Posts tagged neurons

Neurons Firing and the storm beneath it all. [via]

psydoctor8: THE SOUNDS OF NEURONS TALKING In 2008, biologist and author Professor Brian Ford localised the sound of neurons communicating with one another. Cultured brain cells in the lab, when sending an impulse or what’s known as spiking, make a crazy little buzz sound around 40Mhz. Professor Ford took this sound and stretched it out to 20 seconds to hear what is inside the spike. He believes since nerve cells are the most developed,  they do more than just turn on and off, which is what sends or receives signals and where many believe thought to originate from….he believes that the thought is in the nerve cell.  Via. Image.  Click here to listen.  …one of my favorites from this year.

psydoctor8:

THE SOUNDS OF NEURONS TALKING

In 2008, biologist and author Professor Brian Ford localised the sound of neurons communicating with one another.

Cultured brain cells in the lab, when sending an impulse or what’s known as spiking, make a crazy little buzz sound around 40Mhz. Professor Ford took this sound and stretched it out to 20 seconds to hear what is inside the spike. He believes since nerve cells are the most developed,  they do more than just turn on and off, which is what sends or receives signals and where many believe thought to originate from….he believes that the thought is in the nerve cell.  Via. Image.

 
Click here to listen. 

…one of my favorites from this year.

psydoctor8

Suicide Cells Researchers find that people have have committed suicide have more of a particular kind of neuron -call von Economo neurons- which are believed to be an import cell for social emotions, maybe even empathy and guilt. These cells bear receptors for neuro­transmitters that help to regulate emotion, such as dopamine, serotonin and vasopressin. Because they are found in highly gregarious animals such as whales, elephants and apes—with humans possessing the highest densities—scientists believe they might specifically deal with complex social emotions such as shame. (via) The density of VENs (von Economo neurons) was significantly greater in the ACC of suicide victims with psychotic disorders compared with psychotic individuals who died from other causes. This effect was restricted to the right ACC. VEN density in the ACC seems to be increased in suicide victims with psychosis. This finding may support the assumption that VEN have a special role in emotion processing and self-evaluation, including negative self-appraisal.  Full article here. My research now is about the lack of empathy relating to cruelty to others and what neural correlates are involved -so I have to wonder to what degree would a significant absence of these von Economo neurons explain the low levels of empathy in psychopaths, sociopaths, narcissists, and people with borderline personality disorder?

Suicide Cells

Researchers find that people have have committed suicide have more of a particular kind of neuron -call von Economo neurons- which are believed to be an import cell for social emotions, maybe even empathy and guilt.

These cells bear receptors for neuro­transmitters that help to regulate emotion, such as dopamine, serotonin and vasopressin. Because they are found in highly gregarious animals such as whales, elephants and apes—with humans possessing the highest densities—scientists believe they might specifically deal with complex social emotions such as shame. (via)

The density of VENs (von Economo neurons) was significantly greater in the ACC of suicide victims with psychotic disorders compared with psychotic individuals who died from other causes. This effect was restricted to the right ACC. VEN density in the ACC seems to be increased in suicide victims with psychosis. This finding may support the assumption that VEN have a special role in emotion processing and self-evaluation, including negative self-appraisal. 

Full article here.

My research now is about the lack of empathy relating to cruelty to others and what neural correlates are involved -so I have to wonder to what degree would a significant absence of these von Economo neurons explain the low levels of empathy in psychopaths, sociopaths, narcissists, and people with borderline personality disorder?

Neurophysicists to everyone: “There is an optimal brain frequency” We may be familiar with the concept of electrical/chemical signals relating to neural communication. So, now imagine of every synapse branching out from every neuron - like an antenna, is tuned to a different frequency signal with a specific optimal point and this optimum frequency point depends on the location of the synapse on a neuron. The farther away the synapse is from the neuron’s cell body, the higher the optimum frequency was found to be.  And it seems the more rhythmicly synced the frequencies were - the stronger the connection for memory and learning synapses.  The researchers found that not only does each synapse have a preferred frequency for achieving optimal learning, but for the best effect, the frequency needs to be perfectly rhythmic — timed at exact intervals. Even at the optimal frequency, if the rhythm was thrown off, synaptic learning was substantially diminished. Their research also showed that once a synapse learns, its optimal frequency changes. In other words, if the optimal frequency for a naïve synapse — one that has not learned anything yet — was, say, 30 spikes per second, after learning, that very same synapse would learn optimally at a lower frequency, say 24 spikes per second. Thus, learning itself changes the optimal frequency for a synapse. As well as possibly strengthening and enhancing learning and memory, learning-induced re-tuning and de-tuning could be have “important implications for treating disorders related to forgetting, such as PTSD disorder”.  via Life is just a frequency… The image shows a neuron with a tree trunk-like dendrite. Each triangular shape touching the dendrite represents a synapse, where inputs from other neurons, called spikes, arrive (the squiggly shapes). Synapses that are further away on the dendritic tree from the cell body require a higher spike frequency (spikes that come closer together in time) and spikes that arrive with perfect timing to generate maximal learning. VIA image

