Neuroscience

Key mechanism of epileptic seizures reported

Russian scientists investigated the changes in the temporal lobe cortex of a rat brain during prolonged epileptic seizures. Despite the complex interaction of neural signals, biologists and physicists managed to build their ...

Neuroscience

Discovery of a novel way synapses can regulate neuronal circuits

The fundamental process of information transfer from neuron to neuron occurs through a relay of electrical and chemical signaling at the synapse, the junction between neurons. Electrical signals, called action potentials, ...

Neuroscience

Adding new channels to the brain remote control

By enabling super-fast remote control of specific cells, light-activated proteins allow researchers to study the function of individual neurons within a large network—even an entire brain. Now one of the pioneers of 'optogenetics' ...

Neuroscience

Dopamine primes the brain for enhanced vigilance

Imagine a herd of deer grazing in the forest. Suddenly, a twig snaps nearby, and they look up from the grass. The thought of food is forgotten, and the animals are primed to respond to any threat that might appear.

Neuroscience

Is foraging behaviour regulated the same way in humans and worms?

How does our nervous system motivate us to get off the sofa and walk to the fridge, or even to the supermarket, to get food? A research team led by Alexander Gottschalk from Goethe University investigated this using the threadworm ...

Neuroscience

Synapse 'protection' signal found; helps to refine brain circuits

The developing brain is constantly forming new connections, or synapses, between nerve cells. Many connections are eventually lost, while others are strengthened. In 2012, Beth Stevens, Ph.D. and her lab at Boston Children's ...

Neuroscience

Paralyzed mice with spinal cord injury made to walk again

Most people with spinal cord injury are paralyzed from the injury site down, even when the cord isn't completely severed. Why don't the spared portions of the spinal cord keep working? Researchers at Boston Children's Hospital ...

Medical research

Light based cochlear implant restores hearing in gerbils

A team of researchers with members from a variety of institutions across Germany has developed a new type of cochlear implant—one based on light. In their paper published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the ...

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