http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (Phys.org) —Fruit flies may have more individuality and personality than we imagine. http://phys.org/news284625427.html Biology Mon, 08 Apr 2013 08:00:01 EST news284625427 Salamandra robotica II is a last generation amphibious robot developed by the Biorobotics Laboratory at EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne). It is the guest of honor at the booth of Syrobo, the founder of Innorobo, which is the largest European exhibition of service robotics, and takes place in Lyon from 19 to 21 March 2013. Among the many robots inspired by natural designs, the Salamandra robotica II is the only one able to swim, crawl and walk—all by combining robotics, evolution and neurobiology. http://phys.org/news282903530.html Electronics Tue, 19 Mar 2013 09:19:32 EST news282903530 When it comes to sex, animals of all shapes and sizes tend behave in predictable ways. There may be a chemical reason for that. New research from Rockefeller University has shown that chemicals in the brain—neuropeptides known as vasopressin and oxytocin—play a role in coordinating mating and reproductive behavior in animals ranging from humans to fish to invertebrates. http://phys.org/news270461086.html Biology Fri, 26 Oct 2012 09:05:02 EST news270461086 A new information-theoretical model of human sensory perception and memory sheds light on some peculiarities of the nervous system. http://phys.org/news268648177.html Other Sciences Fri, 05 Oct 2012 09:30:54 EST news268648177 Researchers at Uppsala University, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and their international collaborators have discovered a mutation in a single gene in horses that is critical for the ability to perform ambling gaits, for pacing and that has a major effect on performance in harness racing. Experiments on this gene in mice have led to fundamental new knowledge about the neural circuits that control leg movements. The study is a breakthrough for our understanding of spinal cord neuronal circuitry and its control of locomotion in vertebrates. The study is being published today in Nature. http://phys.org/news265458882.html Biology Wed, 29 Aug 2012 13:00:15 EST news265458882 Channelrhodopsins (ChRs) are remarkable proteins that respond to specific wavelengths of light by allowing ions to cross the cell membrane, a mechanism that makes them useful for manipulating ion-driven processes in the brain. Akin to cellular-scale power switches, ChRs allow scientists to selectively switch on individual neurons or neural circuits with a flash of laser light, even in live and alert animals. These valuable tools could soon become even more useful thanks to an international collaboration at the RIKEN SPring-8 Center in Harima that has unveiled the fundamental structure of these proteins.  http://phys.org/news258361766.html Biology Fri, 08 Jun 2012 08:09:37 EST news258361766 Humans, fish and frogs share neural circuits responsible for a diversity of social behavior, from flashy mating displays to aggression and monogamy, that have existed for more than 450 million years, biologists at The University of Texas at Austin found. http://phys.org/news257689885.html Biology Thu, 31 May 2012 14:00:05 EST news257689885 If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, then it shouldn't be surprising that their neural circuits differ. In research published today in the journal Current Biology, researchers have used dramatic changes in the behaviour of the female fruit fly after sex to help map these often very different circuits. http://phys.org/news257682157.html Biology Thu, 31 May 2012 12:00:01 EST news257682157 The brain is a black box. A complex circuitry of neurons fires information through channels, much like the inner workings of a computer chip. But while computer processors are regimented with the deft economy of an assembly line, neural circuits are impenetrable masses. Think tumbleweed. http://phys.org/news218899629.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Mar 2011 13:27:36 EST news218899629 The brain -- awake and sleeping -- is awash in electrical activity, and not just from the individual pings of single neurons communicating with each other. In fact, the brain is enveloped in countless overlapping electric fields, generated by the neural circuits of scores of communicating neurons. The fields were once thought to be an "epiphenomenon, a 'bug' of sorts, occurring during neural communication," says neuroscientist Costas Anastassiou, a postdoctoral scholar in biology at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). http://phys.org/news215878810.html Medicine & Health Wed, 02 Feb 2011 14:20:30 EST news215878810 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of Wyoming have characterized and engineered new proteins that expand the use of light as a tool to manipulate cell cultures, tissues and laboratory model animals. http://phys.org/news215174011.html Chemistry Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:33:45 EST news215174011 Mutant presenilin is infamous for its role in the most aggressive form of Alzheimer's disease -- early-onset familial Alzheimer's -- which can strike people as early as their 30s. In their latest study, researchers at the Salk Institute uncovered presenilin's productive side: It helps embryonic motor neurons navigate the maze of chemical cues that pull, push and hem them in on their way to their proper targets. Without it, budding motor neurons misread their guidance signals and get stuck in the spinal cord. http://phys.org/news214592854.html Biology Tue, 18 Jan 2011 17:07:44 EST