Specific brain protein required for nerve cell connections to form and function

sumsung submitted, created time 1 year 4 months (www.eurekalert.org)

Scientists at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have shown that a protein called neurexin is required for nerve cell connections to form and function correctly.

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Modafinil enhances thalamocortical activity by increasing neuronal electrotonic coupling

bianjie submitted, created time 1 year 5 months (www.pnas.org)

Modafinil (Provigil, Modiodal), an antinarcoleptic and mood-enhancing drug, is shown here to sharpen thalamocortical activity and to increase electrical coupling between cortical interneurons and between nerve cells in the inferior olivary nucleus.

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Study Revises Dynamin's Role in Nerve Cell Function

diggman submitted, created time 1 year 7 months (news.med.cornell.edu)

An unexpected finding on how nerve cells signal to one another could rewrite the textbooks on neuroscience, says a collaborative team of researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College and Yale University. Their study, published as a high-profile research article in the journal Science, suggests that a key cellular enzyme called dynamin 1 is not essential to all synaptic transmission, as experts had previously assumed.

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Antidepressants stimulate new nerve cells in adult monkeys, may have implications for humans

psychologist submitted, created time 1 year 8 months (www.eurekalert.org)

In adult monkeys, an antidepressant treatment has induced new nerve cell growth in the hippocampus, a brain area responsible for learning and memory. A similar process may occur in humans, the research suggests, and may help explain the effectiveness of antidepressant treatments.

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Anti-dandruff compound may help fight epilepsy

julie submitted, created time 1 year 8 months (www.biologynews.net)

"Researchers at Johns Hopkins have discovered that the same ingredient used in dandruff shampoos to fight the burning, itching and flaking on your head also can calm overexcited nerve cells inside your head, making it a potential treatment for seizures. Results of the study can be found online in Nature Chemical Biology. "

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Netrin signaling leading to directed growth cone steering

amanda submitted, created time 1 year 9 months (www.sciencedirect.com)

"In the developing nervous system, nerve cells and axons respond to various attractive and repulsive guidance cues while traveling to their final destination. Netrins are bifunctional guidance cues that attract several classes of axons but repel others. The response of an axon to netrins is dictated by the composition of netrin receptors on the cell surface and the internal state of the growth cone. Recent analyses have identified several signal transduction pathways that contribute to netrin-mediated guidance

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