Learning is known to promote the creation of new connections in the brain, particularly excitatory synapses, synapses that increase the likelihood of action potential firing in neurons. Action potentials are changes in electrical potential that are linked to the...
Recent scientific and technological advances have led to the development of increasingly sophisticated tools to conduct neuroscience research. These new methods are helping neuroscientists to better understand the functions and organization of specific cell...
When adult humans and animals severely injure their spinal cord, they become irreversibly paralyzed and are no longer able to move body parts controlled by the section of the spinal cord below their lesion. To counteract the damage done by the injury, doctors often...
Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 had disastrous humanitarian consequences, forcing numerous Ukrainians to leave their home and part from their loved ones, while also exposing people of all ages to the destruction, pain and traumas of war. The ongoing...
The hippocampus is a region of the brain known to the associated with memory, learning, spatial navigation and emotion. In 1971, neuroscientists discovered that the hippocampus influences spatial navigation through the formation of a series of "spatial codes," which...
The prefrontal cortex (PFC), the part of the cerebral cortex that covers the mammalian brain's frontal lobe, is implicated in the mental planning of complex behavior, decision-making and the moderation of social behavior. Studies suggest that the PFC is also the...
The term anhedonia is used to describe the inability to feel pleasure and a disinterest in activities that previously brought positive feelings. This lack of interest and pleasure is a very common symptom of depression, as well as other widespread mental health...
Detecting odors and differentiating between them is an essential ability that helps animals to survive and interact more effectively with their surrounding environment. In mammals, odors are known to be initially processed by olfactory sensory neurons, a class of...
The complete set of nucleic acid sequences composing chromosomes in humans, encoded as DNA, is known as the "human genome sequence." Neuroscientists predict that approximately 25% of this sequence has a regulatory function, while only 1.5% encodes protein.
The human brain and the brain of other mammals contain numerous populations of specialized cells with unique functions, molecular structures and characteristics. These cells originate from a thin layer of neuroepithelial progenitor cells, cells that can divide...