A study has now found that a type of opsin known as neuropsin is expressed in the hair follicles of mice and synchronize the skin's circadian clock to the light-dark cycle, independent of the eyes or brain. Researchers now want to see if skin heals better if it's exposed to certain types of light.
Read moreUsing optogenetic and chemogenetic techniques, researchers have identified brain circuits underlying hunger-induced changes in the preferences for sweet and aversive tastes in mice. These circuits involved Agouti-related peptide-expressing neurons, which projected to glutamate neurons in the lateral hypothalamus. From there, glutamate neurons projecting to the lateral septum increased sweetness preferences, and glutamate neurons projecting to the lateral habenula decreased sensitivity to aversive tastes.
Read moreThree simple factors that predict whether a healthy weight child will be overweight or obese by adolescence have been revealed in a new study.
Read moreDevelopment of vocal behavior during maturation is typically attributed to the brain. But the body itself is also capable of guiding this development. New experiments with marmoset monkeys show that we should not ignore the body's own amazing capabilities.
Read moreA new study using a preclinical animal model suggests that prenatal exposure to THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis, makes the brain's dopamine neurons (an integral component of the reward system) hyperactive and increases sensitivity to the behavioral effects of THC during pre-adolescence.
Read moreThe presence of specific microbiota, or microorganisms that live in the digestive tract, can prevent and cure rotavirus infection, which is the leading cause of severe, life-threatening diarrhea in children worldwide, according to a new study.
Read moreNew research shows the significant negative impact that invasive, non-native house mice on the Farallon Islands are having to the threatened ashy storm-petrel. Original modeling by ecologists shows the potential impacts to the petrel's population if mice are allowed to remain. The super-abundant mice encourage migrating burrowing owls to stay on the island, who later in the winter switch from eating mice to preying on the petrels.
Read moreResearchers have restored normal working memory to a mouse model of schizophrenia, eliminating a core symptom of the disorder that, in people, has proven virtually impossible to treat.
Read moreResults from the first long-term cohort study of more than 36,000 Japanese men over decades suggest an association between eating mushrooms and a lower risk of prostate cancer.
Read moreA 5-minute soak in a 40% solution of household bleach decontaminated stainless steel wires coated with chronic wasting disease (CWD) prions, according to a new study. The scientists used the wires to model knives and saws that hunters and meat processors use when handling deer, elk and moose – all of which are susceptible to CWD.
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