Neuroscience posts from This Month
- February 13, 2012
- 08:19 AM
- 9 views
Neurons tuned like the strings of a harp
by TheCellularScale in The Cellular Scale
The auditory brainstem of the boring-old-chicken is actually home to some fascinating neurons.Key West rooster, taken by me.The Nucleus Laminaris (NL) is a group of coincidence-detecting neurons which receive indirect input from both ears and is located in the bird auditory brainstem. NL neurons show a peculiar dendrite pattern. These bipolar neurons fall into the particular category of football shaped cells which have dendrites coming out the top and bottom of their cell bo........ Read more »
Smith DJ, & Rubel EW. (1979) Organization and development of brain stem auditory nuclei of the chicken: dendritic gradients in nucleus laminaris. The Journal of comparative neurology, 186(2), 213-39. PMID: 447882
- February 13, 2012
- 07:00 AM
- 8 views
February 13, 2012
by Erin Campbell in HighMag Blog
Our nervous system would be in trouble without myelin sheaths and nodes of Ranvier. No, those two things do not refer to some kind of Lord of the Rings-type silliness. They are very important components of our nervous system that ensure fast and efficient signal conduction.Myelin sheaths are membranes that insulate the axons of many neurons. Myelin sheaths have distinct domains of ion channels and proteins, such as the nodes of Ranvier, along the axon that are required for the high speed and ........ Read more »
Ivanovic, A., Horresh, I., Golan, N., Spiegel, I., Sabanay, H., Frechter, S., Ohno, S., Terada, N., Mobius, W., Rosenbluth, J.... (2012) The cytoskeletal adapter protein 4.1G organizes the internodes in peripheral myelinated nerves. originally published in the Journal of Cell Biology, 196(3), 337-344. DOI: 10.1083/jcb.201111127
- February 13, 2012
- 12:12 AM
- 28 views
Just ONE Copy of The Daily Mail Could Ruin Your Life
by Neurobonkers in Neurobonkers
A comprehensive debunking of the Daily Mail's reporting of science.... Read more »
The Poynter Institute. (2006) Eyetracking the news. A study of print and online reading. Poynter. info:/
- February 12, 2012
- 03:28 PM
- 38 views
Big Brains in Evolutionary History
by Matt & Cris in Originus
In 1985 I visited the Soviet Union with a small group of Austrian tourists (I was studying in Vienna at …Continue reading »... Read more »
Gross, C. (1993) Huxley versus Owen: the hippocampus minor and evolution. Trends in Neurosciences, 16(12), 493-498. DOI: 10.1016/0166-2236(93)90190-W
- February 12, 2012
- 01:30 PM
- 18 views
The Role of experience in flight behaviour of Drosophila
by Sathishk in neuro JC
This study illustrates the requirement of training and exercise in executing successful fine motor skills in the invertebrates.Fruit fly Drosophila groups reared and grown in two different fly chambers ,one allows free flight movement and other restricted flight movement were tested for various flight kinematics in free flight arena and tethered flight simulator.Overall performance [...]... Read more »
Hesselberg, T., & Lehmann, F. (2009) The role of experience in flight behaviour of Drosophila. Journal of Experimental Biology, 212(20), 3377-3386. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.025221
- February 12, 2012
- 01:21 PM
- 25 views
Cell Phone Use and Risk of Brain Cancer
by William Yates, M.D. in Brain Posts
In my last post I examined the epidemiology of brain tumors using a summary of the latest data from the United States. The summary noted the slight decline in the number of malignant brain cancers over the last twenty years.One area of concern that is receiving increased attention is the potential for cell phone risk to raise the risk of brain cancers.Obviously if cell phone use was a very large effect one might have expected an increase in the rates of brain tumors and cancer over th........ Read more »
Frei, P., Poulsen, A., Johansen, C., Olsen, J., Steding-Jessen, M., & Schuz, J. (2011) Use of mobile phones and risk of brain tumours: update of Danish cohort study. BMJ, 343(oct19 4). DOI: 10.1136/bmj.d6387
- February 10, 2012
- 03:06 PM
- 1 view
Wrap your brain around precursor cells
by Erin Campbell in the Node
A fully differentiated cell took a fascinating journey to become its present self. For every cell, a precursor cell existed that gave rise to it. And for every precursor cell, a stem cell existed that gave rise to it. Understanding precursor cells is an important part in understanding stem cell biology. Today’s image is from [...]... Read more »
Mairet-Coello, G., Tury, A., Van Buskirk, E., Robinson, K., Genestine, M., & DiCicco-Bloom, E. (2012) p57KIP2 regulates radial glia and intermediate precursor cell cycle dynamics and lower layer neurogenesis in developing cerebral cortex. Development, 139(3), 475-487. DOI: 10.1242/dev.067314
- February 9, 2012
- 09:42 AM
- 47 views
LTP and LTD at the same time? Adventures in Functional Compartmentalization
by TheCellularScale in The Cellular Scale
On Monday we talked about LTP and LTD on a basic level, today we are discussing how they interact with each other. In a recent Open Access paper, Pavlowsky and Alarcon ask the question: Can some synapses on a neuron strengthen while at the same time others weaken? And if so, how do the two processes interact with each other? neurons firing (source)First let's get some background. Synapse strengthening (LTP) and synapse weakening (LTD) both require new proteins to be synthesized........ Read more »
Pavlowsky A, & Alarcon JM. (2012) Interaction between Long-Term Potentiation and Depression in CA1 Synapses: Temporal Constrains, Functional Compartmentalization and Protein Synthesis. PloS one, 7(1). PMID: 22272255
- February 9, 2012
- 05:36 AM
- 66 views
Why parkin has scientists backing the future of Parkinson's research
