mouse model, neuroscience

Gene reactivation restored hearing after loss in mice, but the timing of intervention is key.

A study finds that T cells induced by heroin cross the blood-brain barrier to wreak havoc on the brain, hinting at new ways to prevent withdrawal.

A study finds roflumilast can reverse sleep deprivation–induced amnesia in mice, hinting at pathways to treating memory loss in people.

A mouse study concludes color-detecting cones in the eye and a subset of neurons in the brain’s thalamus are why green light exposure has an analgesic effect.

After injecting moderate doses of the dissociative anesthetic into the animals, previously “awake” brain cells go dark, and those that had been dormant suddenly light up.

In stressful conditions, specialized protein complexes in microglia induce neurotoxic activity in astrocytes that leads to the change in behavior.

Specific neurons in the brainstem control sickness behaviors not directly caused by a pathogen, such as tiredness and lack of appetite, a mouse study finds.

Mice with overactive LINE-1 retrotransposons in their brains exhibit movement difficulties, suggesting the genetic elements may play a role in ataxia in humans. 

A single amino acid substitution in a protein causes increased neuron production in the frontal lobes of humans compared to Neanderthals—a tiny difference that could have given our species a cognitive edge, researchers say.

Researchers find a way to wipe out the brain’s immune cell corps and send in new and improved versions.

Signals from sweeteners and sugars are relayed from the gut to the brain by different neural pathways, a new study concludes.

Researchers insert functioning cone photoreceptors into the retinas of mice with advanced eye disease, improving their vision.

Manipulating the activity of neurons active during training had similar effects on the mice’s behavior.

Knocking out the receptor for a lipid that causes inflammation rejuvenates macrophage metabolism and restores cognitive function in an Alzheimer’s disease model.

Overactive immune cells identified in a mouse model and in postmortem human brain tissue may offer a potential therapeutic target for cognitive delays associated with the condition, researchers report.

When mice that had suffered a stroke were given blood from a healthy donor, they experienced less tissue and neurological damage.

Two studies show that Plasmodium—the genus of protozoans that cause malaria—have an internal sense of time that synchronizes with their host’s circadian rhythms and allows the parasites to collectively attack blood cells.