brain plasticity

Altering the rate of respiration in mitochondria changes how fast neurons grow, making mouse neurons grow more like human ones and vice versa, a study finds.

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.

By combining deep learning and electron microscopy, researchers now have a more detailed understanding of how fear changes the brain.

The University of Guelph neuroscientist is scoping out the brain regions and genes that change as a consequence of pain that lasts for months or even years.

Her research showed that communication via sign language is as neurologically complex as spoken language. 

Dampwood termites with the potential to leave the colony have larger optic lobes before ever being exposed to different visual environments, an example of predictive brain plasticity.

Intestinal bacteria contribute to the effect of stimulating environments on the brain’s ability to adapt, a study concludes.

A pool of neural stem cells that ordinarily lies dormant in the brains of adult mice spawns two types of never-before-documented glial cells when artificially reactivated, potentially pointing to a novel mechanism of brain plasticity.