this circuit is the "Calyx of Held," the largest known synapse in the brain. EPFL scientists have revealed the role that a certain protein plays in initiating the growth of these giant synapses. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-scientists-giant-synapse.html Neuroscience Sun, 26 May 2013 13:00:12 EST news288783631 Neurobiologists at the Friedrich Miescher Institute have been able to dissect a mechanism in the retina that facilitates our ability to see both in the dark and in the light. They identified a cellular switch that activates distinct neuronal circuits at a defined light level. The switch cells of the retina act quickly and reliably to turn on and off computations suited specifically for vision in low and high light levels thus facilitating the transition from night to day vision. The scientists have published their results online in Neuron. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-night-vision.html Neuroscience Wed, 27 Mar 2013 09:26:54 EST news283595205 Despite many remarkable discoveries in the field of neuroscience during the past several decades, researchers have not been able to fully crack the brain's "neural code." The neural code details how the brain's roughly 100 billion neurons turn raw sensory inputs into information we can use to see, hear and feel things in our environment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-neural-synchrony-key-human-brain.html Neuroscience Tue, 12 Mar 2013 12:40:28 EST news282310821 The transistors and wires that power our electronic devices need to be mounted on a base material known as a "motherboard." Our human brain is not so different—neurons, the cells that transmit electrical and chemical signals, are connected to one another through synapses, similar to transistors and wires, and they need a base material too. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-star-shaped-glial-cells-brain-motherboard.html Neuroscience Thu, 07 Mar 2013 12:29:51 EST news281881772 While the wooly musk ox may like it cold, fruit flies definitely do not. They like it hot, or at least warm. In fact, their preferred optimum temperature is very similar to that of humans—76 degrees F. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-brain-cells-temperature.html Neuroscience Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:00:05 EST news278700122 Scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center have identified two genes involved in establishing the neuronal circuits required for breathing. They report their findings in a study published in the December issue of Nature Neuroscience. The discovery, featured on the journal's cover, could help advance treatments for spinal cord injuries and neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which gradually kill neurons that control the movement of muscles needed to breathe, move, and eat. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-scientists-genetic-signature-vital-neurons.html Neuroscience Thu, 29 Nov 2012 13:36:21 EST news273418573 Neurobiologists at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna 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 journal Neuron publishes the results in its current issue. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-brain-categories.html Neuroscience Sat, 20 Oct 2012 06:38:33 EST news269933819 (Medical Xpress)—A sudden and mysterious burst of activity originating in the retina of a developing fetus spurs brain connections that are essential to development of finely-tuned sight, Yale researchers report in the journal Nature. Interference with this spontaneous wave of activity could play a role in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, the scientists speculate. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-fetal-neural-vision.html Neuroscience Thu, 11 Oct 2012 07:06:30 EST news269157982 People with autism suffer from a pervasive developmental disorder of the brain that becomes evident in early childhood. Peter Scheiffele and Kaspar Vogt, Professors at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel, have identified a specific dysfunction in neuronal circuits that is caused by autism. In the respected journal Science, the scientists also report about their success in reversing these neuronal changes. These findings are an important step in drug development for the treatment for autism. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-scientists-reverse-disorder-neuronal-circuits.html Autism spectrum disorders Fri, 14 Sep 2012 13:32:20 EST news266848296 Like a gardener who stakes some plants and weeds out others, the brain is constantly building networks of synapses, while pruning out redundant or unneeded synapses. Researchers at The Jackson Laboratory led by Assistant Professor Zhong-wei Zhang, Ph.D., have discovered a factor in synapse-building, also showing that the building and pruning processes occur independent of each other. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-uncover-synapse-pruning.html Neuroscience Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:56:33 EST news240681383 (Medical Xpress) -- Walking or movement in general, comes so naturally to us, yet it results from a sophisticated interplay between the nervous system and muscles. Little is known about the neuronal blueprint that ensures the regulation of functionally opposing motor actions, which in turn are responsible for all movement. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-anatomical-blueprint-motor-antagonism.html Neuroscience Thu, 20 Oct 2011 04:59:46 EST news238305578 For many poorly understood mental disorders, such as schizophrenia or autism, scientists have wished they could uncover what goes wrong inside the brain before damage ensues. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-reprogramming-skin-cells-brain-scientists.html Medical research Wed, 12 Oct 2011 12:55:46 EST news237642920 Machine logic is based on human logic. But although a computer processor can be dissembled and dissected in logical steps, the same is not true for the way our brains process information, says Mark Shein of Tel Aviv University's School of Electrical Engineering. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-neurons-decipher-enigmatic-code-neuronal.html Neuroscience Tue, 12 Jul 2011 09:37:12 EST news229682197 Novel tools and methods for delivering therapeutic genes to cells in the central nervous system hold great promise for the development of new treatments to combat incurable neurologic diseases. Five of the most exciting developments in this rapidly advancing field are presented in a series of articles in the June issue of Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-advances-delivery-therapeutic-genes-brain.html Genetics Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:53:44 EST news228408777 Just like human teenagers, fruit flies that spend a day buzzing around the "fly mall" with their companions need more sleep. That's because the environment makes their brain circuits grow dense new synapses and they need sleep to dial back the energy needs of their stimulated brains, according to a new study by UW- Madison sleep researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-flies-enriched.html Medical research Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:00:30 EST news228055592 (Medical Xpress) -- In the last couple of years scientists from the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research have developed new strategies to stimulate individual brain cells with light. Optogenetic technologies were named "Method of the Year" by the leading scientific journal Nature Methods in 2010. FMI scientists not only apply this to meet their biomedical needs but refine the tool as well. A recent publication in PNAS is further testimony to this distinctive expertise at the FMI. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-forefront-optogenetics.html Medical research Tue, 24 May 2011 12:39:02 EST news225459527