Nature

Brain Basics Neuro Primer 

Neuro Primer: Cerebral Organoids

June 27, 2018April 18, 2019 Caitlin Aamodt 3 Comments Biology, Brains in a dish, Cell, Cell cultures, Cell signaling, Cells, Chimeras, Microcephaly, Nature, Neuroscience, Organoids, Rodent, Rodents, Sentience, Zika, Zika virus

t may sound like something Dr. Frankenstein himself would be envious of, but scientists can now create miniature “brain” organoids in a dish.… Read more

Did You Know? Sensation and Perception Weird Animal Brain 

Weird Animal Brain: Leaf Sheep Sea Slug

November 27, 2017December 18, 2017 Kayleen Schreiber 0 Comments Infographic, Knowing Neurons, Nature, Perception, Weird Animal Brain

Remember photosynthesis: How plants capture energy from the sun. Chloroplasts (the green parts of leaves) are where the sun’s energy is captured.… Read more

Did You Know? Movement Weird Animal Brain 

Weird Animal Brain: Woodpecker

October 2, 2017September 29, 2017 Kayleen Schreiber 0 Comments Brain, Brain Injury, Infographic, Knowing Neurons, Nature, Neuroscience, Prefrontal Cortex, Research, Science, TBI, Traumatic brain injury

Brain damage is a major concern for us humans – car accidents, football, falling backwards. It’s pretty easy to cause a concussion. Woodpeckers, however, pound away daily using much more… Read more

Did You Know? Sensation and Perception Weird Animal Brain 

Weird Animal Brain: Fly

August 7, 2017August 7, 2017 Kayleen Schreiber 1 Comment Brain, Drosophila, Fact, Infographic, Knowing Neurons, Nature, Neuron, Neurons, Neuroscience, Perception, Receptor, Science, Smell, Synapse, taste

Fly lips are called labellum and fly feet are called tarsi. Both the labellum and tarsi contain taste receptors which help the fly find food. Think about that the next… Read more

Did You Know? Sensation and Perception Weird Animal Brain 

Weird Animal Brain: Brittle Star

July 24, 2017July 23, 2017 Kayleen Schreiber 2 Comments Brain, Color, Fact, Infographic, Knowing Neurons, Learning, Nature, Neuron, Neurons, Neuroscience, Perception, Research, Science, Vision

Brittle stars are covered in protective outer plates, but they also have another structure of internal plates. A particular species of brittle star seems to be able to use these… Read more

Did You Know? Uncategorized Weird Animal Brain 

Weird Animal Brain: Moth

July 10, 2017July 9, 2017 Kayleen Schreiber 0 Comments Antenna, Brain, Fact, Infographic, Knowing Neurons, Nature, Neuron, Neurons, Perception, Science, Smell

These beautiful little creatures are incredibly skilled at sniffing out mates. The pheromone the females release is called bombykol. Scientists are on the hunt for exactly how this pheromone activates… Read more

Aging Did You Know? Learning and Memory Movement Neuro News 

Bite-size Science: Epigenetics help protect the aging brain

June 19, 2017June 30, 2017 Kayleen Schreiber 4 Comments Alzheimer’s disease, Brain, Cortex, DNA, Epigenetics, gene, Genetics, Infographic, Knowing Neurons, Learning, Memory, Nature, Nature Neuroscience, Neurodegeneration, Neuron, Neurons, Neuroscience, Prefrontal Cortex, Receptor, Research, Science

Epigenetics change which genes are active and which are inactive. Research over the past few years has shown that these changes are important for protecting the brain from neurodegeneration and… Read more

Big Ideas Consciousness Philosophy 

Is there Consciousness in Everything?

June 7, 2017June 30, 2017 Philip Geoff 3 Comments Aeon, Consciousness, Intrinsic, Nature, panpsychism, philosophy

Common sense tells us that only living things have an inner life. Rabbits and tigers and mice have feelings, sensations and experiences; tables and rocks and molecules do not. Panpsychists… Read more

Movement Neuro News SfN 2014 

Smooth Move: How GABAergic Interneurons Regulate Skilled Motor Behavior

November 16, 2014March 5, 2017 Jillian L. Shaw 2 Comments Afferent Sensory Neurons, Alex Honnold, Efferent Motor Neurons, GABA, GABAergic neurons, GAD2, inhibitory, Interneuron, Microcircuit, motor neuron, Nature, Oscillation, Presynaptic inhibition, Proprioception, SfN14, Spinal cord, Thomas Jessel

In early 2014, the American free-solo rock climber Alex Honnold climbed 2,500 feet of limestone without ropes.  The demanding route called El Sendero Luminoso in El Potrero Chico, Mexico required… Read more

Neuro News Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders 

Decoding the Brain’s “Low Fuel” Signal

May 14, 2014March 5, 2017 Anita 0 Comments Blood-brain barrier, Capillary pericytes regulate cerebral blood flow in health and disease., Catherine Hall, Cerebral blood flow, David Attwell, Ischemic stroke, Nature, Nature 2014, neurovascular unit, No-reflow phenomenon, pericytes, Vasodilation

The human body is an efficient model to explore the popular theory of supply and demand.  When you physically exert yourself, your bioenergetic “supply” is down, so you feel hungrier… Read more

Brain Basics Did You Know? Learning and Memory 

Resolving New Memories: Adult Neurogenesis

February 5, 2014March 5, 2017 Ryan Jones 3 Comments 1998, 2012, Adult neurogenesis, behavioral pattern separation, Cell, contextual fear conditioning, Dentate gyrus, Eriksson, Fred Gage, Hippocampus, Learning, Memory, Memory pattern separation, Nakashiba, Nature, Nature Medicine, Neural progenitor cell, Pattern separation, Susumo Tonegawa, van Praag

When I was young, my family lived in an old farmhouse.  It was cozy and had a lot of character but, at over 150 years old, it showed its age.… Read more

Neuro News Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders Neuroscience Technologies 

Chromosome Silencing: Turning Off Genes in Down Syndrome

October 22, 2013March 5, 2017 Jillian L. Shaw 0 Comments 2013, Amyloid precursor protein, beta-amyloid plaque, Chromosome 21, Chromosome inactivation, Down syndrome, Gene silencing, heterochromatin modifications, Jiang, Nature, Pearl, Translating dosage compensation to trisomy 21, X-inactivation gene, XIST, ZFN, zinc finger nuclease

Close your eyes and try to imagine medical treatment in the future.  I envision sophisticated robots wielding lasers that precisely eliminate deadly tumors.  I predict that insight from genome wide… Read more