Forgetting is actively regulated
In order to function properly, the human brain requires the ability not only to store but also to forget: Through memory loss, unnecessary information is deleted and the nervous system retains its...
View ArticleResearchers survey protein family that helps the brain form synapses
Neuroscientists and bioengineers at Stanford are working together to solve a mystery: how does nature construct the different types of synapses that connect neurons—the brain cells that monitor nerve...
View ArticleNew finding suggests a way to block stress' damage
Ketamine, an anesthetic sometimes abused as a street drug, increases the synaptic connections between brain cells and in low doses acts as a powerful antidepressant, Yale researchers have found....
View ArticleScientists 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...
View ArticleLooking 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,...
View ArticleMemory in silent neurons
When we learn, we associate a sensory experience either with other stimuli or with a certain type of behavior. The neurons in the cerebral cortex that transmit the information modify the synaptic...
View ArticleResearchers link gene to increased dendritic spines – a signpost of autism
(Medical Xpress)—Scientists at the UNC School of Medicine have discovered that knocking out the gene NrCAM leads to an increase of dendritic spines on excitatory pyramidal cells in the brains of...
View ArticleLost memories might be able to be restored, new study indicates
New UCLA research indicates that lost memories can be restored. The findings offer some hope for patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.
View ArticleStudy pinpoints autism-linked protein for sculpting brain connections
Shortly after birth, human brains expand rapidly with the experience of an entirely new world. During this period, neurons in the newborn brain compete with one another to form lasting connections,...
View ArticleThe brain's social network: Nerve cells interact like friends on Facebook
Neurons in the brain are wired like a social network, report researchers from Biozentrum, University of Basel. Each nerve cell has links with many others, but the strongest bonds form between the few...
View ArticleResearcher explores decoding of complex neural circuits
A University of Wyoming faculty member is part of a research team that created a method, using laser, to better decode complex neural circuits in the brain—a process that eventually may help unlock the...
View ArticleIn Alzheimer's mice, memory restored with cancer drug
Memory and as well as connections between brain cells were restored in mice with a model of Alzheimer's given an experimental cancer drug, Yale School of Medicine researchers reported in the journal...
View ArticleNew insights could result in changes to the therapeutic strategy to combat...
A typical characteristic of the brain of an Alzheimer sufferer is the presence of insoluble Tau protein aggregates. Scientists at VIB, KU Leuven and Janssen Pharmaceutica have demonstrated that the...
View ArticleStudy adds new evidence linking brain mutation to autism, epilepsy and other...
Findings, published today [15 Jul] in Nature Communications, reveal the extent a mutation associated with autism and epilepsy plays in impairing a biochemical process in the brain. The study, led by...
View Article'Brainbow' reveals surprising data about visual connections in brain
Neuroscientists know that some connections in the brain are pruned through neural development. Function gives rise to structure, according to the textbooks. But scientists at the Virginia Tech Carilion...
View ArticleNeurons reprogrammed in animals
Building on earlier work in which they disproved neurobiology dogma by "reprogramming" neurons—turning one form of neuron into another—in the brains of living animals, Harvard Stem Cell Institute...
View ArticleStudy presents new insights in the search for treatments for neurological...
A team of researchers led by professor Patrik Verstreken (VIB/KU Leuven) has exposed the fine details of a mechanism that provides more insight in the communication between neurons. The research has...
View ArticleOvereating and depressed? Team finds connection—and maybe a solution
Chronic overeating and stress are tied to an increased risk of depression and anxiety, and in a new study, Yale researchers explain why that happens and suggest a possible solution.
View ArticleTeam develops new method for analyzing synaptic density
Carnegie Mellon University researchers have developed a new approach to broadly survey learning-related changes in synapse properties. In a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience and featured...
View ArticleKey mechanism discovered which prevents memory loss in Alzheimer's disease
Neurons communicate with one another by synaptic connections, where information is exchanged from one neuron to its neighbor. These connections are not static, but are continuously modulated in...
View ArticleGene discovery reveals mechanism behind how we think
Our brains are marvels of connectivity, packed with cells that continually communicate with one another. This communication occurs across synapses, the transit points where chemicals called...
View ArticleUnraveling complex neuronal networks
One of the fundamental questions in neuroscience is how neuronal circuits are wired to process information. The research group led by Rainer Friedrich has developed new methods to determine the complex...
View ArticleOrigin of synaptic pruning process linked to learning, autism and...
Research led by SUNY Downstate Medical Center has identified a brain receptor that appears to initiate adolescent synaptic pruning, a process believed necessary for learning, but one that appears to go...
View ArticleSynaptic connectivity motifs contribute to memory storage and retrieval in...
The hippocampal CA3 region plays a key role in learning and memory. One of the most remarkable properties of the network is its ability to retrieve previously stored memories from incomplete or...
View ArticleHuman senses can't learn under stress
Stress is part of our everyday lives – while some thrive on it, it makes others sick. But what does stress do to our senses?
View ArticleStudy shows how separate visual features are integrated in the thalamus
Botond Roska and his team at the FMI have investigated how visual features, extracted in the eye, are combined in the thalamus, the second stage of visual processing in the brain. They have shown that...
View ArticleMice offer a window into sleep's role in memory
Sleep provides essential support for learning and memory, but scientists do not fully understand how that process works on a molecular level. What happens to synapses, the connections between neurons,...
View ArticleCloser look at brain circuits reveals important role of genetics
Scientists at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in La Jolla have revealed new clues to the wiring of the brain. A team led by Associate Professor Anton Maximov found that neurons in brain regions...
View ArticleNeuroscientists call for more comprehensive view of how brain forms memories
Neuroscientists from the University of Chicago argue that research on how memories form in the brain should consider activity of groups of brain cells working together, not just the connections between...
View ArticleResearchers show how particular fear memories can be erased
Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have devised a method to selectively erase particular fear memories by weakening the connections between the nerve cells (neurons) involved in...
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