Tag: Mechanism

A brain mechanism that automatically links objects in our minds

When people see a toothbrush, a car, a tree—any individual object—their brain automatically associates it with other things it naturally occurs with, allowing humans to build context for their surroundings and set expectations for the world. By using machine-learning and brain imaging, researchers measured the extent of the “co-occurrence” phenomenon and identified the brain region

Willpower is the key to enhancing learning and memory: Researchers uncover the mechanism

Active or voluntary learning is a major topic in education, psychology, and neuroscience. Over the years, numerous studies have shown that when learning occurs through voluntary action, there is a modulation of attention, motivation and cognitive control that makes the process much more effective. Consequently, memory is benefited. However, although the physiological processes underlying this

Research suggests new mechanism to balance emotional behavior

Research led by Si-Qiong June Liu, MD, Ph.D., Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, discovered a surprising reciprocal interaction between chemicals in the brain resulting in accelerated loss of molecules that regulate brain cell communication. The research team’s findings are published online in Nature Communications, available here.

Researchers uncover new mechanism of immune-cell activation

When antibody-producing immune cells encounter infectious pathogens for the first time, they engage a signal cascade to generate a massive activation signal within seconds. The mechanisms underlying this acute initial activation have not been fully understood. In a new study by Yale Cancer Center, scientists have identified the short endosomal protein interferon-inducible transmembrane protein 3

New mechanism may safely prevent and reverse obesity

Obesity, a global epidemic, is a known contributor to several cancers, including breast, colon, and pancreatic. Stopping the obesity epidemic could be a critical aid in preventing and treating numerous cancers. Researchers with the laboratory of Craig Tomlinson, Ph.D., at Dartmouth’s and Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s Norris Cotton Cancer Center have found a critical target in this cause.

A new molecular mechanism could explain the origins of the depressive symptoms in Huntington’s disease

About 40 percent of the affected patients with Huntington’s disease—a neurodegenerative pathology- show depression symptoms, even in early stages before the apparition of the typical motor symptoms of the disease. An altered function of Cdk5 kinase—an essential enzyme in several cell signalling pathways- could explain the physiopathology of the depressive-like behaviour in Huntington’s disease, according

New mechanism activates bone-building cells in osteoperosis

The number of osteoporosis medications that promote bone formation are few compared to those that suppress bone resorption. A research group led by Kumamoto University scientists has discovered that the gene SIRT7 is important for bone formation, and has discovered a new mechanism to activate gene functions essential for bone formation. The researchers believe that

Ovarian cancer cells switched off by ‘unusual’ mechanism

Scientists at the Ovarian Cancer Action Research Centre at Imperial College London have discovered a mechanism that deactivates ovarian cancer cells. The findings, published in EMBO Reports, could lead to better treatments for women with ovarian cancer. The research has found a new mechanism for a protein named OPCML. This protein is known as a