Scientists reveal details of brain cell communication: implications for learning & memory Forget gigabytes. Even the most powerful computers available today are mere playthings compared to the complexity, efficiency, and information processing capacity of the human brain. Underlying the brain's far superior design are the billion-million or so connections between brain cells-called synapses-that form vast neural networks in which brain cells, or neurons, are each connected to thousands of other neurons. These networks-and their ability to be shaped by experience-enable us to receive, process, store, and retrieve all manner of information about our world. Unfortunately, the extremely tiny size of synapses and the limitations of conventional experimental techniques have hampered detailed studies of these essential structures. (One trillion synaptic compartments, or "dendritic spines," could fit into a thimble). Now, scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory have overcome these technical obstacles to gain an extremely close look at the properties of dendritic spines and synapses that govern brain function.

Keyword: Learning & Memory
Link ID: 115 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Where the Brain Monitors the Body As any klutz will tell you, coordination is complicated. Just walking down the street--let alone juggling--requires large portions of the brain to keep track of the body and move its limbs. Now neuroscientists think they've found a brain area that performs one of the more difficult of these chores--integrating sensations to figure out the body's position. --LAURA HELMUTH Copyright © 2000 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Keyword: Miscellaneous
Link ID: 114 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Whales Can Learn New Songs When It Comes to Tunes, Whales Can Be Teenyboppers Keay Davidson, Chronicle Science Writer Thursday, November 30, 2000 Musical crazes occasionally sweep through the deep blue sea, as surely as they sweep through the world of teenagers. Male humpback whales readily learn and "sing" radically new songs from other whales, according to research published in today's issue of Nature. The phenomenon was likened by one expert to the "Beatles invasion" of U.S. musical tastes in the mid-1960s. (c) 2000 San Francisco Chronicle

Keyword: Animal Communication
Link ID: 113 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Finding the Brain's Funny Bone Strong physician maps our response to a good laugh "Top Ten Dumb Guy Ways To Solve Presidential Election Confusion" No. 6 - Do what they do in other important contests in Florida: swimsuit competition. No 2 - Let my brother Jeb decide. No. 1 -- Solve it? Are you nuts? This is great! If you chuckled at these lines from a classic Top Ten list by David Letterman, stop for a moment and consider why. Philosophers have been asking questions about laughter for thousands of years - and now a University of Rochester Medical Center radiologist has found the brain's "funny bone." ©Copyright University of Rochester Medical Center, 1999-2000.

Keyword: Language
Link ID: 110 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Brain goes on the blink JESSA NETTING Every time we blink, the world goes away for a fifth of a second. We don't notice, say Timothy Gawne and Julie Martin of University of Alabama at Birmingham, because at the same time part of the brain shuts down momentarily. The brain ignores each blink by suppressing a the nerve signal that tells us to ‘pay attention, the picture has just changed'. Apparently the old, pre-blink visual image then just stays in place to fill the perception gap until our eyes open once more, Gawne and Martin report in the Journal of Neurophysiology1. 1.Gawne, T. & Martin, J. Activity of primate V1 cortical neurons during blinks. Journal of Neurophysiology 84, 2691–2694 (2000). 2.Martinez-Conde, S., MacKnick, S., Hubel, D.H. Microsaccadic eye movements and firing of single cells in the striate cortex of macaque monkeys. Nature Neuroscience 3, 251–258. (2000). © Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2000 - NATURE NEWS SERVICE Nature © Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2000 Reg. No. 785998 England.

Keyword: Attention
Link ID: 108 - Posted: 06.24.2010

All Creatures Great and Smart Research reveals animals' brains to be bioengineering marvels Carl T. Hall, Chronicle Science Writer Monday, November 27, 2000 Nearly every important recent brain discovery comes from the study of simpler nervous systems in animals. But it seems those animal brain circuits aren't so simple after all. Roaches, for example, listen with their knees. Snakes can remember what they see. ©2000 San Francisco Chronicle Page A9

Keyword: Evolution
Link ID: 107 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Knowledge may lead to the identification of new drug targets for serotonin, which regulates depression, appetite, sleep NOVEMBER 22, 2000, CAMBRIDGE, Mass. [MIT Press Release] -- Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology report tomorrow (Nov. 23) in the journal Nature that they have discovered a new type of receptor that responds to serotonin. This finding could help explain how drugs such as Prozac, which manipulate levels of serotonin signaling, bring about their therapeutic effects. The article was co-authored by Dr. H. Robert Horvitz of MIT's Department of Biology and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Rajesh Ranganathan, an MIT biology graduate student; and Dr. Stephen C. Cannon of Harvard Medical School.

