A jolt of norepinephrine in the mouse gut facilitates colonization by certain microbes, which in turn deplete glycine, enhancing cocaine-induced behaviors.

To understand how memories are formed and maintained, neuroscientists travel far beyond the cell body in search of answers.

A wiring map diagrams more than half a million neuronal connections in the first complete connectome of Drosophila and holds clues about which brain architectures best support learning.

Date: September 13, 1999Table of Neurochemical Manufacturers The hypothalamus has long been known as a control center for feeding and weight control behaviors. Complex regulatory feedback loops enable this portion of the brain to determine satiety and metabolic activity. Not surprisingly, the control mechanisms are complex and involve different biochemical pathways.1,2,3 Image courtesy of Jeffrey M. Friedman An ob/ob mouse stacking up against its lean counterparts A series of pioneering expe

Neuroscientists are automating neural imaging and recording, allowing them to monitor increasingly large swaths of the brain in living, behaving animals.
 

The Scientist’s annual competition uncovered a bonanza of interesting technologies that made their way onto the market and into labs this year.

From a rapid molecular test for COVID-19 to tools that can characterize the antibodies produced in the plasma of patients recovering from the disease, this year’s winners reflect the research community’s shared focus in a challenging year.

Caspase Related Reagents Courtesy of Bingren Hu, Queen's Medical Center, Hawaii. Provided by Cell Signaling TechnologyConfocal micrograph of double immunostaining for cleaved caspase-3 (green) and propidium iodide (red) in newborn rat brain tissue. This section shows control and transient cerebral ischemia. Editor's Note: This is the second article in our two-part series on cell death. The first part: J. Cortese, "Death watch I: Cytotoxicity detection," The Scientist, 15[5]:26, March 5, 2001.

Date: July 5, 1999Table of Cell Signaling Tools At today's research pace, new signaling mechanisms within and between cells are emerging not one by one but in a chain reaction. Each new discovery has strong implications for previously established models, sometimes overturning several assumptions at once. With such a large number of interacting systems--from cell adhesion to differentiation and apoptosis--and receptor pathways, keeping up with the wealth of cell-signaling research tools can be l