A new study finds brief computer-assisted CBT reduces depression by 50% and strengthens brain connectivity.
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Hidden cellular layers in the brain’s memory center
Using a powerful RNA labeling method called RNAscope with high-resolution microscopy imaging, the team captured clear snapshots of single-molecule gene expression to identify CA1 cell types inside mouse brain tissue. Within 58.065 CA1 pyramidal cells, they visualized more than 330,000 RNA molecules—the genetic messages that show when and where genes are turned on. By tracing these activity patterns, the researchers created a detailed map showing the borders between different types of nerve cells across the CA1 region of the hippocampus.
The results showed that the CA1 region consists of four continuous layers of nerve cells, each marked by a distinct set of active genes. In 3D, these layers form sheets that vary slightly in thickness and structure along the length of the hippocampus. This clear, layered pattern helps make sense of earlier studies that saw the region as a more gradual mix or mosaic of cell types.
“When we visualized gene RNA patterns at single-cell resolution, we could see clear stripes, like geological layers in rock, each representing a distinct neuron type,” said a co–first author of the paper. “It’s like lifting a veil on the brain’s internal architecture. These hidden layers may explain differences in how hippocampal circuits support learning and memory.”
The hippocampus is among the first regions affected in Alzheimer’s disease and is also implicated in epilepsy, depression, and other neurological conditions. By revealing the CA1’s layered structure, the study provides a roadmap to investigate which specific neuron types are most vulnerable in these disorders.
The new CA1 cell-type atlas, built using data from the Hippocampus Gene Expression Atlas (HGEA), is freely available to the global research community. The dataset includes interactive 3D visualizations accessible through the Schol-AR augmented-reality app, which allows scientists to explore hippocampal layers in unprecedented detail.
Researchers have identified a previously unknown pattern of organization in one of the brain’s most important areas for learning and memory. The study, published in Nature Communications, reveals that the CA1 region of a mouse’s hippocampus, a structure vital for memory formation, spatial navigation, and emotions, has four distinct layers of specialized cell types. This discovery changes our understanding of how information is processed in the brain and could explain why certain cells are more vulnerable in diseases like Alzheimer’s and epilepsy.
Anil Seth — What is Consciousness: Data or Information?
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To study consciousness comprehensively and rigorously, what kinds of data or information are relevant? Data/information for Materialism theories, which are subject to the scientific method, can be well defined. But what about non-Materialism theories?
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Anil Seth is Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex, where he is also Director of the Sussex Centre for Consciousness Science. Seth is also Co-Director of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) Program on Brain, Mind, and Consciousness. Seth’s mission is to advance the science of consciousness, and to use its insights for the benefit of society, technology, and medicine.
Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Light-printed electrodes turn skin and clothing into sensors
Researchers in Sweden have unveiled a way to create high-performance electronic electrodes using nothing more than visible light and specially designed water-soluble monomers. This gentle, chemical-free approach lets conductive plastics form directly on surfaces ranging from glass to textiles to living skin, enabling surprisingly versatile electronic and medical applications.
Cancer Cells Light Up With a Breakthrough Imaging System
A new ultra-sensitive imaging system can make cancer cells light up, paving the way for faster and earlier detection.
Researchers have created a compact Raman imaging system that can reliably tell tumor tissue apart from normal tissue. The goal is to support earlier cancer detection and make molecular imaging easier to use beyond specialized research labs.
How SERS nanoparticles help tumors stand out.
Lorenz system
The Lorenz system is a three-dimensional classical dynamic system represented by three ordinary differential equations. It was first developed by the meteorologist Edward Lorenz and describes chaotic behavior of fluid movement when subjected to heating.
Although the Lorenz system is deterministic, its dynamics depend on the choice of initial parameters. For some ranges of parameters, the system is predictable as trajectories settle into fixed points or simple periodic orbits. In contrast, for other parameter ranges, the system becomes chaotic and the solutions never settle down but instead trace out the butterfly-shaped Lorenz attractor, popularly known as butterfly effect. In this regime, small differences in initial conditions grows exponentially making long-term prediction practically impossible.
Nanomotors drive protein network formation inside artificial cells
No one has yet created a fully functioning artificial cell. But a research team at Aarhus University has taken a step in that direction:
They have equipped artificial cells with tiny motors inspired by an unusual movement mechanism found in nature—specifically from the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. The result: artificial cells that can form internal networks of protein filaments—a function otherwise unique to living cells.
The study is published in ACS Nano.
Wooden Neurons: An Artistic Vision of the Brain
For Louis-Jan Pilaz, days spent with tools and wood began as simple home improvement projects. He soon found himself learning how to whittle scraps of wood. Then, as a neurobiologist, Pilaz noticed a striking parallel. “It made so much sense to use wood to render neurons…They look like trees, and they have this flow of energy that is just like in neurons.” Inspired, he began to shape wood into intricate neural forms, transforming casual whittling into science-inspired woodworking art.
When he first shared his artwork on X (then Twitter), the response was positive, and people expressed their interest in his work. Encouraged by his graduate student, Pilaz opened an Etsy shop in 2021 to sell his wood sculptures, and NeuroWoodworks was born.
Pilaz’s group at Sanford Research studies the development and dysfunction of the cerebral cortex and makes extensive use of microscopy, which fuels his research and serves as a source of inspiration for his wood art. “I’ve been obsessed with cell morphology since my PhD,” Pilaz said. “I experimented, just like I do in the lab, with the tools I have and tried to make [different cell] shapes.” He uses different types of wood, such as walnut and padauk, to create a variety of cell types and structures from Purkinje cells and radial glia to mitochondria.