Keyword: Depression
Link ID: 106 - Posted: 10.20.2001

NEW 'SHUTTLE' MECHANISM DISCOVERED BY WHICH NERVE CELLS' CONNECTIONS ARE ALTERED DURHAM, N.C. -- In the process of strengthening or weakening their interconnections, brain cells use a "shuttle" system to increase or decrease the number of receptors for a key signal-transmitting chemical, a Duke University Medical Center neurobiologist has discovered. Such control of connection strength is critical to the processes of establishing preferred neural pathways, the basis of learning and memory in the brain. The discovery not only offers new insight into how the brain manages the strength of its connections, but also potential targets for drugs to treat stroke, epilepsy and neurodegenerative disease, said Michael Ehlers, assistant professor of neurobiology.

Keyword: Learning & Memory
Link ID: 105 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Tackling seasonal depression in Canada Little scientific evidence on which treatment is most effective for treating disorder by Megan Easton Nov. 14, 2000 -- Dusky mornings, bone-chilling days and long dark nights - Canadian winters can wear on even the most cheerful souls. But for some people the cold months bring disabling depression, and a new national study is looking for the best way to treat this distinctly northern affliction. The CAN-SAD study will test the effectiveness of different types and combinations of anti-depressants and fluorescent light therapy in patients with seasonal depression, also known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Right now there is little scientific evidence on which treatment is most effective for the disorder, says Dr. Anthony Levitt of the Faculty of Medicine's psychiatry department and Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre.

Keyword: Depression
Link ID: 104 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Monagamous males play away from home VALERIE DEPRAETERE Lonely looking birds may just be searching for a fling away from their partners. Nominally monogamous male swallows may masquerade as bachelors if they are fit enough for sex, but not fit enough to invest in family care, Bart Kempenaers at the Research Centre For Ornithology in Stanberg, Germany, and colleagues have found. Male birds apparently lacking a home nest were previously thought to be young, lower quality or subordinate individuals that could not compete with senior males for dominance over a territory, a nest or a mate. 1.Kempenaers, B., Everding, S., Bishop, C., Boag, P. & Robertson, R. J. Extra-pair paternity and the reproductive role of male floaters in the tree swallow (Tachycineta bicolor). Behavioral Ecology and Sociology (2000). Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2000 - NATURE NEWS SERVICE Nature © Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2000 Reg. No. 785998 England.

Keyword: Evolution
Link ID: 103 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Report Links Smoking and the Mentally Ill By REUTERS CHICAGO, Nov. 21 (Reuters) - A report from the Harvard Medical School released today estimated that people with diagnosable mental illness accounted for nearly 45 percent of the total cigarette market in the United States. The study, published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association, said that could be because the mentally ill are more vulnerable to tobacco advertising or nicotine addiction. Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Drug Abuse
Link ID: 102 - Posted: 10.20.2001

What Is It With Mona Lisa's Smile? It's You! By SANDRA BLAKESLEE For nearly 500 years, people have been gazing at Leonardo da Vinci's portrait of the Mona Lisa with a sense of bafflement. First she is smiling. Then the smile fades. A moment later the smile returns only to disappear again. What is with this lady's face? How did the great painter capture such a mysterious expression and why haven't other artists copied it? Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Emotions
Link ID: 101 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Bird brain measurements reveal why females choose great singers, Cornell neurobiologists report: Mothers want brainy babies FOR RELEASE: Nov. 16, 2000 ITHACA, N.Y. -- In a recent series of studies, Cornell University neurobiologists are showing why females of some avian species choose suitors with the most elaborate courtship songs: Fancy singers have more elaborate brain structures (to learn singing and other life skills), brains that the females hope their offspring will inherit. Reports linking sexual selection on the basis of song and the "heritability" of bigger brain structures in three different bird species were published this year by Cornell scientists in the Journal of Neurobiology , with European sedge warblers; Behavioral Neuroscience , cowbirds; and most recently in Proceedings of the Royal Society (Biological Sciences) with zebra finches.

