Learning more about the brain
The question is straightforward enough: How does the brain learn to make sense of the visual world? The full answer is complicated by the fact...
NEWS INDEX
How neurons lose their connections
Strengthening and weakening the connections between neurons, known as synapses, is vital to the brain’s development and everyday function. One way that neurons weaken their...
Stimulus plan?
It may sound unusual, but it’s true: In recent years a growing number of people have been hooking their heads up to electrodes, in an...
Study finds altered brain chemistry in people with autism
MIT and Harvard University neuroscientists have found a link between a behavioral symptom of autism and reduced activity of a neurotransmitter whose job is to...
Music in the brain
Scientists have long wondered if the human brain contains neural mechanisms specific to music perception. Now, for the first time, MIT neuroscientists have identified a...
How one gene contributes to two diseases
Although it is known that psychiatric disorders have a strong genetic component, untangling the web of genes contributing to each disease is a daunting task....
Protein imaging reveals detailed brain architecture
MIT chemical engineers and neuroscientists have developed a new way to classify neurons by labeling and imaging the proteins found in each cell. This type...
Singing in the brain
Male zebra finches, small songbirds native to central Australia, learn their songs by copying what they hear from their fathers. These songs, often used as...
How the brain processes emotions
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...
Scientists reveal endocardial origin of liver vasculature
On March 29, Nature Genetics published a research article entitled “Genetic lineage tracing identifies endocardial origin of liver vasculature”, from Prof. ZHOU Bin’s lab at...
Targeting the gut microbiome to fight heart disease
Washington, DC – April 5, 2016 – A compound found in red wine, resveratrol, reduces the risk of heart disease by changing the gut microbiome,...
Argentinian researchers develop trap for mosquito that transmits Zika
Argentinian researchers from the Centro de Investigaciones de Plagas e Insecticidas have developed a new trap that can be used to effectively monitor and control...
Inflammatory factors cause damage to back of eye following keratoprosthesis implantation
BOSTON – Researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School have identified inflammatory factors that cause optic neuropathy in the back of the eye following...
A key gene in the development of celiac disease has been found in ‘junk’ DNA
Credit: A. Castellanos Coeliac disease is a chronic, immunological disease that is manifested as intolerance to gluten proteins present in wheat, rye and barley. This...
Scientists discover how Chinese medicinal plant makes anti-cancer compound
Credit: Qing Zhao, Chinese Academy of Sciences New research led by Professor Cathie Martin of the John Innes Centre has revealed how a plant used...
