News tagged with neuronal synapses


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

Alzheimer's disease is associated with removal of the synaptic protein ADAM10

Alzheimer's disease is characterized by the accumulation of neurotoxic β-amyloid peptide (A-beta). ADAM10, a protein that resides in the neural synapses, has previously been shown to prevent the formation of A-beta.

Alzheimer's disease & dementia created May 08, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

New methods to explore astrocyte effects on brain function

A study in The Journal of General Physiology presents new methods to evaluate how astrocytes contribute to brain function, paving the way for future exploration of these important brain cells at unprecede ...

Medical research created Apr 29, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Star-shaped glial cells act as the brain's 'motherboard'

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 ...

Neuroscience created Mar 07, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Even mild traumatic brain injuries can kill brain tissue, study finds

Scientists have watched a mild traumatic brain injury play out in the living brain, prompting swelling that reduces blood flow and connections between neurons to die.

Neuroscience created Mar 07, 2013 | popularity 2 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Epigenetics: Neurons remember because they move genes in space

How do neurons store information about past events? In the Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, a mechanism unknown previously of memory traces formation has ...

Neuroscience created Mar 07, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Flip of a single molecular switch makes an old brain young

The flip of a single molecular switch helps create the mature neuronal connections that allow the brain to bridge the gap between adolescent impressionability and adult stability. Now Yale School of Medicine ...

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

Study shows how insulin-like molecules play critical role in learning and memory

Though it's most often associated with disorders like diabetes, Harvard researchers have shown how the signaling pathway of insulin and insulin-like peptides plays another critical role in the body – helping ...

Neuroscience created Feb 26, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | 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 in mice yields Angelman advance

In a new study in mice, a scientific collaboration centered at Brown University lays out in unprecedented detail a neurological signaling breakdown in Angelman syndrome, a disorder that affects thousands ...

Medical research created Feb 13, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Protein family linked to autism suppresses the development of inhibitory synapses

Synapse development is promoted by a variety of cell adhesion molecules that connect neurons and organize synaptic proteins. Many of these adhesion molecules are linked to neurodevelopmental disorders; mutations ...

Medical research created Jan 28, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Newly found 'volume control' in the brain promotes learning, memory

Scientists have long wondered how nerve cell activity in the brain's hippocampus, the epicenter for learning and memory, is controlled—too much synaptic communication between neurons can trigger a seizure, and too little ...

Neuroscience created Jan 09, 2013 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (8) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Next-generation treatments for Fragile X syndrome

A potential new therapeutic strategy for treating Fragile X syndrome is detailed in a new report appearing in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry, from researchers led by Dr. Lucia Ciranna at University of Catania in Ita ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Nov 29, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Study solves birth and migration mysteries of cortex's powerful inhibitors, 'chandelier' cells

A team at CSHL for the 1st time reveals the birth timing and embryonic origin of a critical class of inhibitory brain cells called chandelier cells, tracing the specific paths they take during early development into the cerebral ...

Neuroscience created Nov 22, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Researchers find fly receptor neurons able to communicate without synapse connections

(Medical Xpress)—Researchers at Yale University have found that neural receptors in a fly's antenna are able to communicate with one another despite a lack of synaptic connections. They suggest in their ...

Neuroscience created Nov 22, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (3) | comments 2 | with audio podcast report