September 2011

Have researchers found the seat of urination control in a primitive brain region?

A veterinary vaccine spawned products that could clean the HIV virus from blood supplies.

When it comes to studying cephalopod brains and behavior, it helps to have a philosopher around.

Indigenous populations are especially vulnerable to the effects of global climate change. A new research project aims to help them adapt.

Long-term potentiation (LTP), discovered in the 1970s, was later shown to be the molecular basis of memory. 

Looking for a more realistic way to study memory, we turned to place cells­­—­a network of cells that record a rat’s memory of an environment. 

Early on, researchers had learned that the hippocampus was the structure in the brain where long-term memories were created and stored, but it was not known whether the different cell types within this structure might be more or less susceptible to the aging process.

The initiating cause of Alzheimer’s disease is still unknown. However, from our studies it’s clear that many types of neuronal damage—­­from traumatic brain injury, to epilepsy, infection, or genetic predisposition—­can activate brain immune cells—microglia and astrocytes-- promoting them to produce IL-1 and S100 inflammatory cytokines.