by Andrew Watt in A Hippo on Campus
Back in the '80s the name Michael J. Fox was more or less interchangeable with that of Marty McFly, the effortlessly cool protagonist from the Back to the Future trilogy who introduced an entire generation of kids to hoverboards, self-lacing shoes and flux capacitors. Not to mention 'Johnny B Goode'. These days however Fox's name is more likely to have us thinking of his fight with Parkinson's disease, which he was diagnosed with back in 1991, or the advocacy work he does for his ........ Read more »
Obeso JA, Rodríguez-Oroz MC, Benitez-Temino B, Blesa FJ, Guridi J, Marin C, & Rodriguez M. (2008) Functional organization of the basal ganglia: therapeutic implications for Parkinson's disease. Movement disorders : official journal of the Movement Disorder Society. PMID: 18781672
- February 9, 2012
- 12:02 AM
- 55 views
Baseline Neurocognitive Test Performance and Symptoms may be Influenced by Depression
by Jane McDevitt in Sports Medicine Research (SMR): In the Lab & In the Field
The objective of this study was to examine depression and baseline neurocognitive function and concussion symptoms in male and female high school and college athletes.... Read more »
Covassin T, Elbin RJ 3rd, Larson E, & Kontos AP. (2012) Sex and Age Differences in Depression and Baseline Sport-Related Concussion Neurocognitive Performance and Symptoms. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. PMID: 22246342
- February 8, 2012
- 03:33 AM
- 75 views
Visualizing The Connected Brain
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
So it seems as though the "connectome" is the latest big thing in neuroscience. This is the brain's wiring diagram, in terms of the connections between neurons and on a larger scale, between brain regions.We certainly won't understand the brain without getting to grips with the connections but equally, it's not the whole story. I previously emphasised that the brain is not made of soup; it's not made of spaghetti, either.Connectomics does however unquestionably provide some of the prettiest imag........ Read more »
Irimia A, Chambers MC, Torgerson CM, & Van Horn JD. (2012) Circular representation of human cortical networks for subject and population-level connectomic visualization. NeuroImage. PMID: 22305988
- February 8, 2012
- 02:07 AM
- 41 views
a human and a monkey walk into an fMRI scanner…
by Tal Yarkoni in citation needed
Tor Wager and I have a “news and views” piece in Nature Methods this week; we discuss a paper by Mantini and colleagues (in the same issue) introducing a new method for identifying functional brain homologies across different species–essentially, identifying brain regions in humans and monkeys that seem to do roughly the same thing even if they’re [...]... Read more »
Mantini D, Hasson U, Betti V, Perrucci MG, Romani GL, Corbetta M, Orban GA, & Vanduffel W. (2012) Interspecies activity correlations reveal functional correspondence between monkey and human brain areas. Nature methods. PMID: 22306809
Wager, T., & Yarkoni, T. (2012) Establishing homology between monkey and human brains. Nature Methods. DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.1869
- February 8, 2012
- 01:13 AM
- 33 views
Deaf hearing
by Janet Kwasniak in Thoughts on thoughts
A recent paper examined a patient with deaf-hearing, analogous to blind-sight, where there can be detection of a signal without conscious awareness of it. (citation below) For example, a person with blind-sight may avoid an obstacle without awareness of it; and, a deaf-hearing person may be startled and orient towards a noise without consciously hearing [...]... Read more »
Cavinato, M., Rigon, J., Volpato, C., Semenza, C., & Piccione, F. (2012) Preservation of Auditory P300-Like Potentials in Cortical Deafness. PLoS ONE, 7(1). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029909
- February 7, 2012
- 09:10 AM
- 58 views
Military Use of Neuroscience Should Be Regulated, Report Warns
by Jaime Menchen in United Academics
tDCS is a form of neurostimulation that, in the case of the research mentioned above, led to a better detection of concealed objects, based on the fact that the brain detects things before the subject is consciously aware of them. The results also showed that it may improve learning abilities, thus decreasing “the time required to attain expertise in a variety of settings,” according to the study.... Read more »
Clark, V., Coffman, B., Mayer, A., Weisend, M., Lane, T., Calhoun, V., Raybourn, E., Garcia, C., & Wassermann, E. (2012) TDCS guided using fMRI significantly accelerates learning to identify concealed objects. NeuroImage, 59(1), 117-128. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.11.036
- February 6, 2012
- 08:44 AM
- 80 views
the synapse: where the magic happens
by TheCellularScale in The Cellular Scale
What is a synapse?The synapse is the junction between two neurons, usually between an axon, which gives the signal, and a dendrite, which receives the signal. This meeting of neurons is absolutely essential to how the brain works. It is where the information gets passed on from one neuron to the next. The 'magic' at the synapseWhen someone talks about neuronal pathways being strengthened, they usually mean a strengthening of this synaptic connection. ........ Read more »
Bliss TV, & Lomo T. (1973) Long-lasting potentiation of synaptic transmission in the dentate area of the anaesthetized rabbit following stimulation of the perforant path. The Journal of physiology, 232(2), 331-56. PMID: 4727084
Lømo T. (2003) The discovery of long-term potentiation. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences, 358(1432), 617-20. PMID: 12740104
- February 5, 2012
- 04:32 AM
- 64 views
Psychiatry's True Blood? Pt 1.
