Tag: Neuroscience

Researchers from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience and Amsterdam UMC have disclosed the nature of how T cells protect the brain against harmful viruses. The results of the study, which are published in Nature Communications, are important for investigating the role of the immune system in numerous brain disorders. Immune system The immune system protects

Nearly 30 years ago, scientists demonstrated that visually recognizing an object, such as a cup, and performing a visually guided action, such as picking the cup up, involved distinct neural processes, located in different areas of the brain. A new study shows that the same is true for how the brain perceives our environment —

New research suggests that higher-level brain functions have a major role in losing weight. In a study among 24 participants at a weight-loss clinic, those who achieved greatest success in terms of weight loss demonstrated more activity in the brain regions of the lateral prefrontal cortex associated with self-control. The results of the study were

An interdisciplinary and international research group led by Dr. Volker Busskamp from the Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden at the TU Dresden (CRTD) has decoded the regulatory impact on neuronal survival of a small non-coding RNA molecule, so-called miRNA, at the highest resolution to date. This deciphering of gene regulation primes applications for strengthening neurons

Contrary to popular belief, the brain is not a computer. However brains do, in their own way, compute. They integrate informational inputs to generate outputs, including behaviors, thoughts, and feelings. To process vast amounts of data, the brain uses a kind of digital code. Its cells produce discrete bursts of electric current, known as action

About every five seconds or so we close our eyes and blink to moisten them. During this brief moment no light falls on our retina yet it is not constantly dark and we continue to observe a stable picture of our environment. The brain seems to remember the percepts that have just happened. Caspar Schwiedrzik

Spinal cord stimulation and physical therapy have helped a man paralyzed since 2013 regain his ability to stand and walk with assistance. The results, achieved in a research collaboration between Mayo Clinic and UCLA, are reported in Nature Medicine. With an implanted stimulator turned on, the man was able to step with a front-wheeled walker

Zombie cells are the ones that can’t die but are equally unable to perform the functions of a normal cell. These zombie, or senescent, cells are implicated in a number of age-related diseases. And with a new letter in Nature, Mayo Clinic researchers have expanded that list. In a mouse model of brain disease, scientists

For the first time since 2009, Stefanie Putnam is able to prepare — and eat — meals for herself, put the vest on her service dog, Kaz, and drive herself to activities with her horse without losing consciousness or gasping for breath. “My whole life has opened up for me again!” Putnam said. A C4

Ever wonder why some people seem to feel less pain than others? A study conducted at Wake Forest School of Medicine may have found one of the answers — mindfulness. “Mindfulness is related to being aware of the present moment without too much emotional reaction or judgment,” said the study’s lead author, Fadel Zeidan, Ph.D.,

The brains of professional beatboxers and guitarists respond to music differently when compared to each other and non-musicians, finds a new UCL-led study. The study, published in Cerebral Cortex and funded by Wellcome, sheds light on how learning and making music can affect mental processes. The researchers found that the area of the brain that

Figuring out how to make articles and videos go viral is the holy grail for any content creator. Although a magic formula remains elusive, in recent years, neuroscientists have forecasted which content will go viral by showing it to a small number of people and observing their brain activity. Now, they’ve taken that research a

Most animals have a keen sense of smell, which assists them in everyday tasks. Now, a new study led by researchers at NYU School of Medicine sheds light on exactly how animals follow smells. Published online in the journal eLife on Aug. 21, the study measured the behavior of fruit flies as they navigated through

Researchers have found that women who play soccer may be more at risk than their male counterparts. According to a new study published in the journal Radiology, female soccer players exhibit more extensive changes to brain tissue after repetitive ‘heading’ of the soccer ball. Soccer is the most popular competitive sport in the world, and

When a muscle is acutely injured — whether through accidental strain or intentional weight lifting — special repair cells called fibro-adipogenic progenitors (FAPs) rush to the rescue. These cells coordinate the activity of the immune system and muscle stem cells to replace and repair the torn tissue. Now, scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery

The cerebral cortex is a highly developed brain region, which allows intellectual functions such as conscious perception, anticipation of events and language. These functions are mediated by specific sets of neuronal circuits. To understand how these circuits emerge during development, researchers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, in collaboration with an American team, investigated

A deadly feature of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is its invasion of the central nervous system. ALL in the central nervous system is very difficult to treat, because most drugs are blocked from the organ system due to a “blood-brain barrier” designed to protect the brain. How cancer cells enter the central nervous system has

Being aware of our surroundings is a fundamental aspect of our existence. But what in our biological makeup determines how we access and interpret the endless stream of information around us? A new Tel Aviv University study published in Current Biology suggests that noradrenaline, a neurotransmitter responsible for arousal in the brain, plays a vital

Anxious people take fewer risks — this is not surprising. However, a team of psychologists from the German Friedrich Schiller University Jena, together with partners from Würzburg in Germany and the Canadian University of Victoria have succeeded in making this decision process visible in the brain, allowing them to predict the behaviour of individuals. They

Getting robots to do things isn’t easy: usually scientists have to either explicitly program them or get them to understand how humans communicate via language. But what if we could control robots more intuitively, using just hand gestures and brainwaves? A new system spearheaded by researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL)