Results of a new study evaluating animals’ ability to create and compare mental representations of quantities of food suggest that domesticated dogs might have limited information-processing skills compared with wolves, their closest wild cousins. The findings are consistent with a hypothesis that domestication has altered information processing in dogs by attenuating the selective pressures thatContinueContinue reading “Has domestication made dogs dumber?”
Tag Archives: nervous system
Monkeys master movement with their minds
As reported at Neuroscience 2014, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (15–19 November 2014; Washington, DC), Miguel Nicolelis and colleagues at Duke University (Durham, NC) successfully trained two rhesus macaques to maneuver a wheelchair using a brain–machine interface that translated each monkey’s cortical activity into navigational signals that controlled the chair’s movement. LabContinueContinue reading “Monkeys master movement with their minds”
Toward a better understanding of tau
Results presented at Neuroscience 2014, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (15–19 November 2014; Washington, DC), highlighted the central role of tau protein in neurodegeneration associated with Alzheimer’s disease and with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Almost 36 million people worldwide suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, and 10 million or more sustain TBI each year.ContinueContinue reading “Toward a better understanding of tau”
Pinpointing the neurons that signal hunger in mice
Organisms must feed in order to meet their nutritional requirements. In humans, dysfunctional feeding behavior can take the form of destructive eating disorders including anorexia, bulimia, overeating and addiction. Feeding behavior comprises discrete elements that include motivation (or hunger) and consumption. Understanding the neurological pathways that underlie these elements could provide mechanistic insight into theContinueContinue reading “Pinpointing the neurons that signal hunger in mice”
Reversing a block on nerve growth
Spinal cord injury (SCI) can damage the axons of spinal nerve cells, preventing communication and resulting in paralysis that can affect movement as well as bodily functions such as urination. After SCI, axon regeneration is inhibited, hindering recovery. Research has shown that this inhibition is mediated by compounds called chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans (CSPGs), which blockContinueContinue reading “Reversing a block on nerve growth”
Human glia, mouse brain
Glia are non-neuronal cells in the brain that support, protect and strengthen neurons and their synaptic connections. Glial dysfunction is thought to be involved in various neurological disorders, including Huntington’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and certain psychiatric conditions. Researchers may now have a new tool for examining the role of glia in these and other diseases,ContinueContinue reading “Human glia, mouse brain”
For lack of gut microbes, the blood–brain barrier ‘leaks’
The blood–brain barrier is a selectively permeable barrier between the brain extracellular fluid and the blood formed by capillary endothelial cells connected by tight junctions. The blood–brain barrier prevents potentially harmful molecules and cells from entering the brain and maintains microenvironmental conditions suitable for neuron growth. Its integrity is therefore crucial to proper brain function.ContinueContinue reading “For lack of gut microbes, the blood–brain barrier ‘leaks’”
Reversing neurodegenerative hearing loss
Exposure to loud noises can damage the synapses connecting nerves and hair cells in the cochlea of the ear, causing noise-induced hearing loss that can be permanent. Effective strategies to prevent or reverse this damage and the associated hearing loss are lacking. The coenzyme nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) can protect neurons from damage in vitro,ContinueContinue reading “Reversing neurodegenerative hearing loss”
Negative pressure limits traumatic brain damage
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) carries a high risk of death or disability, owing in part to a lack of treatment options. In previous studies, Louis Argenta (Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston-Salem, NC) and colleagues found that controlled application of negative pressure to localized areas of TBI in rats promoted healing and improved outcomes. WithContinueContinue reading “Negative pressure limits traumatic brain damage”
Stem cell therapy for multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system destroys the myelin that surrounds nerve fibers, inhibiting nerve impulses, impairing mobility and vision and causing fatigue and pain. Many researchers, including Thomas Lane (then working at University of California, Irvine) and Jeanne Loring (The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA), work to developContinueContinue reading “Stem cell therapy for multiple sclerosis”
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