synaptic plasticity

A CRISPR-based system that reverses epigenetic changes caused by adolescent binge drinking reduces adult addiction-like behaviors in rats, a study finds, suggesting that an epigenomic approach could someday help treat people with alcohol use disorder.

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.

Researchers provide evidence that the Alzheimer’s-associated protein calibrates a signaling pathway that is conserved across the animal kingdom.

So-called mossy fiber synapses in the hippocampus can meter the amount of neurotransmitter they receive by sending glutamate against the usual direction of synaptic flow.

In an unexpected twist in neuroscience dogma, the cells on the receiving end of neurotransmission appear to be able to release glutamate to regulate the transmitting cell’s activity.

Neural connections in the mouse neocortex can release multiple packages of neurotransmitters per electrical impulse, a study finds.

Synapses in the mouse neocortex can release multiple packages of neurotransmitters, suggesting that connection strength is more flexible than previously thought.

Internalizing the environment might be the next step in humans’ relationship with our planet.

Brain organoids engineered to carry the genetic material could reveal how our brains are similar to and different from those of our closest relatives.

Injecting molecules from a sea slug that received tail shocks into one that didn’t made the recipient animal behave more cautiously. 

A new technique reveals certain neuronal connections grow larger and denser when memories are made.

Neural plasticity wanes with age, but increasing the protein Arc—abundant earlier in life—in the visual cortex of mice can fend off this decline.

In mice, injected fragments of a naturally occurring protein boost memory in young and old animals and improve cognition and mobility in a model of neurodegenerative disease. 

Scientists block particular enzymes to remove the cellular signatures associated with specific memory types.  

The UCLA neurobiologist uses computational modeling, in vitro electrophysiology, and human psychophysics experiments to explore how neurons and the brain as a whole perceive and respond to time.

Why can science still not define this most basic biological process?

Using optogenetics, researchers excite selected neurons to reinstate a fear memory that had been blocked.

Circadian neurons in fruit flies form synapses with different, noncircadian brain regions depending on the time of day.

Two studies provide insight into the genetics of the disorder and show again how complex it is.