Neuroscience

Thicker nerve fibers enable faster reactions in mice

In order for organisms to react swiftly to stimuli in their environment, they need rapid and precise transmission of nerve impulses along neural extensions known as axons. Whereas some invertebrates have developed very thick ...

Neuroscience

Enzyme ensures thick insulation

ETH researchers have revealed that Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system largely produce their own fatty acids in order to create electrical insulation for nerve fibres. This process relies on an enzyme whose absence ...

Immunology

Leprosy turns the immune system against itself, study finds

Leprosy hijacks our immune system, turning an important repair mechanism into one that causes potentially irreparable damage to our nerve cells, according to new research that uses zebrafish to study the disease. As such, ...

Neuroscience

Study finds a key to nerve regeneration

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison have found a switch that redirects helper cells in the peripheral nervous system into "repair" mode, a form that restores damaged axons.

Neuroscience

Researchers track critical development in the young brain

Much like electricity traveling down wires, nerve impulses in our brain travel along nerve fibers. And just as wires need insulation to function well, nerve fibers, too, rely on a kind of insulation called myelin, a fatty ...

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