Neurophysicists to everyone: “There is an optimal brain frequency”

We may be familiar with the concept of electrical/chemical signals relating to neural communication. So, now imagine of every synapse branching out from every neuron - like an antenna, is tuned to a different frequency signal with a specific optimal point and this optimum frequency point depends on the location of the synapse on a neuron. The farther away the synapse is from the neuron’s cell body, the higher the optimum frequency was found to be.  And it seems the more rhythmicly synced the frequencies were - the stronger the connection for memory and learning synapses.

 The researchers found that not only does each synapse have a preferred frequency for achieving optimal learning, but for the best effect, the frequency needs to be perfectly rhythmic — timed at exact intervals. Even at the optimal frequency, if the rhythm was thrown off, synaptic learning was substantially diminished.

Their research also showed that once a synapse learns, its optimal frequency changes. In other words, if the optimal frequency for a naïve synapse — one that has not learned anything yet — was, say, 30 spikes per second, after learning, that very same synapse would learn optimally at a lower frequency, say 24 spikes per second. Thus, learning itself changes the optimal frequency for a synapse.

As well as possibly strengthening and enhancing learning and memory, learning-induced re-tuning and de-tuning could be have “important implications for treating disorders related to forgetting, such as PTSD disorder”.  via

Life is just a frequency…

The image shows a neuron with a tree trunk-like dendrite. Each triangular shape touching the dendrite represents a synapse, where inputs from other neurons, called spikes, arrive (the squiggly shapes). Synapses that are further away on the dendritic tree from the cell body require a higher spike frequency (spikes that come closer together in time) and spikes that arrive with perfect timing to generate maximal learning. VIA

image

THE SOUNDS OF NEURONS TALKING In 2008, biologist and author Professor Brian Ford localised the sound of neurons communicating with one another. Cultured brain cells in the lab, when sending an impulse or what’s known as spiking, make a crazy little buzz sound around 40Mhz. Professor Ford took this sound and stretched it out to 20 seconds to hear what is inside the spike. He believes since nerve cells are the most developed,  they do more than just turn on and off, which is what sends or receives signals and where many believe thought to originate from….he believes that the thought is in the nerve cell.  Via. Image.  Click here to listen. 

THE SOUNDS OF NEURONS TALKING

In 2008, biologist and author Professor Brian Ford localised the sound of neurons communicating with one another.

Cultured brain cells in the lab, when sending an impulse or what’s known as spiking, make a crazy little buzz sound around 40Mhz. Professor Ford took this sound and stretched it out to 20 seconds to hear what is inside the spike. He believes since nerve cells are the most developed,  they do more than just turn on and off, which is what sends or receives signals and where many believe thought to originate from….he believes that the thought is in the nerve cell.  Via. Image.

 
Click here to listen. 


Welcome to your neurons!

“I seem to spend ages talking about neurons, synapses, action potentials, connections,neurotransmitters, and different brain areas. But for all that, a lot of people don’t really know what a neuron looks like and where the connections are taking place. So it’s time to get back to basics. And that means a neuron (of course, things can get WAY more basic and in turn get more complicated, but we’re sticking with the neurons for now).”    Via click thru for more.

Great Job on breakin it down, Sci!  boogie woogie woogie.

New office art.

New office art.

Images of the brain produced using the Brainbow technique. (via)… a method that enables many distinct cells within a brain circuit to be viewed at one time. The ‘Brainbow’ technique can paint hundreds of individual neurons with distinctive hues, producing a detailed map of neuronal circuitry. (via)

Images of the brain produced using the Brainbow technique. (via)… a method that enables many distinct cells within a brain circuit to be viewed at one time. The ‘Brainbow’ technique can paint hundreds of individual neurons with distinctive hues, producing a detailed map of neuronal circuitry. (via)

neurolove: Brainbow is pretty awesome, so I thought I would show another picture of the technology created by a researcher at Harvard.  Essentially, differing amounts of flourescent proteins in every single cell mean that each neuron is a different color.  This means it is much easier to follow a single neuron along the axon and dendrites and see where it connects to, etc. since all the surrounding cells are different colors.  These cells are from the brainstem of a mouse, specifically the part involved with neurons that carry hearing information.  Therefore, it is titled, “A Mouse Listening”.  It looks more like art than brain to me, but this might suggest that our brains are the ultimate pieces of art… [Image Source]

neurolove:

