A new experiment suggests that the thalamus plays a key role in humans becoming consciously aware of stimuli their brain receives.
Category: neuroscience – Page 123
Scientists reveal cilia’s secrets using connectome data
Many cells in our body have a single primary cilium, a micrometer-long, hair-like organelle protruding from the cell surface that transmits cellular signals. Cilia are important for regulating cellular processes, but because of their small size and number, it has been difficult for scientists to explore cilia in brain cells with traditional techniques, leaving their organization and function unclear.
In a new series of work, researchers at HHMI’s Janelia Research Campus, the Allen Institute, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, and Harvard Medical School used super high-resolution 3D electron microscopy images of mouse brain tissue generated for creating connectomes to get the best look yet at primary cilia.
How does your brain create new memories? Neuroscientists discover ‘rules’ for how neurons encode new information
Every day, people are constantly learning and forming new memories. When you pick up a new hobby, try a recipe a friend recommended or read the latest world news, your brain stores many of these memories for years or decades.
But how does your brain achieve this incredible feat?
In our newly published research in the journal Science, we have identified some of the “rules” the brain uses to learn.
New insight into how the human motor cortex encodes complex handwriting
Compared to other animal species, humans can plan and execute highly sophisticated motor tasks, including the ability to write complex characters using their hands. While many past studies have tried to better understand the neural underpinnings of handwriting and other complex human motor capabilities, these have not yet been fully elucidated.
Past studies showed that the motor cortex plays a crucial role in the human ability to translate intentions into actions. Yet the processes via which it enables the execution of precise and sequential movements, such as those associated with handwriting, are poorly understood.
Researchers at Zhejiang University in China recently carried out a study aimed at further exploring the role of the human motor cortex in the encoding of intricate handwriting, such as Chinese characters. Their findings, published in Nature Human Behavior, suggest that this encoding unfolds via a sequence of stable neural states.
SERTM2: a neuroactive player in the world of micropeptides
We characterized the 3’ end sequence of the lncMN3 transcript using rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) and we confirmed the existence of the annotated isoform (Appendix Fig. S1A).
The analysis of the expression profile of lncMN3 during mESCs in vitro differentiation to MNs indicated that while it is not expressed in mESCs, it starts to be present in embryoid bodies at day 5 (EB5), reaches its maximum in EBs at day 6 (EB6) and decreases in the mixed population containing MNs (DIV3) obtained after cells dissociation (Fig. 1B). The observed decrease in expression is probably caused by a dilution effect due to the experimental protocol used for MN differentiation (Wichterle and Peljto, 2008) rather than to a real down-regulation. In fact, the MN population obtained upon EBs dissociation accounts for 40% of the mixed neural cell population; moreover, in contrast to the mixed population which continues to divide, MNs are postmitotic cells and their amount is diluted as differentiation proceeds (Capauto et al, 2018).
