Jaws are bone- or cartilage-based structures that hold together teeth in the mouth of most vertebrates (i.e., all animal species with a backbone or spinal column). While these crucial structures have been the focus of numerous ...
Bioengineers and tissue engineers intend to reconstruct skin equivalents with physiologically relevant cellular and matrix architectures for basic research and industrial applications. Skin pathophysiology depends on skin-nerve ...
The distinctive smell of a flower… the unmistakable aroma of coffee… the dangers linked with inhaling smoke fumes. Sensory systems have evolved to provide us with immediate, finely tuned information about the world around ...
Plants & Animals
Feb 1, 2022
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59
Transfer of mitochondria between cells is a ubiquitously occurring and now universally known phenomenon. For years, researchers have been serially demonstrating that one particular new cell type can transfer its mitos to ...
Columbia engineers and neuroscientists have joined forces to create 3-D videos of individual nerve cells moving, stretching and switching on inside fruit fly larvae as they move. Data gleaned from these videos reveals how ...
Cell & Microbiology
Mar 7, 2019
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203
Researchers have successfully demonstrated how it is possible to interface graphene - a two-dimensional form of carbon - with neurons, or nerve cells, while maintaining the integrity of these vital cells. The work may be ...
Nanomaterials
Jan 29, 2016
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5353
(Phys.org)—There is no mistaking the first action potential you ever fired. It was the one that blocked all the other sperm from stealing your egg. After that, your spikes only got more interesting. Waves of calcium flooding ...
Have you ever found yourself struggling to get your order taken at a crowded bar or lunch counter, only to walk away in disgust as more aggressive customers elbow their way to the front? It turns out that flies do much the ...
Plants & Animals
Dec 6, 2009
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Imperial researchers have discovered a hidden mechanism within hair follicles that allow us to feel touch. The findings have been published in Science Advances.
Cell & Microbiology
Oct 27, 2023
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295
People who carry three gene variants inherited from Neanderthals are more sensitive to some types of pain, according to a new study co-led by UCL researchers.
Evolution
Oct 10, 2023
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Sensory neurons are neurons that are activated by sensory input (vision, touch, hearing, etc.), and send projections into the central nervous system that convey sensory information to the brain or spinal cord. Unlike neurons of the central nervous system, whose inputs come from other neurons, sensory neurons are activated by physical modalities such as light, sound, temperature, chemical stimulation, etc.
In complex organisms, sensory neurons relay their information to the central nervous system or in less complex organisms, such as the hydra, directly to motor neurons and sensory neurons also transmit information (electrical impulses) to the brain, where it can be further processed and acted upon. For example, olfactory sensory neurons make synapses with neurons of the olfactory bulb, where the sense of olfaction (smell) is processed.
At the molecular level, sensory receptors located on the cell membrane of sensory neurons are responsible for the conversion of stimuli into electrical impulses. The type of receptor employed by a given sensory neuron determines the type of stimulus it will be sensitive to. For example, neurons containing mechanoreceptors are sensitive to tactile stimuli, while olfactory receptors make a cell sensitive to odors.
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