Hard-wiring the fruit fly's visual system
... brain is their size and the number of neurons and connections that need to be made. A possible explanation for the findings is that the fruit fly has many fewer neurons than vertebrates, and the system can therefore just rely on the genetic components in flies," said Bellen. "In vertebrates, complexity is ad...Copper circuits help brain function -- could tweaking the circuits make us smarter?
...important components responsible for making neural connections stronger or weaker. The changing strength of neural connections -- called synaptic plasticity -- accounts for, among other things, our ability to remember and learn...Hair-pulling disorder caused by faulty gene in some families
...a cases. The SLITRK1 gene is involved in forming connections among neurons, or brain cells. The researchers hyp...tations in SLITRK1 cause neurons to develop faulty connections and that this faulty "wiring" produces the urge to pull one's hair. While SLITRK1 is the first ge...Genetic 'roadmap' charts links between drugs and human disease
...ty Map works much like a Google search to discover connections among drugs and diseases," said senior author Todd...tor at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. "These connections are notoriously difficult to find in part because drugs and diseases are characterized in completely...Scientists use gene signatures to match cancer and other diseases with potentially effective drugs
...ty Map works much like a Google search to discover connections among drugs and diseases," explained Todd Golub, M...ng the lines of the Human Genome Project -- to map connections among genes and diseases to accelerate the development of new and improved therapies for a wide rang...Gateway to Nanoscience: The convergence of disciplines
... the strong synergy among disciplines, encouraging connections with biotechnology and biomedicine, information technology and computing science as well as with cognitive science and cognitive neuroscience. European Forum The main aim of the "European Forum on Nanosciences" is to explore the wide range of ne...Animals resistant to drunken behavior offer clues to alcoholism's roots
...eover, such flexibility, or "plasticity," of nerve connections in the brain represents the cellular basis for learning and memory. "A growing body of evidence suggests that addiction is, in essence, a maladaptive form of learning," Heberlein added. Alcoholism affects approximately 300 million people worldwi...Most important actors in the growth process of neurons identified
...e diseases, it is important that we understand how connections are established between neurons. Neurons have a number of long thin offshoots - called axons - that conduct electrical impulses. These primary elements of information transfer in the nervous system can sometimes be more than a meter long. The axon...Temperament linked to onset of cancer and early death in female rats
...s, researchers will be better equipped to link the connections between personality and cancer development, the team suggests. The links between behavior traits and cancer in rats are striking, the scholars found. "This is the first evidence that infant temperament among rats predicts the time at which these t...Researchers add to understanding of how brain cells communicate
...Johnson. Memories are formed by strengthening the connections between brain cells, known as synapses. If you touch a hot stove, the pain signal from your hand and the visual signal from your eyes reach the brain at about the same time, forging a memory. Specifically, memory requires the coordinated activation o...Electronic chip, interacting with the brain, modifies pathways for controlling movement
... electronic chip that may help establish new nerve connections in the part of the brain that controls movement. T...ys lasting more than a week. Strengthening of weak connections through this mechanism may have potential in the rehabilitation of patients with brain injuries, str...Professor analyzes nuclear receptors in bee genome
... molecular structure of the bee brain and possible connections between hormones and behavior. "We use the honey bee as our model system, because some regions of the bee brain grow larger as a bee gains experience flying outside of the hive to flowers," she said. "What we learn about how the little bee brain f...NSF awards UGA $4.1 million grant to study so-called 'jumping genes' in maize
...tanding opportunities for student training and for connections between the research community and the broader public," said Wessler. "This project will dedicate more than 15 percent of its resources to the development of web-based, traveling and local museum exhibits that describe the history of maize as a crop,...HFI-1 gene has key role in both oxygen sensing, heat shock pathway
...tions, fine-tuning and responses that occur. These connections can now be targeted for therapies." The findings of the research, which was supported by an American Cancer Society Research Scholar Grant to Johnson, appear online in advance of regular publication in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. "This HIF...Learning global solutions to local problems
...her knowledge of the country, the language and her connections there were an asset to the organization of the trip and the overall success. "We had a grant for three years to interact with Latin America and a consortium of 10 Mexican universities, so having this first group of ACES Academy scholars visit our nei...NSF awards 17 grants for research on biocomplexity in the environment
...nd MUSES subjects, said Leinen, will shed light on connections that are not necessarily straightforward or easily...gators will conduct research in such areas as: the connections among sustainable consumption, globalization, and information; materials flow-modeling for sustainab...High-tech research shows cocaine changes proteins and brain function
...the ability of the brain cells to strenghten their connections and communicate with one another. Understanding the coordinated involvement of multiple proteins in cocaine abuse provides insight into the molecular basis of the disease and offers new targets for pharmaco-therapeutic intervention for drug-abuse-re...Spin-out company seeks medicines from South American rain forests
... NEPIC says that it intends to provide industrial connections and support for e-Therapeuitics as it grows. Funding for e-Therapeutics has included a 90,000 investment from NStar, an independent early stage technology venturing company, via its Proof of Concept Fund (POC) in 2004. This helped to accelerate th...Major breakthrough in the mechanism of myelin formation
..., and actions, both conscious and unconscious. The connections in our brain are formed by neurons that extend to each other and to muscles long wires called axons. Just as an electrical wire needs insulation, our axons require an insulating sheath (myelin) that helps to propagate the electrical signal and maximi...Neuron cell stickiness may hold key to evolution of the human brain
... supportive proteins. Differences in the molecular connections of human neurons compared to the neurons of chimps, mice and other animals, could help explain why the human brain is capable of far more complex cognitive functions. In a paper published in the Nov 3, 2006 issue of the journal Science, a team of r...