by Neuroskeptic in Neuroskeptic
Imagine that there was a blood test that could detect depression. Wouldn't that be useful?It depends.Ridge Diagnostics are a US company who offer such a test. They've just published some results of the technology in Molecular Psychiatry. In two samples of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), they report differences in the"MDDScore", between the patients and healthy controls.The MDDScore is an aggregate value, calculated from the levels of 9 metabolites in blood serum. They're all well-........ Read more »
Papakostas, G., Shelton, R., Kinrys, G., Henry, M., Bakow, B., Lipkin, S., Pi, B., Thurmond, L., & Bilello, J. (2011) Assessment of a multi-assay, serum-based biological diagnostic test for major depressive disorder: a Pilot and Replication Study. Molecular Psychiatry. DOI: 10.1038/mp.2011.166
- February 4, 2012
- 09:47 AM
- 59 views
Critical role for protein kinase A in the acquisition of gregarious behavior in the desert locust
by Björn Brembs in neuro JC
Posted on behalf of Hans-Joachim Pflüger:
In the article by Ott et al. the role of two protein kinases (PK) in the population density dependent transition from solitarious to gregarious animals is investigated. Only gregarious locusts form large swarms that are harmful for agriculture. The foraging gene product, a cGMP-dependent PK (PKG), implicated in foraging, and [...]... Read more »
Ott, S., Verlinden, H., Rogers, S., Brighton, C., Quah, P., Vleugels, R., Verdonck, R., & Vanden Broeck, J. (2011) Critical role for protein kinase A in the acquisition of gregarious behavior in the desert locust. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1114990109
- February 3, 2012
- 02:05 AM
- 74 views
A gene for trauma
by Suzanne Elvidge in Genome Engineering
Why do some people go through some really traumatic experiences and emerge unscathed, and others end up traumatised? It might be down to coping strategies, but genes might influence it too, according to research from Rutgers University.... Read more »
Martel, G., Hevi, C., Wong, A., Zushida, K., Uchida, S., & Shumyatsky, G. (2012) Murine GRPR and Stathmin Control in Opposite Directions both Cued Fear Extinction and Neural Activities of the Amygdala and Prefrontal Cortex. PLoS ONE, 7(2). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0030942
- February 2, 2012
- 09:17 AM
- 95 views
You can't trust your receptors: Smell
by TheCellularScale in The Cellular Scale
Food smells better when you're hungry, right? This is a common phenomenon that everyone I've ever talked to on the subject has experienced. For a long time, I assumed that the entire process underlying this phenomenon is in the brain proper, and not in the olfactory epithelium (that is, the smell receptors themselves). However, a study on the adorable (and totally weird) salamander known as the 'Axolotl' suggests that the brain proper can actually modulate how sensitive thos........ Read more »
Mousley A, Polese G, Marks NJ, & Eisthen HL. (2006) Terminal nerve-derived neuropeptide y modulates physiological responses in the olfactory epithelium of hungry axolotls (Ambystoma mexicanum). The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 26(29), 7707-17. PMID: 16855098
- February 2, 2012
- 12:04 AM
- 59 views
Effects of Limb Immobilization on the Brain
by Stephen Thomas in Sports Medicine Research (SMR): In the Lab & In the Field
Therefore, Langer et al. longitudinally examined the structural changes of the gray and white matter of the brain in 10 patients receiving unilateral upper limb immobilization of their dominant (right) arm for at least 14 days.... Read more »
Langer N, Hänggi J, Müller NA, Simmen HP, & Jäncke L. (2012) Effects of limb immobilization on brain plasticity. Neurology, 78(3), 182-8. PMID: 22249495
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