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In grade school, you probably learned that cells make energy through special signaling pathways in the mitochondria. New research, however, suggests that not all cells in the body may use the same strategies when it comes to metabolism. Your brain is one of the energy-hungriest organs in the body - how exactly do its cells generate enough power to keep you upright and functioning?
Read MoreEpilepsy, one of the most common neurological diseases, affects approximately 1 percent of the U.S. population and is characterized by recurrent, unprovoked seizures (Stafstrom and Carmant, 2015). During seizures, neurons synchronize in one region of the brain and the aberrant neural activity can spread to other regions (Staley, 2015). Thus, epilepsy can arise when the balance between neural excitation and neural inhibition (E/I balance) is disrupted. Current therapeutic options aim to either lower excitatory activity or increase inhibitory activity in the brain, to restore the E/I balance. Nevertheless, one-third of epileptic individuals will not respond to currently available treatments (Stafstrom and Carmant, 2015), indicating the need to understand the underlying mechanisms that lead to neuronal hyperexcitability.
Read MoreTwo eyes are better than one! Our brains integrate two slightly different images coming from our two eyes to give us depth perception. How does this happen? To answer this, we will look at where the neural pathways from the two eyes converge. Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) are neurons in the eye that send visual information to the brain. RGCs are divided into many subtypes based on the shapes of the cells. The lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) is the primary brain region where RGCs first deliver visual information to brain cells. Previous studies have suggested that some LGN cells receive input from only one eye (Chen and Regehr, 2000; Sincich et al., 2007), while others receive input from both eyes (Hammer et al., 2015; Morgan et al., 2016). To fully understand how the brain integrates the images coming from two eyes, we need to understand the pattern of connectivity between RGCs and LGN cells at the level of individual neuronal connections.
Read MoreWhy is the brain still so mysterious after decades of research into its function? One reason is that scientists are still learning about unique talents buried within nondescript cells. Here is a tale of how learning to identify new subclasses of cells changed the way we think about computation in the brain.
Read MoreMagnetoreception: it’s the superpower hidden inside every Monarch butterfly. These tiny, delicate creatures manage to navigate over 3,000 miles with remarkable regularity. Stephen Evans presents one theory as to how a butterfly is able to accomplish this remarkable feat.
Read MoreEver wonder how your brain can focus on a tricky task, like weaving challah bread, while still staying aware of your surroundings? Read on to see how video-gaming monkeys helped a group of Princeton scientists explore the balance between focused attention and broad awareness.
Read MoreAre you a little too full of holiday treacle? Never fear - this article will give a whole new meaning to the phrase “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear”. Grab a flashlight, hunker down in a blanket, and read about how a team of scientists attempted to uncover one of the visual system’s greatest mysteries.
Read MoreThe choices we make have a massive impact on almost every aspect of our lives, and poor decision-making is a common feature across many neurologic and psychiatric diseases. So it makes sense that neuroscientists have been fascinated by decision-making for a long time, and have sought to undercover what influences our choices, which parts of the brain contribute to a decision, and how different aspects of a choice (for example, the evidence in favor of one option over another, or the value of each potential outcome) are reflected in neural activity.
Read MoreScientists might claim that a single region of the brain, like the medial prefrontal cortex (MPC), have a wide variety of jobs. Who is right? This paper attempts to use a meta-analysis to determine how to map human behavior onto MPC anatomy.
Read MoreWhat do bacteria have to do with the brain? One paper suggests that Bacillus subtilis can use electrical signaling to recruit distant cells to a biofilm - even bacteria of other species.
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