Plants use certain color pigments in order to convert light into energy by way of photosynthesis. They allow plants to gather light energy. This also works in a similar way for microbes, for instance cyanobacteria. The fact that a very large number of viruses are able to contribute towards pigment production has now been demonstrated…
Do Cancer Cells Synthesize The Parts For New Cells?
Cancer cells are defined by their ability for uncontrolled growth, one cell quickly becoming two, and two becoming many. Gary Patti, associate professor of chemistry at Washington University in St. Louis, says: “It’s a fascinating process. Imagine creating two copies of yourself every few days, instead of just maintaining the one you have. In the…
What Are Mirror Neurons?
A mirror neuron is a neuron that fires both when an animal acts and when the animal observes the same action performed by another. Thus, the neuron “mirrors” the behavior of the other, as though the observer were itself acting. Such neurons have been directly observed in primate species. Birds have been shown to have…
Veterans With PTSD Show Brain Changes After Mindfulness Training
Bad memories and thoughts can keep playing over and over in the minds of people with post-traumatic stress disorder, like an endlessly repeating video loop. They barge in at the quietest of moments. And they don’t seem to have any off switch. But a new study in veterans with PTSD shows the promise of mindfulness…
Aging Curtails Post Spinal Cord Injury Axon Regeneration
Older Americans are increasingly active, and this lifestyle shift has contributed to the rise in average age of a person experiencing a spinal cord injury. The changing demographic calls for a clearer picture of how aging impacts recovery and repair after a spinal cord injury. Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine…
Divergent Amygdala Circuits In Positive And Negative Memory Recall
Some mental illnesses may stem, in part, from the brain’s inability to correctly assign emotional associations to events. For example, people who are depressed often do not feel happy even when experiencing something that they normally enjoy. A new study from MIT reveals how two populations of neurons in the brain contribute to this process.…
Found: Missing Link Between Memory Loss And Tau Protein
Scientists have long known that the protein tau is involved in dementia, but how it hinders cognitive function has remained uncertain. In a new study, researchers at the Gladstone Institutes reveal how tau disrupts the ability of brain cells to strengthen connections with other brain cells, preventing new memories from forming. Said senior author Li…
The Hypothalamus Is Vital To Blood Glucose Metabolism
To learn what different cells do, scientists switch them on and off and observe what the effects are. There are many methods that do this, but they all have problems: too invasive, or too slow, or not precise enough. A new method to control the activity of neurons in mice, devised by scientists at Rockefeller…
Right Hemisphere May Predict Post-stroke Aphasia Recovery
Observing structures in the right side of the brain may help predict who will better recover from language difficulties following a stroke, new research suggests. The brain is divided into two hemispheres, the right and the left. The left side is dominant in language and speech-motor functions in most people, so when it is damaged…