Keyword: Animal Communication
Link ID: 100 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Risk of Parkinson's Disease Higher Among Men By REUTERS en may have twice the risk of developing Parkinson's disease compared with women, results of an Italian study suggest. Following more than 4,300 elderly adults for 3 years, researchers found that more than twice as many men as women developed Parkinson's--29 men, compared with 13 women. The incidence rates were consistently higher among men across age groups, from age 65 to 84. Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company

Keyword: Parkinsons
Link ID: 99 - Posted: 10.20.2001

PROTEIN STIMULATES KEY LINK BETWEEN NERVE CELLS, SUGGESTING POSSIBLE TARGET FOR MENTAL RETARDATION AND NERVE REGENERATION THERAPIES [UCSF press release] UCSF researchers have exposed a single protein that can stimulate the maturation of the synapses, or junctures, through which nerve cells communicate a key signal to one another. The discovery reveals a mechanism critical for supporting brain development, learning and memory and a possible target for treating mental retardation and nerve damage following stroke and spinal cord injury. The finding, reported in the November 17 issue of Science, indicates that the protein, PSD-95, helps build the physical scaffolding of the synapse that cells use to transmit the chemical messenger, or neurotransmitter, known as glutamate, to a target cell. Copyright 1999 Regents of the University of California. All Rights Reserved.

Keyword: Development of the Brain
Link ID: 98 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Seeds of a sociopath Violence in the brain? By Josh Fischman You wouldn't want your child to date either of the two British teens identified only as Case I and Case II. Perhaps you would blame derelict parents–or a lax society–for the teenagers' school failures, fighting, drug abuse, and arrests. But if you were a neuroscientist like Faraneh Vargha-Khadem, you'd instead blame serious head injuries that in both cases damaged a tiny spot in the brain, just above the eyes. "It turned the boys into walking time bombs, because the trouble didn't show until years after the injuries," says Vargha-Khadem of University College London Medical School. "It's the first time we've seen this." U.S.News & World Report Inc. All rights reserved.

Keyword: Aggression
Link ID: 97 - Posted: 06.24.2010

STUDY INDICATES THAT BRAIN WIRING IS LARGELY INBORN [Duke press release] DURHAM, N.C. - Neurobiologists at Duke University Medical Center mapping the developing visual systems of newborn ferrets have discovered evidence challenging the long-held view that the brain's circuitry is largely wired by experience. Rather, they contend, much of the circuitry is inborn, with experience acting merely to preserve and enhance existing connections. The finding, published in the Nov. 17 Science, calls into question a fundamental tenet of brain development - that early sensory stimulation is critical to the basic wiring of the brain.

Keyword: Development of the Brain
Link ID: 96 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Jim Barlow, Life Sciences Editor (217) 333-5802; b-james3@uiuc.edu 11/1/2000
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- When axons connect with target cells, synapses form - a pivotal brain development stage that allows for such things as muscle coordination, learning and memory. The outward reaching fingers of axons, called filopodia, have been thought to be the driving force for these connections. However, a new view is emerging at the University of Illinois. Using a scanning electron microscope and green fluorescent protein (GFP) to coat target cells, in this case live cell muscle membranes from Drosophila, UI researchers detected similar axon-like fingers. Filopodia extending from axons -- the communicating arms of neurons -- are well documented and thought to be the reaching, seeking fingers that latch on to the receptors of target cells such as muscles.

Keyword: Development of the Brain
Link ID: 95 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Monkey brain wired to control robot arm ALEX DOMINGUEZ, Associated Press Writer Wednesday, November 15, 2000 Breaking News Sections (11-15) 08:46 PST Researchers have wired the brains of monkeys to control robotic arms -- a feat that could one day allow paralyzed people to move artificial arms and legs merely by thinking. The wires fed electrical impulses from the brains of two monkeys into a computer linked to robotic arms. When the monkeys reached for food or manipulated a joystick, the robotic arms mimicked those motions. For people who are paralyzed because of spinal cord injuries or diseases of the central nervous system, such wiring could one day enable them to bypass the damage and send impulses directly to their muscles. (C) 2000 Associated Press

Keyword: Regeneration
Link ID: 94 - Posted: 10.20.2001

Jim Barlow, Life Sciences Editor (217) 333-5802; b-james3@uiuc.edu 11/1/2000
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Studies at the University of Illinois have identified a specific brain pathway in which neurons activate in times of low oxygen (hypoxia) and trigger increased breathing. The findings of the research -- based on studies of electrical currents in rat brains -- have led the scientists to postulate that many newborns don't have enough neurons to respond sufficiently to hypoxia. Such a deficit in response capability, they say, possibly is a factor in sudden infant death syndrome, which each year claims the lives of 3,000 babies under a year old in the United States.

Keyword: Sleep; Development of the Brain
Link ID: 93 - Posted: 11.06.2001