HHMI researchers Richard Axel and Linda Buck win 2004 Nobel Prize
...ontains some 5 million olfactory neurons that send messages directly to the olfactory bulb of the brain. When an odor excites a neuron, the signal travels along the nerve cell's axon and is transferred to the neurons in the olfactory bulb. This structure, located in the very front of the brain, is the clearin...FSU scientist links iron imbalance to Parkinson's disease
...e, the neurotransmitter critical to relaying brain messages that control both balance and movement. Dopamine levels fall as the brain cells or "neurons" responsible for transporting it begin to "commit suicide" at higher-than normal-rates, triggering the chain of events that eventually precipitates the onset ...Coke versus Pepsi: It's all in the head
...rs, because "there are visual images and marketing messages that have insinuated themselves into the nervous s...h scientists have long believed that such cultural messages affect taste perception, there had been no direct neural probes to test the effect, wrote the resear......ls, implicating BMP signaling (the transmission of messages produced by BMPs binding to cell-surface receptors) in early joint development. David Kingsley's team has been investigating whether BMPs are also involved in the later development and maintenance of joint cartilage. To do this, the researchers desi...Early life stress can inhibit development of brain-cell communication zones, UCI study finds
...-like protrusions of neurons that send and receive messages from other brain cells. The researchers believe CRH ultimately may be responsible for these poorly developed zones in brain cells. Results of their study appear in the current online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Scien......ds on complex circuits between cells sending these messages to one another. Blatt hypothesizes that in autism the delicate balance of excitatory and inhibitory input to specific brain areas may be disrupted. "By determining what neurochemicals are affected in the autistic brain, we can begin to unde...Actin muscles in on DNA transcription
...ess our bodies use to transcribe DNA segments into messages made of RNA." These messages travel out to the cytoplasm, where they serve as templates for building proteins, including actin it...UK scientist and children's author wins EMBO Award for Communications 2004
...iring efforts to bring critical science and health messages to deprived communities'. The prize of Euro 5,000 and a handcrafted gold and silver medal were presented to Fran Balkwill on November 5, 2004 at the EMBL/EMBO Science & Society Conference, "Time and Aging Mechanisms and Meanings" in Heidelberg, Germ...The blotchier the face, the better the wasp
...re just starting to get a window into the kinds of messages they're telling each other." Tibbetts' next step is investigating how the wasps' facial patterns affect other aspects of their social interactions....New tool highlights activity of key cellular signal
...isitor's request to a grown-up, cyclic AMP carries messages from hormones or other molecules "knocking" at the cell's door to proteins inside the cell. But because cyclic AMP uses just a handful of proteins to pass on many messages, scientists have had a hard time figuring out how it can trigger the right cel......been deciphering the way in which nerve cells code messages to each other. Now, a camera-and-microphone surveillance system is using his insights to recognize -- instantly, and with high accuracy - the sound of a gunshot, and only a gunshot within a two-block radius. It can then locate, precisely, where...Study: Pigeons can sense the Earth's magnetic field; ability might allow them to return home
...oming ability, pigeons have been used to transport messages since early Egyptian times, and pigeon racing is a popular sport all over the world," said Dr. Cordula V. Mora, a biology fellow in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's College of Arts and Sciences. "In fact, pigeons are often called the...Purdue scientists hunt for 'secret X' to treat liver cancer
...gist, Andrisani studies how cells receive chemical messages from the body that instruct them to grow, differentiate and die at proper times - actions that are necessary for health in highly specialized bodies like our own. Andrisani's team theorized that the X protein was the chemical messenger that caused th...New technique provides insights into gene regulation
...omplex and acquires the ability to control genetic messages (mRNAs) that are required for the development of c...rent combinations of editing can lead to different messages being created. Presently scientists rely on DNA microarrays, also know as gene chips, to measure th...Searle grant funds proteomics initiative
...e symptoms appear. By listening to these important messages we can take action before disease progresses and tailor drugs to meet individual needs." Healthy proteins form bone and muscle, fight infection and control metabolism. Unhealthy proteins cause trouble in the cell. Scientists today can investigate the...Dietary Guidelines Alliance offers tools to help consumers understand new nutrition guidance
...zations dedicated to providing positive and simple messages to help consumers achieve healthy diets and active...lliance. "We listen to consumers so we can create messages that reflect what they need and, ultimately, help increase the chance they'll follow dietary guidanc...Gene therapy for Parkinson's disease moves forward in animals
... a vital chemical known as dopamine, which carries messages that tell the body how and when to move. In tests with 31 monkeys, including a control group, scientists inserted copies of a gene to produce GDNF into a region in the front part of the brain called the striatum. They then induced Parkinson-like cond...New research questions basic tenet of neuron function
... the nerve cells, or neurons, in our body transmit messages to one another via chemical signals called neurotransmitters. Within neurons are tiny organelles called synaptic vesicles that sequester neurotransmitters and release them when needed into the synapse, or space between nerve cells, where the chemical...UNC findings may help explain cause of most common movement disorder
...in cells where they help the brain to relay "stop" messages throughout the body. Two alpha-1 subunits combine with three other proteins to form the most common type of GABA-A receptor, but this subunit is absolutely required for these GABA-A receptors to exist in brain, Morrow said. The mice lacking alpha-1 ...Sensory deprivation reduces new cell size in the olfactory system
...e replenish the sensory cells, which send the odor messages to the olfactory bulb. "There also are stem cells ...which carry out much of the processing of the odor messages that takes place in the olfactory bulb," Shepherd said. When deprived of sensory input, there was a...