Inhibitory neurons target the weakest-responding neurons in the brain to facilitate the transmission of signals When looking at a complex landscape, the eye needs to focus on important details without losing the big picture—a charging lion in a jungle, for example. Now, a new study by Salk scientists shows how inhibitory neurons play a critical...
SALK INSTITUTE LA JOLLA–(June 24, 2021) When looking at a complex landscape, the eye needs to focus on important details without losing the big picture–a charging lion in a jungle, for example. Now, a new study by Salk scientists shows how inhibitory neurons play a critical role in this process. The study, published May 25,...
by Max Planck Society The agony of choice: despite being in contact with both eyes, neurons in the mouse visual thalamus only transfer information from one retina. Credit: MPI of Neurobiology / Kuhl The visual thalamus is classically known to relay visual stimuli coming from the retina to the cerebral cortex. Researchers from the Max Planck...
by Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Neurons typically consist of a cell body or ‘soma’, dendrites and axon. The dendrites are branched structures that receive signals from other neurons, while axons transmit signals to other neurons. Purkinje neurons have the most extensive dendritic branching of all neurons in the brain. Credit: Bingata artwork by Hazel...
SCUOLA INTERNAZIONALE SUPERIORE DI STUDI AVANZATI Effective, specific, with a reversible and non-harmful action: the identikit of the perfect biomaterial seems to correspond to graphene flakes, the subject of a new study carried out by SISSA – International School for Advanced Studies of Trieste, Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) of Barcelona and the...
by Lila Reynolds, Northwestern University Credit: CC0 Public Domain Imagine if surgeons could transplant healthy neurons into patients living with neurodegenerative diseases or brain and spinal cord injuries. And imagine if they could “grow” these neurons in the laboratory from a patient’s own cells using a synthetic, highly bioactive material that is suitable for 3-D printing....
by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Credit: CC0 Public Domain For the first time in humans, investigators at Cedars-Sinai have identified the neurons responsible for canceling planned behaviors or actions—a highly adaptive skill that when lost, can lead to unwanted movements. Known as “stop signal neurons,” these neurons are critical in powering someone to stop or abort an...
by Glenys Young, Texas Tech University Andrew Shin leads the Neurobiology of Nutrition Laboratory. Credit: Texas Tech University Illness is almost never all in your head, but new research from Texas Tech University’s Department of Nutritional Sciences suggests a specific group of neurons in the brain may play a crucial role in the development of Type 2 diabetes....
by University of Bonn When an astrocyte in the thalamus is filled with a dye, it diffuses into neighboring cells of the network (red). These include many oligodendrocytes (green), as shown by the overlay (B3, yellow). Credit: © Group Steinhäuser; from: Cerebral Cortex, January 2018;28: 213-222; doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhw368 The human brain has about as many neurons...
By Ben Coxworth December 30, 2020 Implanted into a phantom brain (left), the device successfully delivered light and a blue dye (right)Anikeeva LabVIEW 1 IMAGES When taken orally or intravenously, medications typically travel throughout the body, producing unwanted side effects. MIT scientists are working on an alternative, that delivers both light and a light-activated drug...
