Neuroscience

Mapping the neural circuit governing thirst

There are few feelings more satisfying than gulping down water when you are thirsty. But how does your brain know when you are dehydrated or satiated, and how does it use this information to initiate or terminate drinking? ...

Neuroscience

Team decodes neuron signals

Did you know that your body is made up of a hundred billion nerve cells, which, like little computers, receive, process and transmit crucial information? These machines are neurons, the foundation of your nervous system. ...

Genetics

New genetic models of autism point to cellular roots of disease

Researchers at UC San Francisco have developed a new genetic model of autism, using neurons created in the lab from patients' own skin cells. Their experiments suggest that abnormalities in the electrical firing of neurons ...

Neuroscience

Star-shaped brain cells orchestrate neural connections

Brains are made of more than a tangled net of neurons. Star-like cells called astrocytes diligently fill in the gaps between neural nets, each wrapping itself around thousands of neuronal connections called synapses. This ...

Neuroscience

High-speed locomotion neurons found in the brainstem

Think of taking a casual stroll on a sunny Sunday afternoon or running at full speed to catch a bus for work on Monday morning as two extremes. Both forms of locomotion entail a perfect interplay between arms and legs, yet ...

Neuroscience

Lack of CLOCK protein appears key in severe epilepsy forms

A new study in Neuron focuses on the role that a lack of the protein "CLOCK" plays in several forms of epilepsy. The study provides evidence that excessive excitation of specific brain cells may be due to a lack of CLOCK ...

Neuroscience

Key synapse formation regulator identified

Professor Ko Jae-won at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has conducted a study of the three-dimensional structure of proteins that regulate neuronal cell connections for the first time, and has identified ...

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