neural Archives - Family Medicine News

Deep inside the brain: Mapping the dense neural networks in the cerebral cortex

25.10.2019 Health Problems

Mammalian brains, with their unmatched number of nerve cells and density of communication, are the most complex networks known. While methods to analyze neuronal networks sparsely have been available for decades, the dense mapping of neuronal circuits is a major scientific challenge. Researchers from the MPI for Brain Research have now conducted connectomic mapping of brain tissue from the cerebral […]

How neural circuits form in a developing embryo

26.09.2019 Health Problems

Neurons, take your places. The cells that eventually become neurons must first travel across the embryo to reach their final destinations in the nervous system. There, they blossom from undefined cells into neurons with specific roles, working together in circuits to direct an animal’s behavior. But exactly how this journey unfolds is still somewhat mysterious. “There are lots of things […]

Protein has unique effects in neural connections related to information processing

09.10.2018 Health Problems

Our cognitive abilities come down to how well the connections, or synapses, between our brain cells transmit signals. A new study by researchers at MIT’s Picower Institute for Learning and Memory digs deep into the molecular mechanisms that enable synaptic transmission to show the distinct role of a protein that when mutated has been linked to causing intellectual disability. The […]

Using DeepMind’s neural network learning system to diagnose eye diseases

14.08.2018 Health Problems

Three institutions working together have applied DeepMind’s neural network learning system to the task of discovering and diagnosing eye diseases. Moorfields Eye Hospital has been working with Google’s DeepMind Health subsidiary and University College London in the effort, and have documented their progress in a paper published in Nature Medicine. As the researchers note, eye doctors currently use a machine […]

Selective neural connections can be reestablished in retina after injury, study finds

24.05.2018 Health Problems

The brain’s ability to form new neural connections, called neuroplasticity, is crucial to recovery from some types of brain injury, but this process is hard to study and remains poorly understood. A new study of neural circuit repair in the retina shows that neurons can make new connections to the right types of photoreceptors to restore selective connectivity after an […]

Scientists pinpoint neural interactions that are necessary for observational learning

03.05.2018 Health Problems

It’s often said that experience is the best teacher, but the experiences of other people may be even better. If you saw a friend get chased by a neighborhood dog, for instance, you would learn to stay away from the dog without having to undergo that experience yourself. This kind of learning, known as observational learning, offers a major evolutionary […]

Formate prevents most folic acid-resistant neural tube defects in mice

02.05.2018 Health Problems

Maternal folic acid supplementation has reduced the prevalence of neural tube defects, one of the most common structural malformations in people, by up to 80 percent. However, many infants are still born with a neural tube defect that appears to be resistant to folic acid supplementation. In this study, a multi-institutional research team has developed a novel folic acid-resistant neural […]