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Scientists Map the Entire Brain of a Fruit Fly

UC Santa Barbara neuroscientists have reconstructed the entire anterior visual pathway of a fruit fly, a complex series of connections between the insect's eyes and the navigation center of its brain. With the help of artificial intelligence and manual proofreading, systems biologist Sung Soo Kim's research group and collaborators worked out the relationships between more than 3,000 neurons with unprecedented detail.

9 Oct 2024

Scientists Successfully Map the Entire Fruit Fly Brain

A team of scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH)'s The BRAIN Initiative, including Davi Bock, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Neurological Sciences at UVM's Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine, recently made a substantial advancement in neurobiological research by successfully mapping the entire brain of Drosophila melanogaster, more commonly known as the fruit fly.

3 Oct 2024

New Tool START Enables Precision Mapping of Neuronal Connectivity

Scientists at the Salk Institute are unveiling a new brain-mapping neurotechnology called Single Transcriptome Assisted Rabies Tracing (START). The cutting-edge tool combines two advanced technologies-;monosynaptic rabies virus tracing and single-cell transcriptomics-;to map the brain's intricate neuronal connections with unparalleled precision.

1 Oct 2024

Two Alzheimer’s Genetic Risk Factors Trigger Harmful Inflammation in Females

Weill Cornell Medicine investigators have found that two genetic variants that confer high risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) together trigger a harmful inflammatory response in the brain's immune cells, particularly in females, in a preclinical model.

1 Oct 2024

How Classic Psychedelics Impact Brain Cell Dynamics and Anxiety

A classic psychedelic, similar to LSD, psilocybin and mescalin, was found to activate a cell type in the brain that silences other neighboring neurons, a result that provides insight into how such drugs reduce anxiety, according to a new study.

25 Sep 2024

EMBL Researchers Develop Novel Photoacoustic Probes to Monitor Brain Activity

To understand the brain better, we need new methods to observe its activity.

28 Aug 2024

Mitochondrial DNA 'Jumps' to Chromosomes, Potentially Impacting Lifespan

As direct descendants of ancient bacteria, mitochondria have always been a little alien.

23 Aug 2024

The Complex Link Between DNA Modification and ALS

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease which remains incurable. The disease is characterized by the selective degeneration of upper motor neurons in the motor cortex as well as the lower motor neurons in the brainstem and spinal cord. The cause of ALS remains unknown in 90 percent of cases, which are referred to as sporadic ALS because there is no family history for the disease. Cumulative evidence suggests that sporadic ALS may result from complex interactions between genetic susceptibility and aging.

23 Aug 2024

Enzyme Therapy Shows Promise for Parkinson's Disease

A preclinical investigation conducted by Weill Cornell Medicine researchers has shown an unexpectedly important role for an enzyme called PGK1 in the synthesis of chemical energy in brain cells.

22 Aug 2024

Spontaneous Brain Activity Drives Early Neural Circuit Formation

In humans, the process of learning is driven by different groups of cells in the brain firing together. For instance, when the neurons associated with the process of recognizing a dog begin to fire in a coordinated manner in response to the cells that encode the features of a dog -; four legs, fur, a tail, etc. -; a young child will eventually be able to identify dogs going forward. But brain wiring begins before humans are born, before they have experiences or senses like sight to guide this cellular circuitry. How does that happen?

16 Aug 2024

Lipid Accumulation Linked to Senescence in Dopaminergic Neurons

A new research perspective was published in Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as "Aging (Albany NY)" and "Aging-US" by Web of Science), Volume 16, Issue 14 on July 19, 2024, entitled, "Lipid accumulation drives cellular senescence in dopaminergic neurons."

14 Aug 2024

Deep-Learning Model Identifies Parkinson's Disease-Specific Neuroanatomical Features

A deep-learning-based contrastive approach to examine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans from Parkinson’s disease patients.

14 Aug 2024

Brain's Co-Rippling Activity Sheds Light on Consciousness

For many years, researchers have been concentrating on how the brain organizes information into hierarchical structures, with distinct regions of the brain designated for distinct functions.

13 Aug 2024

Rapid Parkinson's Model Opens Door to Personalized Treatments

Scientists at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a key member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, have created a model that swiftly transforms stem cells into brain cells exhibiting protein structures associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD).

30 Jul 2024

Innovative Model Creates Personalized Parkinson's Disease Brain Cells for Drug Testing

A new model developed by Brigham researchers rapidly converts stem cells to brain cells characteristic of Parkinson’s disease to create personalized stem cell models with opportunities to test treatments

29 Jul 2024

Kainate Receptors: A Potential Target for Novel Cerebellar Therapies

The Institute of Neurosciences (IN), a collaborative center of the Miguel Hernández University (UMH) of Elche and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) is leading a study in Tokyo, Japan, in conjunction with Keio University, which highlights the critical role one of the glutamate receptors plays in the proper functioning of the cerebellum's synapses.

11 Jul 2024

New Model Unveils Synaptic Mechanisms in Neurological Diseases

Newly released research from Colorado State University provides basic answers to questions regarding brain cellular connectivity that may be helpful in the development of therapies for neurological conditions like schizophrenia, epilepsy, and autism.

27 Jun 2024

Fruit Fly Motor Circuitry Revealed Through Advanced Mapping Techniques

Work is underway on a wiring diagram of the motor circuits in the central nervous system that control muscles in fruit flies.

27 Jun 2024

Small Molecule Restores TERT Levels to Combat Aging-Related Decline

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have demonstrated that therapeutically restoring 'youthful' levels of a specific subunit of the telomerase enzyme can significantly reduce the signs and symptoms of aging in preclinical models.

24 Jun 2024

Breakthrough Imaging Reveals the Dynamics of the Brain's Fast-Acting Kainate Receptor

New groundbreaking images of one of the brain's fastest-acting proteins are providing critical clues that may lead to the development of targeted therapies to treat epilepsy and other brain disorders.

18 Jun 2024