Brain

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Developmental Biology (CDB) in Japan have developed a way to obtain super-resolution 3-D images of delicate structures deep in the brain. Published in Cell Reports, the work describes a new process for making brain tissue transparent that outperforms other methods and allows extremely detailed imaging of tiny but important structures within neurons.

Evidence of grid cell activity has been seen in healthy volunteers asked to imagine moving through an environment in new UCL (University College London) research funded by the Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust.

The study, published in Current Biology, used fMRI scans to detect brain activity consistent with grid cell activity in the entorhinal cortex, an important 'hub' for navigation and memory.

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology unveiled a novel video-editing solution this week that automatically sorts and edits untouched footage into the most picturesque highlights for a vacation reel that could fill anyone with envy.

A group of the Lomonosov Moscow State University scientists, together with their colleagues from the Institute of Molecular Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences and the King's College London, succeeded in sorting out the mechanism of Alzheimer's disease development and possibly distinguished its key trigger. Their article was published in Scientific Reports.

Rustling leaves, a creaking branch: To a mouse, these sensory impressions may at first seem harmless -- but not if a cat suddenly bursts out of the bush. If so, they were clues of impending life-threatening danger. Robert Gütig of the Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine in Göttingen has now found how the brain can link sensory perceptions to events occurring after a delay. In a computer model, he has developed a learning procedure in which the model neurons can learn to distinguish between many different stimuli by adjusting their activity to the frequency of the cues.

The study did not find a significant benefit in broad cognitive function (the study primary endpoint). Cognitive decline over the study period was less than originally expected when it was designed ten years ago, so differences found between the two groups were too small to be statistically significant. Project coordinator Professor Tobias Hartmann, Saarland University Germany, explained that this is the most likely reason the primary endpoint was not met.

Having a small brain may provide immune benefits, at least if you are a guppy. A new study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society shows that guppies with smaller brains have stronger immune responses than guppies with larger brains.

We do not merely recognize objects - our brain is so good at this task that we can automatically supply the concept of a cup when shown a photo of a curved handle or identify a face from just an ear or nose. Neurobiologists, computer scientists, and robotics engineers are all interested in understanding how such recognition works - in both human and computer vision systems.

People suffering from anxiety perceive the world in a fundamentally different way than others, according to a study reported in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on March 3. The research may help explain why certain people are more prone to anxiety.

• The ability to make simple reaching motions or drive a car depends on the brains ability to guide action in a region of the brain called cerebellum.
• When the interaction of the cells within the cerebellum is disrupted, people experience fundamental disturbances in their motor function, making these simple actions difficult, or even impossible.
• The process of improving motor skills through practice is called motor learning and it is regulated by complex neuronal signaling within cerebellar circuits.

Scientists have pieced together an early human habitat for the first time, and life was no picnic 1.8 million years ago.

Our human ancestors, who looked like a cross between apes and modern humans, had access to food, water and shady shelter at a site in Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. They even had lots of stone tools with sharp edges, said Gail M. Ashley, a professor in the Rutgers Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences in the School of Arts and Sciences.

Children born before 34 weeks gestation have poorer reading and maths skills than those born at full term, and the difficulties they experience at school continue to have effects into adulthood: by the age of 42, adults who were born prematurely have lower incomes and are less likely to own their own home than those born at full term.

A change to a more challenging environment could, over time, re-ignite and grow old parts of the brain that have gone inactive, according to a study of army ants led by a Drexel biology professor.

Young adults fall more frequently than expected, and most falls occur during everyday activities such walking and talking, according to new research from Purdue University.

Research teams separated by 14 hours and 9,000 miles have collaborated to advance prospective treatment for the world's second-leading cause of death.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln chemists partnered with medical researchers from the National University of Singapore to develop a molecule that can inhibit an enzyme linked with the onset of stroke.