news214592854 Newly published research led by Professor Z. Josh Huang, Ph.D., of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) sheds important new light on how neurons in the developing brain make connections with one another. This activity, called synapse validation, is at the heart of the process by which neural circuits self-assemble, and is directly implicated in pathology that gives rise to devastating neurodevelopmental disorders including autism and schizophrenia. http://phys.org/news212160905.html Medicine & Health Tue, 21 Dec 2010 13:35:31 EST news212160905 Millions of people worldwide experience spinal cord injuries. Breakthroughs bring researchers progress, but a complete cure is a long way off. http://phys.org/news208435973.html Medicine & Health Mon, 08 Nov 2010 10:53:09 EST news208435973 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have uncovered a self-organizing biological principle in the brains of three very different, genetically diverse mammals -- but in all three they found the same mathematically precise "pinwheel" organization and orientation of neurons. http://phys.org/news208110964.html Biology Thu, 04 Nov 2010 17:36:24 EST news208110964 In a report published in the Oct. 20 issue of Science Translational Medicine, researchers at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center say animal and human data suggest gene therapy to the brain may be able to treat patients with major depression who do not respond to traditional drug treatment. http://phys.org/news206806778.html Medicine & Health Wed, 20 Oct 2010 15:20:09 EST news206806778 (PhysOrg.com) -- Harvard University neurobiologists have created mice that can "smell" light, providing a potent new tool that could help researchers better understand the neural basis of olfaction. http://phys.org/news206541124.html Medicine & Health Sun, 17 Oct 2010 13:32:30 EST news206541124 (PhysOrg.com) -- Using a sophisticated neural recording system developed by physicists at UC Santa Cruz, researchers were able to trace for the first time the neural circuitry that connects individual photoreceptors with retinal ganglion cells, the neurons that carry visual signals from the eye to the brain. http://phys.org/news206091801.html Medicine & Health Tue, 12 Oct 2010 08:43:46 EST news206091801 Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common mental health disorders affecting children and adolescents. Children with ADHD are excessively restless, impulsive, and distractible and experience difficulties at home and in school. Problems inhibiting behavior are a common theme for ADHD symptoms. These symptoms are usually treated with stimulant medications, behavioral approaches or a combination of the two. http://phys.org/news189779315.html Medicine & Health Tue, 06 Apr 2010 14:00:05 EST news189779315 UCSF scientists have used a novel cell-based strategy to treat motor symptoms in rats with a disease designed to mimic Parkinson's disease. http://phys.org/news188747571.html Medicine & Health Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:13:09 EST news188747571 UCSF scientists report that they were able to prompt a new period of "plasticity," or capacity for change, in the neural circuitry of the visual cortex of juvenile mice. The approach, they say, might some day be used to create new periods of plasticity in the human brain that would allow for the repair of neural circuits following injury or disease. http://phys.org/news188745701.html Medicine & Health Thu, 25 Mar 2010 14:23:11 EST news188745701 A new study finds a surprising similarity in the way neural circuits linked to vision process information in both sighted individuals and those who have been blind since birth. The research, published by Cell Press in the August 13th issue of the journal Neuron, reveals that category-specific localized activation of a critical part of the visual cortex does not require any prior visual experience and provides fascinating and valuable insight into the evolutionary history of the human brain. http://phys.org/news169299229.html Medicine & Health Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:20:02 EST news169299229 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team led by researchers at MIT's Picower Institute for Learning and Memory has now pinpointed the exact gene responsible for a 2007 breakthrough in which mice with symptoms of Alzheimer's disease regained long-term memories and the ability to learn. http://phys.org/news160835025.html Medicine & Health Wed, 06 May 2009 13:24:31 EST news160835025 (PhysOrg.com) -- Ants colonize. Fish shoal. Flamingos flock and caribou herd. Earth is populated by inherently social beings. Even lowly worms seek out the benefits of companionship. New research at The Rockefeller University has dissected the social proclivities of a model worm, identifying a single type of neuron — RMG — that “decides” whether these worms will mingle with their fellows or keep to themselves. http://phys.org/news158593386.html Medicine & Health Fri, 10 Apr 2009 14:43:47 EST news158593386 In the classic waterfall illusion, if you stare at the downward motion of a waterfall for some period of time, stationary objects -- like rocks -- appear to drift upward. MIT neuroscientists have found that this phenomenon, called motion aftereffect, occurs not only in our visual perception but also in our tactile perception, and that these senses actually influence one another. Put another way, how you feel the world can actually change how you see it -- and vice versa. http://phys.org/news157979723.html Medicine & Health Fri, 03 Apr 2009 12:17:57 EST news157979723