At a synapse, the plasma membrane of the neuron transmitting the information (the presynaptic neuron) is in close proximity to the membrane of the target cell (postsynaptic) and the two are separated by a space known as the synaptic cleft. Both the presynaptic and postsynaptic sites contain extensive assemblies of molecular machinery that link the […]
“ Any being, if it varies however slightly in any manner profitable to itself… will have a better chance of surviving, and thus be naturally selected. From the strong principle of inheritance, any selected variety will tend to propagate its new and modified form.” ― Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882) , The origin of species […]
COVID-19 worsens the already existing social difficulties for older adults and the disabled involved in long-term care services and supports; i.e., nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, and home and community-based services . A hug is a form of non-verbal communication. It can indicate familiarity, love, affection, friendship, brotherhood, or sympathy. We use it when we […]
Gene therapy was a 90s hit. The most promising medical advance of the decade was almost forgotten after some really serious side effects occurred in one clinical trial, but after nearly 3 decades a small trial in Germany has shown gene therapy not only to be safe for use in humans but also to have […]
In a new publication led by Dr. Albert Giralt, the researchers discovered the interaction between a transcription factor identified as “Helios” and a protein called “WDFY1” that could help elucidate the link between immunity and schizophrenia . Schizophrenia is an incurable mental illness characterized by relapsing episodes of psychosis. This disorder affects approximately 1% of […]
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 […]
The cerebral cortex is a limited resource. Evolution has employed some impressive tricks to increase the amount of cortex available, such as folding it, therefore getting more surface in the same volume, or putting different things in the left and right hemisphere instead of duplicating them, thus enlarging its capacity to accommodate specific functions such […]
On our unique planet, life evolved under the pressure of natural selection. The evolution theory of Darwin demonstrates the incredible plasticity of the living organism. For millions of years, living organisms explored the conformational universe of proteins introducing new structures and function through genetic mutations. The genetic modifications are translated into the sequence of amino-acids […]
The reward pathway is a group of brain structures connected to each other that are key in the processes of motivation (desire, motivation, craving), associative learning (operant reinforcement and positive conditioning) and in positive emotions, particularly those in which pleasure has a fundamental component such as joy, euphoria and ecstasy. The reward is an attractive […]
While I was at school it was almost a dogma that you’d not get a neuron more than those you were born with. Later, at university we learned that actually there was a region in the human brain, namely the hippocampus (key region for memory formation) where there was indeed adult neurogenesis, that is, formation […]