ScienceDaily: Top Science News |
- Haven't my neurons seen this before? What happens in the brain with familiar pictures?
- Driving brain rhythm makes mice more sensitive to touch
- Simply complex: The origin of our body axes
- Evolutionary history of honeybees revealed by genomics
- Fed up with waiting? Timely activation of serotonin enhances patience
| Haven't my neurons seen this before? What happens in the brain with familiar pictures? Posted: 24 Aug 2014 12:23 PM PDT The world grows increasingly more chaotic year after year, and our brains are constantly bombarded with images. A new study reveals how neurons in the part of the brain responsible for recognizing objects respond to being shown a barrage of images. Researchers found that when subjects were exposed to familiar and unfamiliar images in a rapid succession, their neurons -- especially the inhibitory neurons -- fired much more strongly and selectively to images the subject had seen many times before. |
| Driving brain rhythm makes mice more sensitive to touch Posted: 24 Aug 2014 12:23 PM PDT In a new study researchers show that they could make faint sensations more vivid by triggering a brain rhythm that appears to shift sensory attention. The study in mice provides the first direct evidence that the brain's 'gamma' rhythms have a causal role in processing the sense of touch. |
| Simply complex: The origin of our body axes Posted: 24 Aug 2014 12:22 PM PDT One fundamental question in biology is what constitutes the basic type of the animal body plan and how did all the more complex forms, including that of humans, evolve from it. At the simplest level, this body plan can be described by the three axes. These three axes -- the familiar X, Y and Z axes from geometry -- are the anterior-posterior axis, which determines the position of the mouth in front and the anus at the rear, the dorsal-ventral axis, which in vertebrates separates the front of the body from the back, and the left-right axis, which creates a mirror-like symmetry of our extremities and left-right asymmetry of the organs. |
| Evolutionary history of honeybees revealed by genomics Posted: 24 Aug 2014 12:22 PM PDT The first global analysis of genome variation in honeybees has been revealed by scientists. The findings show a surprisingly high level of genetic diversity in honeybees, and indicate that the species most probably originates from Asia, and not from Africa as previously thought. The honeybee (Apis mellifera) is of crucial importance for humanity. One third of our food is dependent on the pollination of fruits, nuts and vegetables by bees and other insects. Extensive losses of honeybee colonies in recent years are a major cause for concern. |
| Fed up with waiting? Timely activation of serotonin enhances patience Posted: 21 Aug 2014 10:26 AM PDT Lining up in a long queue or waiting for the arrival of someone requires a great deal of patience. Our lives are full of decisions involving patience, yet it needs to be exercised at the appropriate times. In order to examine the brain mechanism for controlling patience to obtain a reward, researchers used a new technique called optogenetics, where they use light to simulate specific neurons with precise timing. Their most recent research shows that activating serotonin neurons specifically during waiting promotes patience for delayed rewards. |
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