Neurobiology

Cranes stop at Agmon Hula before continuing their migration north. Illustration: depositphotos.com

How does the bird never lose its way?

Technological adaptation of brain activity recording for birds allows us, for the first time, to answer the eternal question: How do they know where to fly?
Shaking hands may allow humans to communicate through the sense of smell. Illustration courtesy of the Weizmann Institute

Shaking hands may allow humans to communicate through the sense of smell

Research has shown that people sniff their hands often, and that they do so for a longer period of time after shaking someone else's hand.
New research suggests that the brain creates at least three copies of each memory. This also includes those encoded by early-formed neurons, which appear purple in a microscope cross-section of a mouse hippocampus. (Image credit: Biozentrum, University of Basel)

The brain stores at least three copies of each memory 

New research in mice suggests that the brain creates multiple copies of memories, allowing it to regulate their change over time
the call of the crow. Illustration: depositphotos.com

The crows know how to count... out loud!

Research shows that crows can intentionally produce up to four vocalizations in response to specific cues, indicating a non-symbolic number system and vocal control similar to that of human infants. This ability offers a foundation
Prof. Shani Stern. Photo - Haifa University Spokesperson

A new study at the University of Haifa found for the first time a connection between Parkinson's disease and the extracellular matrix in the brain

Extracellular matrix is ​​the part of the tissue that surrounds the cells and provides them with structural support. Beyond the structural function of the matrix, it is used for a variety of roles, such as separating tissues from one another and controlling
Prof. Hermona Sorek (right). Photo: Yosef Edst, courtesy of the Hebrew University

Breakthrough in Alzheimer's research among women

Professor Hermona Sorek, one of the world's leading researchers of gene expression in the brain, was able to find, in collaboration with her research colleagues, a molecular mechanism that occurs in the brains of Alzheimer's patients, which does not occur in men and which explains the acceleration
As we add ingredients to a fruit smoothie, it will be difficult to put our finger on the contribution of each ingredient to the final result. A fruit salad, on the other hand, allows you to combine flavors without masking the unique contribution of each fruit. Similarly, when checking the average gene expression in a certain tissue (left), it is not possible to distinguish the differences between different cells in the same tissue. Technological developments of recent years make it possible to measure the expression of genes in a tissue at the level of the single cell (right), thus characterizing with unprecedented resolution differences between cells in the same tissue

Each and every cell is stressed: first mapping of the "stress axis" at the individual cell level

From the brain to the adrenal glands - scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science and the Max Planck Institute have mapped the entire "stress axis" and shown how chronic stress affects and changes these tissues at the individual cell level. the scientists
A two-photon microscope image of a direction-coding cell in a mouse retina (the cell and its dendritic tree are marked in red) and around it starburst cells (in green) which are essential for calculating the direction of movement in most of the direction-coding cells

new direction

The "love hormone" or the "social hormone"?

The "love hormone" may also cause anxiety and aggression

autism. Illustration: shutterstock

The social life of nerve cells

"Similar to humans, the ability of bats to place others in space is essential for them." Photo: Brooke Fenton.

Me and the Guys: How the Brain Maps Social Space

Image for the main page only.

The way the brain deals with information that is not synchronized in time

Photo: Dawn.

move according to attention

Building an entire brain in a lab dish is impossible, but scientists do build cellular tissue that closely resembles the developing embryonic brain. Image: pixabay.com.

build a brain in the lab

Decreased mitochondrial calcium uptake in cells where the MTCH2 gene has been neutralized. The photo on the left shows a nerve cell that has not been genetically modified. The photo on the right shows a transgenic nerve cell (without MTCH2). Fluorescent sensors were inserted into the cells in order to illuminate the absorption of calcium in the mitochondria, and calcium was added to the growth medium of the cells. As you can see, the sensors illuminate significantly less in the engineered cell (the color scale ranges from blue, indicating low calcium absorption, to yellow, indicating high calcium absorption), which indicates impaired calcium absorption in the mitochondria. Source: from the article.

calcium escape from the brain

Brain slice of a genetically modified mouse. Neurons that express the CRFR1 receptor appear in green, and neurons that express the neurotransmitter CRF appear in red. The image was taken with a fluorescence microscope. Source: from the article.

Law of conservation of pressure

Common fruit bat. Weizmann Institute scientists report on a new type of neurons discovered in the bat brain. These neurons encode the direction and distance to the target to which the bat navigates and in this way they constitute a direct neural mechanism for navigating to targets. Source: Oren Pels, Derivative work: User:MathKnight, Wikimedia.

How the brain encodes the "destination point" that you want to reach

Neurons (dark green) and glial cells (yellow-green). Illustration: shutterstock

The neural networks reach a consensus

Timestamp of events burned into the brain. Illustration: Weizmann Institute

once in a lifetime experience

From the right: Dr. Ofer Yizhar, Dr. Matthias Friga, Niv Scott and Dr. Tali Kimchi. The next generation

The mothers and fathers

sense of smell. Photo: shutterstock

Humans' sense of smell creates a kind of "personal fingerprint"

Violent lab mice. Illustration: shutterstock

On smell, aggression and motherhood

The big jump

Right: Naama Kadmon Harpaz and Prof. Tamar Flesh. Uniform code for everyone

creative writing

Danit Oz Levy and Amir Gelman. Standing in the back, from the right: Prof. Doron Lantz and Prof. Zebulon Elazar. rare mutations

Mistakes on the way to recycling

From the right: Prof. Ehud Ahisher, Dr. Kanarik Bagdasarian and Dodi Deutsch. Perception

Between touch and sight

From the right: Yossi Shohat, Dr. Roni Paz and Uri Levana. Emotional information

The secret of a smile

Right: Dr. Elad Schneidman and Jordan Cohen. Learning patterns

Where is the border?

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