Softpedia
 

NEWS CATEGORIES:



NEWS ARCHIVE >>
SOFTPEDIA REVIEWS >>
MEET THE EDITORS >>
Home > News > Tags > synapses

Stories about: synapses


Several Autism Spectrum Disorder Have Single Genetic Origins

Neuroscientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in Cambridge, say that they were recently able to identify the single genetic mutations that are responsible for the development of several conditions in the autism spectrum (ASD). The finding is bittersweet in a way, since scientists addressed cond...

24 November 2011
08:59 GMT

Protein Imbalance May Underlie Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorders (ASD), among other mental disorders, may be partially caused by insufficient concentrations of a protein called densin-180 in the brain. The new results were derived from studies carried out on lab mice. While most mental diseases humans can develop are unique to our spec...

23 November 2011
06:22 GMT

MIT Team Replicates Neural Plasticity

One of the most difficult issues to resolve when it came to constructing an artificial replica of the human brain was that of neural plasticity. This obstacle has now been surpassed, thanks to the work of investigators from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in Cambridge. What the group was particularl...

15 November 2011
08:34 GMT

MIT Experts Can Grow Synapses in the Lab

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) scientists announce the development of a new scientific method for strengthening synapses between neurons grown in the lab. This represents the first time such an achievement is reached. A number of neurological conditions, including neurodegenerative dementia and autism,...

26 October 2011
06:13 GMT

Sleep Debts Stifle Brain Development in Teens

Investigators at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UWM) say that their latest study indicates the brains of teens may be permanently barred from growing new synapses if the adolescents do not sleep enough each night. In other words, their brain development ceases if they owe too many so-called sleep debts. The res...

11 October 2011
10:58 GMT

Brain Wave Rhythm Dictates Memory Efficiency

Investigators from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) have determined that the efficiency with which we remember things is directly correlated to the frequency our brain waves operate at when we are exposed to the new data, scenarios, people, emotions or places. This is the first time such a study ...

4 October 2011
10:56 GMT

Understanding the Network That Controls Synapses

Human brains are made up of billions of neurons interconnected by trillions of synapses. All those links are controlled by a massively-complex, enzyme-regulated chemical system that currently is only known in part. A new study saw a team of experts develop a way to study these interactions. Synapses are not only ...

15 September 2011
10:06 GMT

Carbon Nanotubes Set Basis for Synthetic Brain

Reproducing the functions of neurons is impossible without the creation of inter-neural links called synapses. Recently, experts in the United States announced the creation of the first artificial synapses, in an advancement that could lead to the development of the first synthetic brain. In order to obtain the artif...

22 April 2011
04:55 GMT

Memory Formation Processes Unveiled in More Detail

A group of scientists from the Duke University Medical Center was recently able to gain more insight into the mechanisms the human brain uses to memorize events that happened in the past. The findings could be used to create new treatments for a host of psychological and mental disorders.Years ago, experts discovered...

21 March 2011
11:07 GMT

The Reason Why We Need Sleep

We sleep to rest and regain our strength, and the benefits of a good night's sleep seems obvious, but what is it about sleep that improves our brain performance, at the cellular levels, that's an old debate to which a new study tried to put an end.The opinions are divided into two camps: one believes that s...

11 January 2011
10:21 GMT

New Target Found for Treatment of Anxiety Disorders

Scientists at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) say that they have recently discovered a new potential target for therapies against anxiety disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), memory-impairment conditions, and also for diseases such as Alzheimer's.The finding could have a wi...

7 January 2011
07:54 GMT

CSHL Experts Gain New Insight into How Synapses Form

The billions of neurons our brains have communicate with each other through intricate networks of trillions upon trillions of connections called synapses, the formation and development of which play a pivotal role in what our cortices can do. Now, experts gain new insight into how synapses form. The new study was con...

23 December 2010
05:41 GMT

Protein Set Underlying 130 Brain Diseases Found

A group of investigators from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and the Edinburgh University announces the discovery of a set of proteins that is believed to play a role in the development of over 130 brain disorders. The study may also clear up some aspects related to the evolution of the brain.According to offici...

20 December 2010
04:53 GMT

The Molecule that Helps Us Learn

Yale scientists identified a molecule that wires brain cells and also establishes the way we learn things, and concluded this is an important step towards new ways of improving memory and maybe correcting neurological diseases.They focused on an adhesion molecule that holds synaptic junctions together, called SynCAM...

9 December 2010
04:58 GMT

Synapse Networks Can Now Be Imaged in Detail

In an achievement that could help researchers analyze the complexity and variety of nerve cell connections developing in the human brain, experts in the United States managed to develop a method for locating and counting synapses that are created between neurons.Each of the nerve cells can connect to thousands of oth...

20 November 2010
04:15 GMT

MIT Sees Molecules at Work in Living Brain Cells

Researchers at MIT found a way of observing molecules at work inside living brain cells, which also explains the molecular mechanisms of synapse formation.The studies carried out by researchers Amar Thyagarajan and Alice Y. Ting, affiliated with MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory and the MIT Departm...

