In 1968, the Canadian psychologist from McGill University Ronald Melzack described pain as being multidimensional and complex, with sensory-discriminative, affective-motivational and cognitive-evaluative components . Such definition may be a hint as to why the biological meaning of pain has been an (to date) unceasing matter of debate since Aristotle, who thought pain is just a […]
We all have heard stories about young blood-consuming vampires remaining eternally youthful. Although lots of literary fictions have become true with scientific progress, no one would ever believe that young blood could have rejuvenative effects on the elderly. Surprisingly, this is recently becoming true with the increasing evidence in biomedical research showing that old mice […]
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most devastating human pathologies. AD is the leading cause of age-related dementia and currently afflicts more than 44 million persons worldwide (World Alzheimer Report 2014). It is characterized by a cognitive decline and memory loss and by the appearance of two pathological hallmarks: beta amyloid plaques and cytoskeletal […]
It is possible that we know more about the cause of skin cancer than about any other type of cancer. The link between sun exposure (UV radiation) and the development of skin cancer is solidly established. And yet, the incidence of this disease is increasing year after year with a steepest slope than any other […]
Building machines which mimic the capacities of biological brains –and of the human brain in particular– is one of the main challenges of modern science. With the fast development of computer speed and power in the second half of the past century, this goal seemed, in the early days of artificial intelligence, simply a matter […]
You have probably heard this sentence: “the brain is the most complex organ in the universe”. Let´s dive inside such assertion to get a deeper feeling. The human brain contains around 86.000 million of neurons distributed across a bunch of brain areas ( roughly 190 ). That´s one thing, not everything. Even more complex is […]
The study of the spontaneous activity in the brain –and its origin– is one of the major puzzles in modern neural science. In many situations, the same neurons which behave smoothly and in an easily predictable way in in vitro experimental conditions, turn into unpredictable units, firing spikes irregularly and even chaotically, when they are […]
Modern societies are growing old and we should be proud of such great accomplishment. Substantial improvement in hygiene, health and nutrition has allowed mankind to even surpass a three-digit age. Leaving any further social consideration aside, seems obvious that life sciences will have to make a big effort to understand the so called healthy ageing […]
Biochemistry • Biomedicine • Molecular biology • Neurobiology
Natural selection has been sculpturing living organisms for millions of years, enabling them to get adapted to an ever-changing environment. Gradually, certain traits are selected over others based on the advantage they confer to the population. Natural selection is not a random process and it relies on genetic variation. Random mutations serve as the substrate […]
Some weeks ago in Naukas.com I wrote (in Spanish) about the wonderful latest video released by the team responsible for the Inner Life of a Cell which deals with the intricacies of cell trafficking in the inside of a neuron. Today I want to discuss an article recently published in the journal Science and that […]