Institute of Science and Technology Austria

Neuroscience

The rhythm that makes memories permanent

Every time we learn something new, the memory does not only need to be acquired, it also needs to be stabilized in a process called memory consolidation. Brain waves are considered to play an important role in this process, ...

Neuroscience

How to generate a brain of correct size and composition

To build the neocortex, a brain area involved in higher cognitive functions, stem cells produce billions of neurons of various types. In a Science study, neuroscientists from Switzerland, Belgium, and the Institute of Science ...

Neuroscience

Grid cells create 'treasure map' in rat brain

Grid cells and place cells are specialized neurons that allow the brain to create a map of the outside world in which one navigates (Nobel Prize 2014). This brain GPS system is built on grid cells' strikingly regular pattern ...

Neuroscience

Scientists find sensor that makes synapses fast

Synapses, the connections between neurons, come in different flavors, depending on the chemical they use as transmitter. Signal transmitters, or neurotransmitters, are released at the synapse after calcium ions flow into ...

Neuroscience

Lateral inhibition keeps similar memories apart

When you park in the office car park, you usually have no problem finding your car again at the end of the day. The next day, you might park a few spots further away. However, in the evening, you find your car, even though ...

Neuroscience

Key mechanisms in the synapses of the cerebellum unraveled

Whether picking up a small object like a pen or coordinating different body parts, the cerebellum in the brain performs essential functions for controlling our movement. Researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology ...

Neuroscience

How neurons and glia cells are created in the developing brain

Neurons and glia are the cells that make up our brain. In the cortex, the brain area that enables us to think, speak and be conscious, neurons and most glia are produced by a type of neural stem cell, called radial glia progenitors ...

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