A preliminary study hints that the virus may infect astrocytes, triggering downstream effects. Source: https://www.livescience.com/astrocytes-coronavirus-infection.html
Tag: neurons
Brad Cox, Creator of Objective-C Programming Language, Dies At 76
We have learned that Brad Cox, computer scientist known mostly for creating the Objective-C programming language with his business partner Tom Love, died on January 2, 2021 at his residence. He was 76. From a Legacy.com post: Brad was born on May 2, 1944 in Fort Benning, Georgia, to the late Nancy Hinson Cox and Dewey McBride Cox of Lake City,…
Neuroscientists’ New Theory: Dreaming Protects the Braincells For Eyesight
Writing in Time magazine, two neuroscientists share a surprising new theory on exactly how dreaming protects our brains: Neuroscience used to think that different parts of the brain were predetermined to perform specific functions. But more recent discoveries have upended the old paradigm. One part of the brain may initially be assigned a specific task; for instance, the back of our…
Does the Human Brain Resemble the Universe?
“Does the human brain resemble the Universe?” teases an announcement that an astrophysicist of the University of Bologna and a neurosurgeon of the University of Verona “compared the network of neuronal cells in the human brain with the cosmic network of galaxies…and surprising similarities emerged.” Slashdot reader Iwastheone shares their report: Despite the substantial difference in scale between the two networks…
An Amazonian Tea May Stimulate the Formation of New Brain Cells
Popular Mechanics writes: In a new study, researchers found the traditional psychoactive drug ayahuasca stimulates the growth of new brain cells in the hippocampi of research mice. The hippocampus is responsible for many memory functions, and the mice dosed with ayahuasca also performed better in a battery of memory tests. While ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic and often purgative tea brewed from leaves…
Living electrodes for linking brains to computers tested in rats
Neurons genetically modified to respond to light have been successfully implanted into rats, and could provide a better and longer-lasting way to link brains with computers Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2259846-living-electrodes-for-linking-brains-to-computers-tested-in-rats/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
No Implants Needed For Precise Control Deep Into the Brain
An anonymous reader quotes a report from IEEE Spectrum: In April, Guoping Feng and colleagues at MIT, along with [Karl Deisseroth, a neuroscientist and bioengineer at Stanford University] demonstrated a minimally invasive optogenetic system that required drilling a small hole in the skull, then being able to control opsin-expressing neurons six millimeters deep into the brain using blue light. This approach…
Mosquito ‘tongue’ neurons ignite like fireworks at taste of human blood
The taste of your blood ignites a burst of sensory neuron activity in mosquito mouthparts. Source: https://www.livescience.com/mosquito-neurons-taste-blood.html
Inside the secret lives of synchronous fireflies
In the Smoky Mountains, thousands of fireflies flash in unison. Researchers want to know how. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/inside-secret-lives-synchronous-fireflies-video…