The nervous system is an organ system containing a network of specialized cells called neurons that coordinate the actions of an animal and transmit signals between different parts of its body. In most animals the nervous system consists of two parts, central and peripheral. The central nervous system contains the brain and spinal cord.
A recent genetic finding supports the theory that abnormal lipid (fat) transport pathways inside brain cells cause motor neuron degenerative disorders.
Researchers at the University of California San Diego and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have developed a tiny neural probe that can be implanted for longer time periods to record and stimulate neural activity, while minimizing injury to the surrounding tissue.
When genes mutate, serious diseases of the human nervous system can result. Scientists from Leipzig University and the University of Würzburg have now used fruit flies to show how, in addition to the negative impact, mutation of a neuronal gene can have a beneficial impact—higher IQ in humans.
North Carolina State University researchers have shown that neuron-like cells produced from human stem cells may be used to examine alterations in the neurological system linked to addiction.
Squid, octopus, and cuttlefish – even to scientists who study them – are wonderfully weird creatures. Known as the soft-bodied or coleoid cephalopods, they have the largest nervous system of any invertebrate, complex behaviors such as instantaneous camouflage, arms studded with dexterous suckers, and other evolutionarily unique traits.
TPCs (two-pore channels) are old ion channels found in both animal and plant cells. These ion channels serve key roles in biological activity in numerous tissues in animals, including humans, like the brain and nervous system.
A new cause of severe childhood brain cancer has been discovered by scientists.
All animals require proteins, carbohydrates, and fats to survive. However, dietary differences between species, populations, and individuals can be significant.
The in-built mechanism of recycling dead or poisonous material to preserve the health of human cells is critical to general health.
The central nervous system (CNS) consists of several types of cells having varied specialized functions.
If we want to enhance our knowledge and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, we need to identify genetic risk factors.
The nervous system is made up of diverse cells that arise from progenitors in a specific time-dependent pattern.
An international team of investigators, including several researchers in biological sciences from the U of A, have published a paper that reports the discovery of a developmental gene linked to touch in the tentacles of sea anemones as well as hearing in humans.
CHARGE syndrome, which affects approximately one in 10,000 newborns worldwide, is associated with neurological and behavioral conditions like intellectual disability, attention deficit disorder, convulsions, and autism.
Scientists at UT Southwestern have discovered a four-protein complex that seems to play a significant function in the formation of ribosomes, which serve as protein factories for cells, as well as a surprise role in neurodevelopmental diseases.
The brain is composed of billions of neurons-; vulnerable cells that require a protective environment to function properly.
New research may help scientists locate immature cells in the central nervous system that could shed light on the causes of neurodegenerative diseases like multiple sclerosis-;and autoimmune disease that affects the brain and nervous system-;and allow for the development of better therapeutic treatments.
One epigenetic factor as well as one organic anion transporter (OAT1), whose function in the nervous system was hitherto unknown, contribute to the development of chronic pain.
Researchers have found that a human receptor protein can identify individual amino acids in just the similar way that bacteria do.
Scientists from two independent research teams have discovered how the mislocalization of a protein, known as TDP-43, alters the genetic instructions for UNC13A, providing a possible therapeutic target that could also have implications in treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and other forms of dementia.