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Study Sheds Light on Evolutionary Role of Microglia in the Peripheral Nervous System

In a study published in Cell on April 7, a research team led by Prof. Li Hanjie from the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has revealed the presence of microglia in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) and identified their crucial role in regulating neuronal soma size throughout evolution.

8 Apr 2025

Scientists Capture How Glutamate Opens Neuron Signaling Channels

In an effort to understand how brain cells exchange chemical messages, scientists say they have successfully used a highly specialized microscope to capture more precise details of how one of the most common signaling molecules, glutamate, opens a channel and allows a flood of charged particles to enter.

29 Mar 2025

Dendritic Spine Clusters Physically Link Memories Formed Close in Time

According to a recent study, the reason why memories from the same day seem connected while events from weeks apart feel separate is as follows: Human brains use dendrites, which are spiny extensions of neurons, rather than the cell bodies to physically connect memories that happen in close succession.

24 Mar 2025

Scientists Reveal Brain Activity Dynamics During Male Sexual Behavior

To uncover what drives sexual behavior in animals, researchers studied the brain activity of male mice throughout the series of actions involved in sex leading up to ejaculation.

20 Mar 2025

Study Reveals How Syngap1 Gene Affects Touch-Based Perception in Mice

You may scarcely notice it, but much of what you do every day requires your brain to engage in perceptual learning.

14 Mar 2025

New Technique Converts Skin Cells into Motor Neurons

Converting one type of cell to another - for example, a skin cell to a neuron - can be done through a process that requires the skin cell to be induced into a "pluripotent" stem cell, then differentiated into a neuron.

14 Mar 2025

Fruit Fly Study Reveals Temperature's Role in Brain Development and Behavior

The rate of development of poikilothermic animals, such as insects, fish, and reptiles, is determined by environmental temperature.

14 Mar 2025

Neurons in the Human Brain Can Store Concepts Regardless of Context

A study led by Dr. Rodrigo Quian Quiroga, group leader of the Neural Mechanisms of Perception and Memory Research Group at the Hospital del Mar Research Institute, has allowed scientists to observe for the first time how neurons in the human brain store memories independent of context in which they are acquired.

8 Mar 2025

New Tool to Map the Origins and Journeys of Cells in Development and Disease

A new computational tool allows researchers to understand how the diverse cell types of the human body are made during development, and how diseases progress over time at the cellular level.

4 Mar 2025

How the Brain Uses Reinforcement Learning Beyond Just Mean Rewards

This study uncovers a specialized circuit in the striatum that encodes reward variance, offering new perspectives on learning and neurological disorders.

3 Mar 2025

Study Reveals Complex Neural Modules Behind Motor Control

For nearly a century, scientists have known that different parts of the human brain's cortex control different body movements.

28 Feb 2025

Targeting NMDA Receptor Subunit Shows Promise for Fragile X Syndrome

Building on more than two decades of research, a study by MIT neuroscientists at The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory reports a new way to treat pathology and symptoms of fragile X syndrome, the most common genetically-caused autism spectrum disorder.

21 Feb 2025

Blocking Cholesterol Metabolite May Prevent Parkinson's Disease Progression

Researchers led by Zhentao Zhang at Wuhan University, China have discovered a cholesterol metabolite that plays a critical role in the development of Parkinson's disease in mice.

19 Feb 2025

Unlocking the Genetic Secrets Behind Human Vocal Communication

The origins of human language remain mysterious. Are we the only animals truly capable of complex speech? Are Homo sapiens the only hominids who could give detailed directions to a far-off freshwater source or describe the nuanced purples and reds of a dramatic sunset?

19 Feb 2025