Optimized over millions of years of evolution, our circadian rhythms are responsible for the adaptation of our bodies to cycles of light and dark. One need only experience a bout of jet-lag to appreciate how we re-synchronize various bodily functions to a new time zone. However, while the overall effects of these circadian activities have…
Insulin Beta Cells Created from Stem Cells
Scientists have extracted stem cells from a 50-year-old test subject’s fatty tissue and applied genetic reprogramming to make them mature into functional beta cells. The feat brings them a step closer to a personalized repair kit for diabetes. In the presence of glucose, the beta cells generated using this “genetic software” produce the hormone insulin—just…
Hippocampus Neurons Adapt To Stress With Epigenetic Modifications
Stress is a major burden in many people’s lives affecting their health and wellbeing. New research led by the University of Bristol has found that genes in the brain that play a crucial role in behavioural adaptation to stressful challenges are controlled by epigenetic mechanisms. Adaptation to stress is known to require changes in the…
Glial Cells Shape Our Nerves In Unexpected Ways
More than half of our brains are made up of glial cells, which wrap around nerve fibers and insulate them. In a manner similar to how the plastic casing of an electric cable insulates the copper wire within, these cells allow electrical and chemical impulses to travel faster. In the past, neuroscientists considered the glial…
Giant Mammalian Synapses Cultured for Memory Studies
How does thinking work in the biochemistry of the brain? And what about movement, or memory? One key element to understanding all these brain functions are the synapses. A synapse is the contact point between two neurons, where a signal is transmitted one way, from one neuron to another. Specifically, from the pre-synaptic part of…
Does Visual Cortex Neuron Feedback Let The Brain Fool Us?
Seeing something that is not actually there might be your brain responding to feedback between neurons in different parts of the visual system, according to new research. Understanding this feedback system could provide new insight into the visual system’s neuronal circuitry and could have further implications for understanding how the brain interprets and understands sensory…
Repeated Play Reduces Video Games’ Ability to Elicit Guilt
Video games are more and more realistic. So realistic, in fact, that research has consistently found that gamers feel guilty committing unjustified acts of violence within the game. Now, a study suggests the moral response produced by the initial exposure to a video game decreases as experience with the game develops. The findings provide the…
Neurotrophic Factor Receptor Guards Path To Cold Allodynia
Cold allodynia is sensitized pain from normally mild skin temperatures in the affected area. Inflammation following an injury or as a result of disease can heighten pain response to cold, just as it can for pressure and heat sensitivity. Now, researchers at University of Southern California Dornsife have found that increased sensitivity to cold-related pain…
Acetaminophen May Block Brain’s Error Detection Ability
It’s been known for more than a century that acetaminophen is an effective painkiller, but it could also be impeding error-detection in the brain, according to a new University of Toronto study. The research, authored by a team including postdoctoral fellow Dan Randles and researchers from the University of British Columbia, is the first neurological…