Latest Inhibitory postsynaptic potential Stories
They show how embryonic origin and timing influence cell specification and network integration The cerebral cortex of the human brain has been called "the crowning achievement of evolution." Ironically, it is so complex that even our greatest minds and most sophisticated science are only now beginning to understand how it organizes itself in early development, and how its many cell types function together as circuits. A major step toward this great goal in neuroscience has been taken by...
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital have identified commensal bacteria in the human intestine that produce a neurotransmitter that may play a role in preventing or treating inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease. "We identified, to our knowledge, the first bifidobacterial strain, Bifidobacterium dentium, that is capable of secreting large amounts of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). This molecule is a major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the...
New research by scientists at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine may have pinpointed an underlying cause of the seizures that affect 90 percent of people with Angelman syndrome (AS), a neurodevelopmental disorder. Published online Thursday June 7, 2012 in the journal Neuron, researchers led by Benjamin D. Philpot, PhD, professor of cell and molecular physiology at UNC, describe how seizures in individuals with AS could be linked to an imbalance in the activity of specific...
Use of transplanted induced pluripotent stem cells could lead to new treatments for HD Researchers from South Korea, Sweden, and the United States have collaborated on a project to restore neuron function to parts of the brain damaged by Huntington’s disease (HD) by successfully transplanting HD-induced pluripotent stem cells into animal models. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be genetically engineered from human somatic cells such as skin, and can be used to model numerous...
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., May 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers from South Korea, Sweden, and the United States have collaborated on a project to restore neuron function to parts of the brain damaged by Huntington's disease (HD) by successfully transplanting HD-induced pluripotent stem cells into animal models. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can be genetically engineered from human somatic cells such as skin, and can be used to model numerous human diseases. They may also...
New insight into the mechanisms that enable us to remember events precisely Scientists now have a better understanding of how precise memories are formed thanks to research led by Prof. Jean-Claude Lacaille of the University of Montreal's Department of Physiology. "In terms of human applications, these findings could help us to better understand memory impairments in neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's disease," Lacaille said. The study looks at the cells in our brains, or...
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Fortunately, this is not always true. Researchers at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN-KNAW) have now discovered how the adult brain can adapt to new situations. Their study may be significant in the treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders such as epilepsy, autism and schizophrenia. Ability to learn Our brain processes information in complex networks of nerve cells. The cells communicate and excite one another through...
No matter what novel objects we come to behold, our brains effortlessly take us from an initial "What's that?" to "Oh, that old thing" after a few casual encounters. In research that helps shed light on the malleability of this recognition process, Brown University neuroscientists have teased apart the potentially different roles that two distinct cell types may play. In a study published in the journal Neuron, the researchers document that this kind of learning is based in the inferior...
Researchers identify the novel expression of an ion channel in neurons of the brain Research at the University of Calgary's Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) has demonstrated the novel expression of an ion channel in Purkinje cells – specialized neurons in the cerebellum, the area of the brain responsible for movement. Ray W. Turner, PhD, Professor in the Department of Cell Biology & Anatomy and PhD student Jordan Engbers and colleagues published this finding in the January edition of...
Quite early in its development, the mammalian brain has all the raw materials on hand to forge complex neural networks. But forming the connections that make these intricate networks so exquisitely functional is a process that occurs one synapse at a time. An important question for neuroscience has been: how exactly do stable synapses form? How do nerve cells of particular types know which of their cortical neighbors to "synapse" with, and which to leave out of their emerging networks?...