Brainbow is pretty awesome, so I thought I would show another picture of the technology created by a researcher at Harvard.  Essentially, differing amounts of flourescent proteins in every single cell mean that each neuron is a different color.  This means it is much easier to follow a single neuron along the axon and dendrites and see where it connects to, etc. since all the surrounding cells are different colors.  These cells are from the brainstem of a mouse, specifically the part involved with neurons that carry hearing information.  Therefore, it is titled, “A Mouse Listening”.  It looks more like art than brain to me, but this might suggest that our brains are the ultimate pieces of art…

[Image Source]

neurolove

neurolove: [Image Source] This is an image of a neuron in an Aplysia (sea slug) taken by some researchers at Cornell and featured on the cover of J Neurosci in 2004.  The dye they used (DHPESBP) was sensitive to the membrane potential.  We know that when a neuron fires, the membrane potential changes, becoming more positive.  This dye can become brighter or dimmer with the changing membrane potential, meaning that as the signal from the dye changes, you are watching action potentials go through the neuron.  Really incredible.

neurolove:

[Image Source]

This is an image of a neuron in an Aplysia (sea slug) taken by some researchers at Cornell and featured on the cover of J Neurosci in 2004.  The dye they used (DHPESBP) was sensitive to the membrane potential.  We know that when a neuron fires, the membrane potential changes, becoming more positive.  This dye can become brighter or dimmer with the changing membrane potential, meaning that as the signal from the dye changes, you are watching action potentials go through the neuron.  Really incredible.

neurolove

neurolove: [Image Source] How they got this image is blowing my mind.  They don’t say how they labeled it this lovely blue color or how they got the spines (the parts of the neuron that make connections to other neurons) to be gray.  You can again marvel at the sheer number of connections neurons will make.  I love the colors though, so I thought I would share it regardless.  My brain is a bit fried from a big exam I had this past weekend through this week.  I’m sorry I haven’t posted much this week, but I’m going to rest my brain and be back on Monday with some hopefully interesting reasons to love neuroscience!  In the meantime, if there is something you want answered when my brain begins to work again, ask it here! beautiful.

neurolove:

[Image Source]

How they got this image is blowing my mind.  They don’t say how they labeled it this lovely blue color or how they got the spines (the parts of the neuron that make connections to other neurons) to be gray.  You can again marvel at the sheer number of connections neurons will make.  I love the colors though, so I thought I would share it regardless.  My brain is a bit fried from a big exam I had this past weekend through this week.  I’m sorry I haven’t posted much this week, but I’m going to rest my brain and be back on Monday with some hopefully interesting reasons to love neuroscience!  In the meantime, if there is something you want answered when my brain begins to work again, ask it here!

beautiful.

neurolove

neurolove: [Image Source] This is a really nice picture of a neuron that has been labeled with GFP.  GFP (green fluorescent protein) is a protein that was found naturally in a kind of jellyfish.  It’s now frequently inserted into genomes so that when those cells make proteins, they make ones that glow green (when exposed to blue wavelengths of light).  We take it for granted now adays, but it’s a pretty cool thing when you think about it (we have DNA that makes things glow green!) This neuron is also pretty cool because you can see a bunch of bumps along the dendrites (which have beautiful arbors- which is just what it sounds like- branching arms from the round cell body).  Those bumps along the dendrites are spines, which allow that neuron to connect to other neurons.  Think if each of those spines is a connection… and you see so many of them… you can kind of get an idea of how very many connections each neuron has- and how very many connections that would add up to with billions of neurons in the brain.  Pretty incredible, is it not?

neurolove:

[Image Source]

This is a really nice picture of a neuron that has been labeled with GFP.  GFP (green fluorescent protein) is a protein that was found naturally in a kind of jellyfish.  It’s now frequently inserted into genomes so that when those cells make proteins, they make ones that glow green (when exposed to blue wavelengths of light).  We take it for granted now adays, but it’s a pretty cool thing when you think about it (we have DNA that makes things glow green!)

This neuron is also pretty cool because you can see a bunch of bumps along the dendrites (which have beautiful arbors- which is just what it sounds like- branching arms from the round cell body).  Those bumps along the dendrites are spines, which allow that neuron to connect to other neurons.  Think if each of those spines is a connection… and you see so many of them… you can kind of get an idea of how very many connections each neuron has- and how very many connections that would add up to with billions of neurons in the brain.  Pretty incredible, is it not?

neurolove