Tag: Mice

UCLA scientists have identified specific gut bacteria that play an essential role in the anti-seizure effects of the high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet. The study, published today in the journal Cell, is the first to establish a causal link between seizure susceptibility and the gut microbiota — the 100 trillion or so bacteria and other microbes

Using male individuals has long been a tradition in scientific mice studies. But new research enforces the importance of using a balanced population of male and female mice. In a paper published May 22 in the journal Cell Reports, scientists studying the locus coeruleus brain structure in mice unexpectedly found substantial differences in the molecular

Smoking tobacco from a waterpipe, also known as a hookah, accounted for over half of the tobacco smoke volume consumed by young adult hookah and cigarette smokers in the U.S., a new University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine analysis discovered. Toxicant exposures — such as tar, carbon monoxide and nicotine — were lower, yet substantial,

In a study of mice, National Institutes of Health-funded researchers describe a new circuit involved in fine-tuning the brain’s decision either to hide or confront threats. The study, published in Nature, was partially funded by the NIH’s Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative. “Being able to manipulate specific circuits can uncover surprising relationships

A team of researchers led by Dr. Catharine Winstanley at the University of British Columbia have uncovered a network of regions in the brain that are involved in determining the choice of working harder to get a bigger reward, or putting in a lesser effort and receiving a smaller reward. Understanding how the brain makes

A recent study by sensory researchers at Kansas State University’s Olathe campus finds that emojis are a viable alternative to words when it comes to accurately measuring how kids feel about food, products and other experiences. The results appear in the study, “The emoji scale: A facial scale for the 21st century,” which was published

As people age, their intestinal stem cells begin to lose their ability to regenerate. These stem cells are the source for all new intestinal cells, so this decline can make it more difficult to recover from gastrointestinal infections or other conditions that affect the intestine. This age-related loss of stem cell function can be reversed

A team from the University of Oxford and Cardiff University have used mathematical models to re-enact the complex process of brain development that occurs as initialising cells, otherwise known as progenitor cells, start to grow and begin to differentiate into more specialist cells at various points in time. By applying this experimentally realistic model to

Researchers at the Center for Cognition and Sociality, within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), have just published in Neuron about a genetic variant that controls and increases empathy-driven fear in mice. As empathy is evolutionarily conserved from rodents to humans, this finding might contribute to clarify individual variability in neuropsychiatric conditions characterized by empathic

For the first time, scientists have deconstructed the brain circuits that orchestrate parenting behavior in mice. The team, led by Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator Catherine Dulac, has discovered that more than 20 different parts of the brain are integrated into this circuitry. Distinct sets of cells within a parenting-control hub trigger the motivational, behavioral,

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is a viral disease spread by ticks in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and parts of Europe. Infection with CCHF virus is fatal in nearly one of every three cases. No specific treatments or vaccines for CCHF exist, primarily because a suitable animal model for studying the disease has not been

Chronic caloric restriction consists in eating a reduced but balanced diet from early adult life onward. Previous research, into macaques in particular (which have an average lifespan of forty years), had already demonstrated its beneficial effect on the incidence of age-related pathologies. However, its positive effect on the lifespan of primates remained controversial. To study