High-density electrophysiology devices allow neuroscientists to observe spikes from large populations of neurons, and optogenetics allows them to drive or suppress those spikes. We show that a single device can combine these two capabilities, providing a high-resolution means to both read and write neural activity in the living brain.
Findings may warrant exploration of the hormones as glioblastoma treatment.
In a new National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study, scientists at Cleveland Clinic discovered that hormones associated with male development may play a key role in limiting the growth of brain tumors in men. The research team found that the loss of androgen hormones, such as testosterone, in a preclinical model of glioblastoma drove tumor growth by inducing local inflammation and triggering the production of stress hormones. In an analysis of data from more than 1,300 men with glioblastoma, the authors found that supplemental testosterone was significantly associated with improved survival, which was consistent with their preclinical experiments.
“This outcome is a welcome surprise and may potentially offer a lead for new treatments for a kind of cancer that is deadlier in men,” said Anthony Letai, M.D., Ph.D., director of NIH’s National Cancer Institute (NCI).
The oldest cave art in Britain may have been discovered, or more likely rediscovered, in a cave on the Gower Peninsula in South Wales, possibly dating back around 17,000 years.
The red stripe markings on the walls of a cave called Bacon Hole were first spotted in 1912. They were hailed by their finders, Professor William Sollas and Henri Breuil, as the first Paleolithic cave art in the British Isles. However, skeptics dismissed the discovery, arguing that the markings were merely natural mineral deposits.
Over time, the claim and subsequent debate drifted out of public consciousness and have largely been forgotten about. That was until scientists decided to reexamine the marks.
A recent study published in the journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts provides evidence that the human brain applies different standards of beauty depending on the type of visual art it evaluates. By comparing the visual properties of historical building facades and artistic paintings, scientists found that architects and painters weigh aesthetic features like symmetry and complexity quite differently.
When people look at an image, their appreciation of its beauty relies on several visual variables. These variables include properties such as color, balance, symmetry, complexity, and the relationship between the main subject and its background. Psychological theories of visual perception propose that humans tend to prefer sensory properties that the brain can process easily.
“I have been interested in the Valuation System of the brain, the network that learns and deploys values for decision-making,” said Norberto Grzywacz, a professor of psychology at Loyola University Chicago. “In particular, I have had interests in aesthetic values, which this system also processes. At some point, I asked myself whether aesthetic values in a sensory domain, for example vision, are universal or specific to different domains.”
University of Oregon neuroscientists have identified a group of brain cells that essentially act as a “disappointment meter,” announcing when reality is falling short of expectations.
In a study published in Current Biology, the researchers describe a specific group of neurons in the mouse brain that become active when the animal anticipates a reward but earns less than expected, or nothing at all. The findings reveal that feeling let down is something that particular cells in the brain are designed to detect and record.
Smaller plastic particles have more effects on neurons, the key information processing cells of the brain, new research from the University of Eastern Finland shows. In the study, neuronal cells were exposed to polystyrene nanoplastics at low doses to study subtle changes.
Plastic production continues to rise, despite worldwide concerns. In addition to environmental implications, there is an increasing interest in how exposure to plastics may impact human health, but our understanding is still limited. Only recently it was shown that plastics can accumulate also in the human brain.
Plastic particles smaller than 5,000 nm in diameter are called microplastics, and the smallest plastic particles with a diameter of less than 1,000 nm are called nanoplastics. The small size of nanoplastics enables them to interact with various cell types, and other particles or biological mass, such as bacteria. Compared to microplastics, nanoplastics have larger adsorption capacity and penetrate through biological barriers more easily. This makes them potentially more harmful and a compelling target for research in the field of neurobiology.