Do brain cells need to be connected to have meaning?
(Medical Xpress)—The classic theory of the brain is one of connections, in which the brain consists of a network of neurons that interact with each other to allow us to think, see, interpret, and understand ...
Neuroscience
Dec 04, 2012 |
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Off the grid: Environmental novelty changes hippocampal firing patterns
(Medical Xpress)—The brain's two hippocampal formations – one in each hemisphere's temporal lobe, medial to the inferior horn of the lateral ventricle and typically referring to the dentate gyrus, the ...
Neuroscience
Nov 07, 2012 |
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Your brain on dye: Imaging neuronal voltage with fluorescent sensors and molecular wires
(Medical Xpress) -- Optically monitoring the brain’s neuronal activity can be accomplished in several ways, including electrochromic dyes, hydrophobic anions, calcium imaging, or voltage-sensitive ion ...
Neuroscience
Feb 24, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (10) |
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Temporal processing in the olfactory system
The neural machinery underlying our olfactory sense continues to be an enigma for neuroscience. A recent review in Neuron seeks to expand traditional ideas about how neurons in the olfactory bulb might encode information about ...
Neuroscience
May 17, 2013 |
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Neural codes for memory implants
(Medical Xpress)—The ability to short-circuit debilitating tremors in disease states with implantable stimulators is nothing short of remarkable. The same can be said for cochlear prosthetics which restore ...
Neuroscience
Apr 24, 2013 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
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Scientists discover that DNA damage occurs as part of normal brain activity
Scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have discovered that a certain type of DNA damage long thought to be particularly detrimental to brain cells can actually be part of a regular, non-harmful process. The team further ...
Alzheimer's disease & dementia
Mar 24, 2013 |
5 / 5 (7) |
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Using human brain cells to make mice smarter
Glial cells – a family of cells found in the human central nervous system and, until recently, considered mere "housekeepers" – now appear to be essential to the unique complexity of the human brain. Scientists reached ...
Medical research
Mar 07, 2013 |
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Songbirds' brains coordinate singing with intricate timing, study reports
As a bird sings, some neurons in its brain prepare to make the next sounds while others are synchronized with the current notes—a coordination of physical actions and brain activity that is needed to produce ...
Neuroscience
Feb 27, 2013 |
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Impaired coordination of brain activity in autism involves local, as well as long-range, signaling
A study based at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) finds that the local functional connectivity of the brain – the extent to which the activity of within a small brain region ...
Autism spectrum disorders
Jan 14, 2013 |
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A better brain implant: Slim electrode cozies up to single neurons
(Medical Xpress)—A thin, flexible electrode developed at the University of Michigan is 10 times smaller than the nearest competition and could make long-term measurements of neural activity practical at ...
Neuroscience
Nov 11, 2012 |
4.8 / 5 (6) |
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Research discovers how brain activity changes when anesthesia induces unconsciousness
Investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have identified for the first time a pattern of brain activity that appears to signal exactly when patients ...
Neuroscience
Nov 05, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (7) |
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Burst of fetal neural activity necessary for vision
(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 ...
Neuroscience
Oct 11, 2012 |
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Using precisely-targeted lasers, researchers manipulate neurons in worms' brains, take control of their behavior
In the quest to understand how the brain turns sensory input into behavior, Harvard scientists have crossed a major threshold. Using precisely-targeted lasers, researchers have been able to take over an animal's ...
Neuroscience
Sep 24, 2012 |
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Implanted prosthetic device restores, improves impaired decision-making ability in monkeys
(Medical Xpress)—Researchers have taken a key step towards recovering specific brain functions in sufferers of brain disease and injuries by successfully restoring the decision-making processes in monkeys.
Neuroscience
Sep 13, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (11) |
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Cancer gene family member functions key to cell adhesion and migration
The WTX gene is mutated in approximately 30 percent of Wilms tumors, a pediatric kidney cancer. Like many genes, WTX is part of a family. In this case, WTX has two related siblings, FAM123A and FAM123C. While ...
Cancer
Aug 30, 2012 |
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