News tagged with nerve cells
The living fossils of brain evolution
(Phys.org) -- In the course of its evolution, the architecture of the mouse brain may have barely changed. Similar to the tiny ancestors of modern mammals that lived about 80 million years ago, nerve cells ...
May 23, 2012 |
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Unusual protein helps regulate key cell communication pathway
Charged atoms, or ions, move through tiny pores, or channels, embedded in cell membranes, generating the electrical signals that allow cells to communicate with one another. In new research, scientists have ...
Apr 23, 2012 |
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Pigeons' navigation skill not down to iron-rich beak cells: study
The theory that pigeons' famous skill at navigation is down to iron-rich nerve cells in their beaks has been disproved by a new study published in Nature.
Apr 11, 2012 |
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Researchers convert skin and umbilical cord cells directly into nerve cell
Until recently, the production of pluripotent "multipurpose" stem cells from skin cells was considered to be the ultimate new development. In the meantime, it has become possible to directly convert cells ...
Apr 11, 2012 |
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Cells on the move
Cells on the move reach forward with lamellipodia and filopodia, cytoplasmic sheets and rods supported by branched networks or tight bundles of actin filaments. Cells without functional lamellipodia are still ...
Apr 09, 2012 |
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Navigating the neurochemical space by computer-aided molecular design
Pharmaceutical scientists from VU University Amsterdam and colleagues from the University of Vienna and Medical University of Vienna have gained new insights into the molecular basis of the GABAA receptors, ...
Apr 06, 2012 |
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Cone snail venom controls pain
Components of the venom from marine cone snails can block the transmission of signals between nerve cells in minute quantities. This makes them potentially suitable for use as a novel analgesic. Researchers ...
Apr 04, 2012 |
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Proteins shine a brighter light on cellular processes
Scientists have designed a molecule which, in living cells, emits turquoise light three times brighter than possible until recently. This improves the sensitivity of cellular imaging, a technique where biological ...
Mar 20, 2012 |
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Nerve cells grow on nanocellulose
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from Chalmers and the University of Gothenburg have shown that nanocellulose stimulates the formation of neural networks. This is the first step toward creating a three-dimensional ...
Mar 19, 2012 |
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Research shows how the body senses a range of hot temperatures
The winter sun feels welcome, but not so a summer sunburn. Research over the past 20 years has shown that proteins on the surface of nerve cells enable the body to sense several different temperatures. Now scientists have ...
Mar 02, 2012 |
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Optogenetic tool elucidated: Researchers explain channelrhodopsin
Controlling nerve cells with the aid of light: this is made possible by optogenetics. It enables, for example, the investigation of neurobiological processes with unprecedented spatial and temporal precision. The key tool ...
Feb 28, 2012 |
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Toxins from diseased brain cells make diseases of the brain even worse
Sometimes our immune defence attacks our own cells. When this happens in the brain we see neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. But if the the immune defence is inhibited, the results ...
Feb 22, 2012 |
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Researchers find gene critical to sense of smell in fruit fly
(Medical Xpress) -- Fruit flies don't have noses, but a huge part of their brains is dedicated to processing smells. Flies probably rely on the sense of smell more than any other sense for essential activities ...
Jan 19, 2012 |
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Light now in sight: Control of a 'blind' neuroreceptor with an optical switch
When nerve cells communicate with one another, specialized receptor molecules on their surfaces play a central role in relaying signals between them. A collaborative venture involving teams of chemists based at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat ...
Jan 10, 2012 |
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RNA editing responsible for colder water survival in octopus
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have discovered that when it comes to the survival of an octopus living in frigid waters, the reasoning is not a difference in the gene DNA but rather a difference in the RNA editing.
Jan 06, 2012 |
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Neuron
A neuron (pronounced /ˈnjʊərɒn/ N(Y)OOR-on, also known as a neurone or nerve cell) is an excitable cell in the nervous system that processes and transmits information by electrochemical signalling. Neurons are the core components of the brain, the vertebrate spinal cord, the invertebrate ventral nerve cord, and the peripheral nerves. A number of specialized types of neurons exist: sensory neurons respond to touch, sound, light and numerous other stimuli affecting cells of the sensory organs that then send signals to the spinal cord and brain. Motor neurons receive signals from the brain and spinal cord and cause muscle contractions and affect glands. Interneurons connect neurons to other neurons within the same region of the brain or spinal cord. Neurons respond to stimuli, and communicate the presence of stimuli to the central nervous system, which processes that information and sends responses to other parts of the body for action. Neurons do not go through mitosis, and usually cannot be replaced after being destroyed, although astrocytes have been observed to turn into neurons as they are sometimes pluripotent.
For more information about Neuron, read the full article at
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