Science tells us that a lot of good things happen in our brains while we sleep — learning and memories are consolidated and waste is removed, among other things. New research shows for the first time that important immune cells called microglia — which play an important role in reorganizing the connections between nerve cells, fighting infections, and repairing damage — are also primarily active while we sleep.
Read morePhagocytosis can be viewed as a primitive immune system used by all cells. When a pathogen is near the cell, the cell membrane will deform to engulf the pathogen and dispose of it. Researchers have found that a two-dimensional sheet formed by the protein GAS7 is critical for this process, identifying through crystallography and microscopy two key hydrophilic loops in the protein.
Read moreScientists have shown that delta waves emitted while we sleep are not generalized periods of silence during which the cortex rests, as has been described for decades in the scientific literature. Instead, they isolate assemblies of neurons that play an essential role in long-term memory formation.
Read moreScientists are developing powerful new devices and technologies to monitor and regulate brain activity. To ensure NIH keeps pace with rapid technological development and help clinicians and researchers ethically fit these new tools into practice, a new article highlights potential issues around and offers recommendations about clinical research with both invasive and noninvasive neural devices.
Read moreResearchers discover a new principle — how cells protect themselves from mitochondrial defects.
Read moreNon-invasive brain stimulation is to be trialled for the first time alongside advanced brain imaging techniques in patients who are minimally conscious or in a vegetative state.
Read moreScientists discover that a brain region known to control sex and violence contains rare cell types that differ in male versus female mice.
Read moreA brain mapping technique called BARseq is capable of mapping thousands of neurons in a single mouse, at single neuron resolution, while also detailing which neuron expresses what genes. It could be a game-changer for how neuroscientists look at brains.
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 moreResearchers are reporting a novel technique for tracing the activity of individual nerve fibers known as axons, and determining how neurons communicate. The team used this technique to uncover details about how the brain responds to light signals received by the retina in mice.
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