News tagged with calcium ions

Researchers visualize memory formation for the first time in zebrafish

In our interaction with our environment we constantly refer to past experiences stored as memories to guide behavioral decisions. But how memories are formed, stored and then retrieved to assist decision-making ...

Neuroscience created May 16, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers identify how cells control calcium influx

(Medical Xpress)—When brain cells are overwhelmed by an influx of too many calcium molecules, they shut down the channels through which these molecules enter the cells. Until now, the "stop" signal mechanism that cells ...

Neuroscience created May 09, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers illuminate link between sodium, calcium and heartbeat

Using the Canadian Light Source synchrotron, researchers from the University of British Columbia have revealed, for the first time, one of the molecular mechanisms that regulates the beating of heart cells by controlling ...

Medical research created Feb 13, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (7) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Rewriting a receptor's role: Synaptic molecule works differently than thought

(Medical Xpress)—In a pair of new papers, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences upend a long-held view about the basic functioning ...

Alzheimer's disease & dementia created Feb 19, 2013 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study examines how Alzheimer's kills brain cells

(Medical Xpress)—Exactly how Alzheimer's disease kills brain cells is still somewhat of a mystery, but University of Michigan researchers have uncovered a clue that supports the idea that small proteins ...

Alzheimer's disease & dementia created Oct 17, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

How the body's energy molecule transmits three types of taste to the brain

Saying that the sense of taste is complicated is an understatement, that it is little understood, even more so. Exactly how cells transmit taste information to the brain for three out of the five primary ...

Medical research created Mar 06, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Triclosan -- chemical widely used in antibacterial hand soaps -- may impair muscle function: study

Triclosan, an antibacterial chemical widely used in hand soaps and other personal-care products, hinders muscle contractions at a cellular level, slows swimming in fish and reduces muscular strength in mice, according to ...

Medical research created Aug 13, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study finds linchpin of skin response to UVA light

Last year, a team of researchers at Brown University discovered that certain skin cells use a light-sensitive receptor found outside of the eye to sense ultraviolet light and quickly begin pumping out melanin ...

Medical research created Jan 21, 2013 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Cracking brain memory code

(Medical Xpress) -- Despite a century of research, memory encoding in the brain has remained mysterious. Neuronal synaptic connection strengths are involved, but synaptic components are short-lived while memories last lifetimes. ...

Neuroscience created Mar 09, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (10) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Researchers develop tool for reading the minds of mice (w/ Video)

(Medical Xpress)—If you want to read a mouse's mind, it takes some fluorescent protein and a tiny microscope implanted in the rodent's head.

Neuroscience created Feb 19, 2013 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Calcium reveals connections between neurons

A team led by MIT neuroscientists has developed a way to monitor how brain cells coordinate with each other to control specific behaviors, such as initiating movement or detecting an odor.

Neuroscience created Oct 17, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New clues to molecular understanding of autism

The first transgenic mouse model of a rare and severe type of autism called Timothy Syndrome is improving the scientific understanding of autism spectrum disorder in general and may help researchers design more targeted interventions ...

Medical research created Sep 12, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Improved method of electrical stimulation could help treat damaged nerves

Functional electrical stimulation (FES) was developed to help return lost function to patients with upper and lower extremity injuries and spinal cord injuries, among other applications. However, the devices, which work by ...

Medical research created Nov 21, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Arrhythmia culprit caught in action

Using powerful X-rays, University of British Columbia researchers have reconstructed a crime scene too small for any microscope to observe – and caught the culprit of arrhythmia in action.

Medical research created Feb 17, 2013 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Researchers studying ketamine as suicide prevention drug

(Medical Xpress)—University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) researchers think ketamine, an anesthesia medication in use since the 1970s, might be a valuable tool in treating severe depression and reducing ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Mar 27, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Calcium

Calcium (pronounced /ˈkælsiəm/) is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft grey alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth most abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust. Calcium is also the fifth most abundant dissolved ion in seawater by both molarity and mass, after sodium, chloride, magnesium, and sulfate.

Calcium is essential for living organisms, particularly in cell physiology, where movement of the calcium ion Ca2+ into and out of the cytoplasm functions as a signal for many cellular processes. As a major material used in mineralization of bones and shells, calcium is the most abundant metal by mass in many animals.

For more information about Calcium, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Related topics: protein