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MIT researchers have created a detailed map of neuron activity in the C. elegans worm, revealing how neurons encode behavior. Using cutting-edge technology, they discovered neurons’ capability to adjust their encoding based on various factors and conditions. Their findings provide a comprehensive neural behavior atlas for further studies.

MIT

MIT is an acronym for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is a prestigious private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts that was founded in 1861. It is organized into five Schools: architecture and planning; engineering; humanities, arts, and social sciences; management; and science. MIT’s impact includes many scientific breakthroughs and technological advances. Their stated goal is to make a better world through education, research, and innovation.

Summary: New research delves into how the statistical distributions of neuron densities shape mammalian brains.

The study analyzed seven species, discovering that neuron densities follow a lognormal distribution – a fundamental organizational principle. This distribution is distinct due to its asymmetric curve and is significant for understanding brain connectivity and the design of brain-inspired technology.

As many attributes of the brain align with this distribution, it hints at its potential computational benefits.

The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote in his manuscript on Physics 2,373 years ago: “If everything that exists has a place, place too will have a place, and so on ad infinitum.” Is the notion of space being continuous ‘without limit’ justified?

Before elementary particles were discovered, water was thought to be a continuous fluid. This is a good approximation on large scales but not on molecular scales where the interactions among elementary particles matter.

Similarly, spacetime has been thought to be a continuum since ancient times. While this notion appears consistent with all experimental data on large spatial or temporal scales, it may not be valid on tiny scales where quantum effects of gravity matter. An analogy can be made with the illusion of a movie which appears continuous when the frame rate is high enough and the spatial pixels are small enough for our brain to process the experience as seamless. Since our brain is made of elementary particles, the temporal and spatial resolution by which it senses reality is coarser by many orders of magnitude than any fundamental scale by which spacetime is discretized.

A new research paper was published by Aging (listed by MEDLINE/PubMed as “Aging (Albany NY)” and “Aging-US” by Web of Science) in Volume 15, Issue 15, entitled, “Associations between klotho and telomere biology in high stress caregivers.”

Aging biomarkers may be related to each other through direct co-regulation and/or through being regulated by common processes associated with chronological aging or stress. Klotho is an aging regulator that acts as a circulating hormone with critical involvement in regulating insulin signaling, phosphate homeostasis, oxidative stress, and age-related inflammatory functioning.

In this new study, researchers Ryan L. Brown, Elissa E. Epel, Jue Lin, Dena B. Dubal, and Aric A. Prather from the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco, and the Department of Neurology and Weill Institute of Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco discuss the association between klotho levels and telomere length of specific sorted immune cells among a healthy sample of mothers caregiving for a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or a child without ASD — covarying age and body mass index — in order to understand if high stress associated with caregiving for a child with an ASD may be involved in any association between these aging biomarkers.

A new study from the University of Minnesota is the first to demonstrate the ability for gene therapy to repair neural connections for those with the rare genetic brain disorder known as Hurler syndrome. The findings suggest the use of gene therapies—an entirely new standard for treatment—for those with brain disorders like Hurler syndrome, which have a devastating impact on those affected.

Summary: Our ability to process sentences relies on the dynamic nature of working memory, where information is stored and integrated with our future intentions.

New research reveals that visual memories adapt according to our future use of that information. These findings challenge conventional theories arguing that our working memory’s neural codes remain unchanged over time.

Continue reading “Memory’s Future Focus: It’s Not Just What, but Why We Remember” »

In a birth cohort, Holz et al. found widespread structural brain changes at the age of 25 years as a function of adversity. This pattern was replicated at the age of 33 years and in another cohort. Individual-level volume reductions on top of this pattern predicted anxiety.

In what promises to be a revolutionary breakthrough in treatment of various neurological illnesses, Brainstorm is a European project using tiny magnets to restore damaged neurons.

Summary: Researchers successfully mapped the neural activity of the C. elegans worm, correlating it to its behaviors such as movement and feeding.

Using novel technologies and methodologies, they developed a comprehensive atlas that showcases how most of the worm’s neurons encode its various actions.

This study provides an intricate look into how an animal’s nervous system controls behavior. The team’s findings, data, and models are available on the “WormWideWeb.”