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Category: neuroscience – Page 100

Human Brains Take Longer to Wire Up Than Simian Ones

Human brains make synaptic connections throughout much of childhood, and the brain’s plasticity enables humans to slowly wire them based upon experiences, contrary to how chimpanzees develop. Humans and chimpanzees share 98.8% of the same genes, but scientists have been looking for what drives the unique cognitive and social skills of humans.

A new study, which was published today in Genome Research, that examined brain samples from humans, chimpanzees, and macaques, collected from birth up to the end of their life span, has found some key differences between the expression of genes that control the development and function of synapses, which are the connections between neurons through which information flows.

Synchronized Brain Oscillations Crucial for Short-Term Memory

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Biological Cybernetics are studying how different brain regions cooperate during memory. While testing monkeys with images for visual stimulation, they recorded electrical activity both in a visual area and in the frontal part of the brain. Their research

Researchers Discover New Mnemomic Networks in the Brain

High-precision brain mapping reveals new memory networks, shedding light on evolution and Alzheimer’s disease. The medial temporal lobe (MTL) houses the human memory system. Broadly, it contains the hippocampus, parahippocampal cortex, perirhinal cortex, and entorhinal cortex. One big challen

Researchers Record Detailed Live Images Inside the Brain of a Living Mouse

Using the STED microscopy developed by Stephan Hell, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry recorded the first ever detailed live images inside the brain of a living mouse. By using a technique that keeps closely-positioned elements dark under a special laser beam so that

Stimulating the Entorhinal Cortex of the Brain Boosts Memory

A team of neuroscientists at the School of Medicine at UCLA have demonstrated that they can strengthen memory in human patients by stimulating the entorhinal cortex. While studying patients with electrodes implanted in their brains, the researchers used a video game to test whether deep-brain stimul

Odor Processing Function of Fly Resembles Mammalian Brain

In an effort to better understand why fruit flies are immediately attracted to our food, a team of scientists developed a device, called Flywalk, to measure the response of insects to odor signals. Researchers discovered males and females of the same species were attracted to different odors and tha

Highly accurate blood test diagnoses Alzheimer’s disease, measures extent of dementia

Could help determine which patients are likely to benefit from new Alzheimer’s drugs. A newly developed blood test for Alzheimer’s disease not only aids in the diagnosis of the neurodegenerative condition but also indicates how far it has progressed, according to a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Lund University in Sweden.

Several blood tests for Alzheimer’s disease are already clinically available, including two based on technology licensed from WashU. Such tests help doctors diagnose the disease in people with cognitive symptoms, but do not indicate the clinical stage of the disease symptoms — that is, the degree of impairment in thinking or memory due to Alzheimer’s dementia. Current Alzheimer’s therapies are most effective in early stages of the disease, so having a relatively easy and reliable way to gauge how far the disease has progressed could help doctors determine which patients are likely to benefit from drug treatment and to what extent. The new test can also provide insight on whether a person’s symptoms are likely due to Alzheimer’s versus some other cause.

The study is published March 31 in Nature Medicine.

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