ScienceDaily: Mind & Brain News

Researchers studying locusts have found that the presence of smell can be determined by simply adding and subtracting the presence of certain neurons.

A research team has discovered new neural circuits that regulate spatial learning and memory in the brain's hippocampal formation. The team identified novel functional roles of new circuit connections between the venal CA1 region and dorsal CA3 regions of the hippocampus and demonstrated that genetic inactivation of this projection impairs object-related spatial learning and memory, but does not modulate anxiety-related behaviors.

To understand how cranial neural crest cells (CNCCs) help form many more body parts than the skull and facial skeleton, scientists from the lab of Gage Crump created a series of atlases over time to understand the molecular decisions by which CNCCs commit to forming specific tissues in developing zebrafish. The researchers labeled and tracked CNCCs throughout the lifetime of zebrafish. With the help of a new computational analysis they created, they identified genetic signs that point to the specific tissues CNCCs were destined to form. The researchers also identified many of the potential switches that allow CNCCs to form these very different cell types.

Stroke survivors have improved recovery of hand and arm function with the help a new rehabilitation protocol thanks to finely tuned electrostimulation of target muscles in the arm.