For whales and seals the ocean is not blue
...essing and hence freed cortical capacity for other sensory abilities. Indeed, many whales have evolved echolocation, and seals are able to track prey by detecting turbulences with their whiskers. At least for the species that have remained in coastal waters, the blue cone loss continues to be advantageous. T...Blood markers associated with autism and mental retardation
...le with autism may also show abnormal responses to sensory stimuli, such as touch, sounds, and sights. Twin studies suggest that autism has a strong genetic component. Mental retardation is a term that is applied to people who show significantly delayed or impaired mental, intellectual, and social develop...Effects of iron-deficiency anemia in infants linger
...ts that provide measures of the integrity of these sensory systems. To test the auditory system, electrodes were placed on the scalp and small clicks were made near the ear. This test measured the time it took for the signal, prompted by the click, to go along the auditory pathway from the ear to the brain....Operation of self-aiming camera modeled on how part of brain works
...ng which direction to turn the head in response to sensory stimuli such as visual and auditory cues. To demonstrate the effectiveness of their neural network, Ray and his colleagues molecular and integrative physiology professor Thomas Anastasio, postdoctoral research associate Paul Patton, and graduate res...Neuroscientist studies brains of bizarre-looking mammals
...h organ, covered with more than 25,000 microscopic sensory receptors that allow the hamster-sized mole to lit...their touch-sensors in one organ, the mole rat has sensory hairs spread all over its body, including its tail. Mole rats also have an exceptional set of front ......and how they manage to process enormous amounts of sensory information in an instant to control a whole range of flight performance - among other such pesky mysteries. Funded in part by the Office of Naval Research, Dr. Michael Dickinson (aka Flyman) at UC Berkeley studies the dynamics of insect flight co...PAR-2 and protective gastric secretion
...se-activated receptor PAR-2, which is expressed in sensory neurons throughout the gastrointestinal tract and ...abata et al. show that such peptides can stimulate sensory nerves in the stomach and activate the secretion of gastric mucus. As expected, given the presumed p...Gene therapy restores feeding behavior to starving mice
...lps integrate internal hunger signals and external sensory information about food to trigger feeding behavior...he caudate putamen, where they would interact with sensory signals reflecting the sight and smell of food. Our guess, however, is that in the absence of dopami......es of a gene for one kind of integrin protein into sensory neurons taken from adult rats. A second group of neurons received extra copies of a different integrin gene. The additional genes produced levels of integrin in the adult neurons that were comparable to those in newborn animals. The neurons were c...Meet 'Henry and Nick,' seals featured in Science study
...in Harbor Seals," reporting new findings about the sensory abilities of seals. Where: The Zoo in Cologne, G... dark? Some animals, like dolphins, have a special sensory ability called echolocation, where they determine the location of their prey by measuring how long a...New study puts dinosaur noses in their place
...se proximity between two such strong collectors of sensory information the nostrils and the mouth makes sense from a physiological standpoint. But this wasn't the evidence that convinced Witmer that dinosaurs' nostrils had been positioned incorrectly. Because the fossil record only preserves bone, paleont...Dinosaurs had a "rostral nostril," says Science researcher
...der the collection of smells from the environment, sensory data collected by the chemosensory organ may compensate for this diminished sense.......l somewhat a mystery, but we do know that the more sensory input provided, the more likely the brain will pay...nd sight to put in all in perspective. Gathering sensory input, processing it, and deciding what to do on the basis of that processing is an important part o...Receptor-dependent protein activation without a receptor
...only in neuroblasts but also in precursor cells of sensory organs (SOPs). Such establishment and maintenance of cellular polarity is essential for correct differentiation of these cells after delamination from adjacent tissue. Previous work by Stephen Lanier and colleagues at the Medical University of South ...New UI center to study effects of exposure to toxicants in fish
...e effect of eating contaminated fish on the motor, sensory and mental development of the refugees children. They also will study, in laboratory rodents, the mechanisms by which the pollutants cause neurological harm. The UI center also will involve researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Michi...Cells from human umbilical cord blood help rats recover from stroke faster, new study finds
...red by the stroke and improved the rats' motor and sensory abilities, even when administered a week after the onset of stroke, the researchers report in this month's issue of the journal Stroke. The cord cells included a significant number of stem cells immature. undifferentiated cells with the potential to...Researchers discover precise olfactory map
...d genetic studies in mice that uncovered a precise sensory map in the olfactory cortex. The researchers also ...d mice to express the tracer gene in all olfactory sensory neurons. When the researchers used the tracer to follow the wiring of the M5BL or the M50BL mic...Female vulnerability to drugs tied to estrogen, U-M researcher reports
...ties, decreases in spatial abilities, and enhanced sensory and motor functions, including lower thresholds for visual, olfactory and tactile stimuli and more rapid complex motor sequence abilities. Recently, Becker and others have been examining the hormone's impact on neurotransmitters such as dopamine in ...Fire ant protein may help scientists use fire ants' biology against themselves
...t that there are other genes involved in the ants' sensory process. There are likely to be. But this one is very important in terms of regulating the social behavior." Ross admits this was a risky project. "The probability of finding the gene that codes for this protein was actually very low, so we're very p......n sleep, including prolonged immobility, decreased sensory responsiveness and a need to compensate after sleep deprivation. Fruit flies spend about six to 10 hours a day resting, mostly at night. "The sleeping flies lie prone in a quiet corner, unresponsive to stimuli, for bouts averaging about 45 minutes b...