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 ...

Medical research

Pain signaling in humans more rapid than previously known

Pain signals can travel as fast as touch signals, according to a new study from researchers at Linköping University in Sweden, Liverpool John Moores University in the U.K., and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in ...

Health

Wee small hours of the morning explained at last

Scientists have pinpointed a protein that helps explain why the elderly frequently have to get up in the night to urinate, a problem that can badly interfere with sleep.

Biomedical technology

Q&A: What is the benefit of cochlear implants over hearing aids?

I'm 70 years old and have worn hearing aids for about a decade. Over the past several years, my hearing seems to be getting worse. Although I have tried several different kinds of hearing aids, I feel as if they are not effective ...

Medical research

Pain is in the brain

Chronic pain results from disease or trauma to the nervous system. Damaged nerve fibres with heightened responses to normal stimuli send incorrect messages to pain centres in the brain. This phenomenon, called "peripheral ...

Neuroscience

Nerve cells let others 'listen in'

How many 'listeners' a nerve cell has in the brain is strictly regulated. This is shown by an international study led by the University College London and the universities of Bonn, Bordeaux and Milton Keynes (England). In ...

page 9 from 29