Saturday, October 10, 2015

Neurosciences

How to grow old brain cells for studying age-related diseases
October 9, 2015

Salk scientists developed a new technique to grow aged brain cells from patients’ skin. Fibroblasts (cells in connective tissue) from elderly human donors are directly converted into induced neurons, shown. (credit: Salk Institute)Scientists have developed a first-ever technique for using skin samples from older patients to create brain cells — without first rolling back the youthfulness clock in the cells. The new technique, which yields cells resembling those found in older people’s brains, will be a boon to scientists studying age-related diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. “This … more…
Sleep may strengthen long-term memories in the immune system
October 6, 2015

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New evidence shows that lack of sleep puts your body at risk
Deep (slow-wave*) sleep, which helps retain memories in the brain, may also strengthen immunological memories of encountered pathogens, German and Dutch neuroscientists propose in an Opinion article published September 29 in Trends in Neurosciences. The immune system “remembers” an encounter with a bacteria or virus by collecting fragments from the microbe to create memory T cells, …more…


How the brain’s wiring leads to cognitive control
October 5, 2015

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The human brain resembles a flock of birds
How does the brain determine which direction its thoughts travel? Looking for the mechanisms behind cognitive control of thought, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, University of California, Riverside and Santa Barbara and United States Army Research Laboratory have used brain scans to shed new light on this question. By using structural imaging techniques to … more…

A soft, bio-friendly ’3-D’ brain-implant electrode
October 9, 2015

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Can capture signals from single neurons in the brain over a long period of time --- without causing brain-tissue damage
Researchers at Lund University have developed implantable multichannel electrodes that can capture signals from single neurons in the brain over a long period of time — without causing brain tissue damage, making it possible to better understand brain function in both healthy and diseased individuals. Current flexible electrodes can’t maintain their shape when implanted, which … more…














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