Neuroscience

Tackling neurotransmission precision

Behind all motor, sensory and memory functions, calcium ions are in the brain, making those functions possible. Yet neuroscientists do not entirely understand how fast calcium ions reach their targets inside neurons, and ...

Neuroscience

Study reveals novel role for the Pin1 molecule

Synapses are "dynamic" things: they can regulate their action in neural processes related to learning, for example, but also as a consequence of diseases. A research team – led by SISSA – has demonstrated the role of ...

Alzheimer's disease & dementia

Looking for origins of Alzheimer's disease to find a treatment

Six or so years ago, Frank Longo, MD, PhD, Stanford's chair of neurology and neurological sciences, was optimistic that a treatment for Alzheimer's disease was on its way. More than a decade earlier, pharmaceutical companies ...

Medical research

Lipids boost the brain

Consuming oils with high polyunsaturated fatty acid content, in particular those containing omega-3s, is beneficial for the health. But the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are poorly known. Researchers at the Institut ...

Neuroscience

Blame it on the astrocytes

In the brains of all vertebrates, information is transmitted through synapses, a mechanism that allows an electric or chemical signal to be passed from one brain cell to another. Chemical synapses, which are the most abundant ...

Genetics

Scientists shed new light on nerve cell growth

Amidst the astounding complexity of the billions of nerve cells and trillions of synaptic connections in the brain, how do nerve cells decide how far to grow or how many connections to build? How do they coordinate these ...

Neuroscience

Loose coupling between calcium channels and sensors

In research published in this week's online edition of Science, postdoc Nicholas Vyleta and Professor Peter Jonas of the Institute of Science and Technology Austria uncover the existence of loose coupling between calcium ...

Neuroscience

Amplifying communication between neurons

Neurons send signals to each other across small junctions called synapses. Some of these signals involve the flow of potassium, calcium and sodium ions through channel proteins that are embedded within the membranes of neurons. ...

page 32 from 38