News by Subject Chemistry & Physics

Computational image analysis of behaving cuttlefish reveals principles of control and development of a biological invisibility cloak.

A team of researchers has developed three-dimensional (3D) human tissue culture models for the central nervous system that mimic structural and functional features of the brain and demonstrate neural activity sustained over a period of many months. With the ability to populate a 3D matrix of silk protein and collagen with cells from patients with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other conditions, the tissue models allow for the exploration of cell interactions, disease and response to treatment

Human and avian youngsters learn behaviors by imitating adults. But learners are selective in who they copy, and scientists don't understand how they choose the right teacher. Young male zebra finches must learn to copy the song of an adult male to mate, but juveniles won't imitate songs played through a loudspeaker or sung by other species of birds. New findings from Duke University scientists show how the juvenile birds identify the right teacher.

UC San Francisco researchers, in collaboration with the unique Brazilian Biobank for Aging Studies (BBAS) at the University of São Paulo, have shown that the earliest stages of the brain degeneration associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are linked to neuropsychiatric symptoms including anxiety, depression, loss of appetite, and sleep disturbances.

In multiple sclerosis, a defective response of the body's own immune system leads to brain tissue damage. Gastrointestinal microbiota could play a far greater role in the pathogenesis of the disease than previously assumed, researchers at the University of Zurich have now found.