Neuroscience

Scientists Pinpoint Neurons Where Select Memories Grow

Memories are fragile and dependent on any number of factors, including changes to various types of nerves. In the common fruit fly, these changes take place in multiple parts of the insect brain. Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 27 2014 - 10:50pm

Experimental Drug Reverses Schizophrenia In Mice

An experimental anticancer compound, one of a class of compounds known as PAK inhibitors, appears to have reversed behaviors associated with schizophrenia and restored some lost brain cell function in adolescent mice with a rodent version of the mental il ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 31 2014 - 5:33pm

How Old Dogs Can Learn New Tricks

Dogs have individual personalities, possess awareness, and are particularly known for their learning capabilities and trainability. They're also a lot more likable than cats and don't hide under the bed if the doorbell rings. To learn successful ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 1 2014 - 11:26am

Like Us: Selective Attention Is Discovered In Pigeons

Pine cone or pine nut? Friend or foe? Distinguishing between the two requires that we pay special attention to the telltale characteristics of each. Psychologists call it selective attention. We hone in on visual information that is new or important and d ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 2 2014 - 12:04am

How Presenilin Mutations Destroy Memories

Memory loss is a debilitating consequence of dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), an incurable condition contributing to a progressive loss of cognitive function. But what is the cause of memory loss in AD? ...

Article - Jennifer Wong - Aug 6 2014 - 8:11pm

MicroRNA- The Unexpected Pain Neurotransmitter

Since the discovery of microRNAs, these small ribonucleotides have been implicated in a broad range of cellular processes(1). MicroRNAs typically work as inhibitory gate-keepers to keep the expression of numerous genes in check(1). They do so by binding t ...

Article - Jennifer Wong - Aug 6 2014 - 7:08pm

The Nature Versus Nurture Debate: Are You Born With Language Structure?

Humans are unique in their ability to acquire language. But how? A new study published in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences shows that we are in fact born with the basic fundamental knowledge of language, thus shedding light on the age-ol ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 9 2014 - 10:26am

Lipid Levels During Prenatal Brain Development Implicated In Autism

Researchers writing in Cell Communication and Signaling  say that abnormal levels of lipid molecules in the brain can affect the interaction between two key neural pathways in early prenatal brain development, which can trigger autism. Environmental cause ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 8 2014 - 6:31pm

Splice Variants Reveal New Connections Among Autism Genes

Researchers from the UC San Diego School of Medicine and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute believe they have uncovered a new aspect of autism- that proteins involved in autism interact with many more partners than previously known. These interactions had n ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 11 2014 - 9:14am

ApoE4 Gene Variant Linked To Higher Risk Of Alzheimer's In Women

Women who carry a copy of a gene variant called ApoE4 have substantially greater risk for Alzheimer's disease than men,according to an analysis of data on large numbers of older individuals who were tracked over time and noting whether they had progr ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 14 2014 - 6:28pm