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cryo-EM images reveal proteins involved in brain activity

When the body continues to perform its daily biological processes neurotransmitters, regulate the level of electrical activity inside the brain.

18 Jun 2020

New protein design could help in drug discovery for Parkinson’s disease

The neurotransmitter dopamine plays a vital role in everything, starting from motor control to higher cognitive functions, arousal, motivation, sexual gratification, and reinforcement.

12 Jun 2020

Stem cell model sheds new light on neurodegeneration process

A new study published today in Neuron led by The New York Stem Cell Foundation Research Institute's Valentina Fossati, Ph.D., creates astrocytes - an integral support cell in the brain - from stem cells and shows that in disease-like environments, these normally helpful cells can turn into neuron-killers.

2 Jun 2020

Research identifies how neuronal transmission is disrupted in ALS

Patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, lose muscle control as nerve cells or neurons in the brain and spinal cord degenerate and can no longer send signals to muscles.

29 May 2020

Study highlights crucial role of immune-system molecule in Huntington's disease

More than a decade before people with Huntington's disease show symptoms, they can exhibit abnormally high levels of an immune-system molecule called interleukin-6 (IL-6), which has led many researchers to suspect IL-6 of promoting the eventual neurological devastation associated with the genetic condition.

28 May 2020

New head-mounted microscope allows access to inner workings of the brain

Scientists working at caesar have developed a small head-mounted microscope that allows access to the inner workings of the brain.

20 May 2020

Research shows how a fly’s brain learns to focus on more important odors

Quantitative biologists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSH) have discovered how the brain of a fly learns to focus on more significant odors by ignoring tremendously prevalent, ordinary ones.

12 May 2020

Molecular basis of rare neurodevelopmental condition reveals possible treatment

Like people, neurons need to talk to one another. But instead of turning thoughts into words, these cells convert electrical signals into chemical ones. For nearly 30 years, biochemist Edwin Chapman has studied how one protein triggers this crucial conversion.

4 May 2020

Study shows why cold sugary foods have reduced sweetness

Individuals would have often wondered why a bite of warm cherry pie infuses their mouth with sweetness, but the same slice taken directly from the refrigerator is not as tempting as before?

27 Apr 2020

Specialized Nerve Cells Increase The Appetite For High-Fat Foods

Researchers have discovered that a group of nerve cells promotes the consumption of high-fat food.

24 Apr 2020

Biophysicists uncover new features of molecular elevator

Biophysicists from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands have visualized a nearly complete transport cycle of the mammalian glutamate transporter homolog from archaea.

21 Apr 2020

Scents regulate fat metabolism without affecting feeding habits

Dr. Ayse Sena Mutlu, a postdoctoral fellow at Baylor's Huffington Center On Aging, had an intriguing question. Is it possible to change the body's fat storage without changing eating habits?

17 Apr 2020

UTSW researchers solve structure of key protein involved in muscle contraction

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have uncovered the detailed shape of a key protein involved in muscle contraction.

16 Apr 2020

New method images proteins in 3D with nanoscale resolution

A research team, which also included scientists from the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II), has reported a novel method for imaging proteins in three dimensions (3D) with nanoscale resolution.

16 Apr 2020

Novel high-speed microscope successfully records neural activities

Our brain contains tens of billions of nerve cells (neurons) which constantly communicate with each other by sending chemical and electrical flashes, each lasting a short one millisecond (0.001 sec). In every millisecond, these billions of swift-flying flashes altogether traveling in a giant star-map in the brain that lights up a tortuous glittering pattern.

15 Apr 2020