Category archives: Neurobiology

Myelin and autism

Myelin and autism

Neurobiology

By José Ramón Alonso

Myelin is a lipid-rich substance that surrounds the axons of the neurons, which would be like the “wires” of the nervous system. This fatty structure serves to insulate the axons and to increase the speed with which electrical impulses, the so-called action potentials, pass along the axon. The myelinated axon can be compared to an […]

Sex and the brain

Sex and the brain

Neurobiology

By José Ramón Alonso

An interesting question is whether the brains of gay and straight people are the same or different. One study found that they are slightly different and that the brains of gay men, in the aspects analyzed, are more similar to those of heterosexual women. This would support the idea that sexual orientation is a biological […]

Living with half a brain

Living with half a brain

Neurobiology

By José Ramón Alonso

Many people think of their brain as a computer full of microchips and wires, as a storehouse full of memories and learned things, as a clock with millions of mechanisms intimately intertwined with each other, so it is incredible to think that someone can live with much less than that, with only one brain hemisphere […]

Habituation and autism

Habituation and autism

Neurobiology

By José Ramón Alonso

Some people with autism do not get used to certain stimuli as normotypical people seem to do without problem. This would fit in with what in neuroscience, particularly in learning and memory issues, is called habituation. Habituation is a process by which, when faced with a repeated stimulus, the response is less and less intense […]

T cells could be key for early Alzheimer’s detection

T cells could be key for early Alzheimer’s detection

BiomedicineMedicineNeurobiology

By Rosa García-Verdugo

For a long time Alzheimer disease has been studied mostly as a neuronal disease. However, recently the role of the immune system is getting more attention and its involvement more clear. Recent research has shown that a subpopulation of T cells could be key to early Alzheimer’s detection. How were these T cells discovered? Firstly […]