8 October 2010
04:39 GMT

Memory Studies May Help Brain Injury Patients

Scientists are hoping to get new insight into treating brain injuries or diseases, by using tools from neuroscience to determine how the human cortex captures and stores memories. Already, researchers have determined that, when the brain first encodes and stores an piece of information, it does so differently than in...

6 October 2010
03:55 GMT

New Target for Alzheimer's Drugs Discovered

A team of investigators in the United Kingdom have recently discovered a new type of synaptic interaction in the brain, which may in the near future be designated as a target for drugs aimed at fighting the form of dementia known as Alzheimer's Disease.The group, which is based at the University of Bristol, expl...

20 September 2010
02:38 GMT

Molecular Explanation for Autism Within Reach

Autism is a disorder that affects numerous children around the world, but now experts appear to be closing in on the molecular agents that appear to underlie at least a portion of all autism cases.Investigations have thus far been conducted on lab animals, cadavers, and even in a small clinical trials, and the result...

15 September 2010
04:47 GMT

The Challenges of Mapping the Human Brain

When researchers finally announced that they had managed to sequence the entire human genome, that news was indeed groundbreaking. The momentous achievement led to numerous innovations in medicine, and will most likely continue to do so for a long time. Now, scientists are aiming for the cherry on the cake, which is ...

10 March 2010
10:45 GMT

Ritalin Boosts Brain Plasticity

In a new study conducted on animals, researchers discovered that the common medication Ritalin actually had the potential to improve focus and also to promote the ability to learn. The drug works on synapses, promoting the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which plays an important role in allowing neurons to ...

8 March 2010
09:11 GMT

Explaining Why Schizophrenia Appears in Young People

Scientists at the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) have just published two new studies, showing why the onset of schizophrenia may be facilitated in young adults, as opposed to older people. The investigators say that two anatomical abnormalities were identified in the brain, and the subsequent researcher proved that t...

26 February 2010
06:49 GMT

Synapses Provide Inspiration for New Transistors

The quest to construct computers that emulate the way the human mind works has been going on for quite some time now. However, progress has been slow due to the sheer complexity of the cortex, which is capable of many great feats, associations and recollections, at the same time. Now, scientists have taken an importa...

16 February 2010
10:08 GMT

Synapse Studies Could Fight Epilepsy

Scientists at the Harvard Medical School, in Cambridge, announce the development of a new type of in-vitro microfluidic device (a lab-on-a-chip) that could be used to gauge the development of epilepsy in the near future. The work, which was led by expert Kevin Staley and his team, holds great promise for gaining new ...

3 February 2010
04:12 GMT

Neuro-Computers to Harness the Secrets of the Brain

The foundation of our ability to process data, think and learn is made up of our synapses, the connections that form between two nerve cells (neurons). These connections exhibit a wonderful and mysterious property called plasticity, which allows them to change considerably over very short periods of time. This type o...

1 February 2010
06:41 GMT

Synapses Finally Revealed in 3D

In a groundbreaking, new study, scientists were able to use a new type of electron microscopy, known as electron cryotomography, to image the connections between individual neurons for the first time. The work is presented in amazing details, and features representations of all the vesicles and filaments that can be ...

22 January 2010
10:30 GMT

Motor Learning Triggers the Formation of Neural Connections

Scientists at the University of California in Santa Cruz (UCSC) have recently determined that new connections appear in the brain of an animal as soon as the creature begins to learn a new task. The finding hints at the massive ability that the brain has of adapting itself to new stimuli and challenges, so as to offe...

30 November 2009
05:22 GMT

How Long-Term Memories Form

In a new study conducted on unsuspecting mice, Swedish researchers at the medical university Karolinska Institutet managed to accomplish a major breakthrough in the field of neuroscience, when they identified a mechanism related to the formation of long-term memories. Their find essentially controls the brain's ...

10 November 2009
17:31 GMT

Sleeping Is Like Laundering Your Brain

The human brain is, indeed, a perfect construction, researchers have recently said, after the results of a new study detailing the changes that go on in our synapses while we sleep have been published. It would appear that sleep, other than being comforting for the mind and for the body, also helps our brain function...

3 April 2009
09:55 GMT

A Bigger Brain Doesn't Always Make You Smarter

ENIAC versus a modern digital computer - which one is faster? Well, ENIAC weighed about 27 tons and filled several rooms while a modern computer weighs less than ten kilograms and you can fill a single room with several hundreds of them, so if we were to judge the computing power according to size then ENIAC would ce...

9 June 2008
05:23 GMT


WindowsGamesDriversMacLinuxScriptsMobileHandheldNews

SUBMIT PROGRAM   |   ADVERTISE   |   GET HELP   |   SEND US FEEDBACK   |   RSS FEEDS   |   UPDATE YOUR SOFTWARE   |   ROMANIAN FORUM