by University of California – San Diego Colorized scanning electron micrograph of a cultured human neuron. Credit: Thomas Deerinck, UC San Diego National Center for Microscopy and Imaging Using stem cells to restore lost functions due to spinal cord injury (SCI) has long been an ambition of scientists and doctors. Nearly 18,000 people in the...
by Yasmin Anwar, University of California – Berkeley We humans may not always see eye to eye on politics, religion, sports and other matters of debate. But at least we can agree on the location and size of objects in our physical surroundings. Or can we? Not according to new UC Berkeley research, recently published...
MEDGADGET EDITORS NEUROLOGY, PSYCHIATRY Many people suffer from an inability to focus on tasks that require a great deal of attention. Drugs such as Ritalin are available to help mitigate symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and related conditions, but these medications come with a number of side effects, including long term dependence. Now, researchers at...
by eLife Researchers have provided new insight into the neural processes behind movement and learning behaviours, according to a study published today in eLife. The findings in rats reveal how the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for processing information, affects the basal ganglia, which controls motor behaviours and reinforcement learning. This could pave the way...
For decades the neuroscience community has been baffled by the existence of dense connections in the brain that seem to be going “backward”. These connections, which span extensively across distant areas of the neocortex – the part of the brain responsible for higher cognitive functions – are clearly conveying important information. But until now, the...
