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Today, our guest is Nils Brose, Professor and Director of the Dept. of Molecular Biology at the Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine in Göttingen, Germany. We speak with him about the mechanisms of neurotransmitter release, how synapses might be built, and the role of the luck in the career of a scientist.
Pregnant women who are hospitalized for infections, including the flu, have a slightly higher risk for giving birth to a child with a neurodevelopmental disorder like autism. What's going on? Is the immune system influencing the developing brain?
Spoilers: yes. And it all starts when immune cells (microglia) are lured into the brain by the siren call of neural progenitor cells.
Read MoreMolecular biology is still defined by its "central dogma," but we often don’t use the word dogma in science unless we are about to contradict it. Here, Nick Kramer tells us about how circular RNAs, a newly discovered, highly conserved class of RNA molecules, are abundant in the brain and may contribute to its development.
Read MoreToday we'll be speaking with Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Carson Family Professor and at Rockefeller University. We'll be speaking with him about fundamental discoveries of new axon guidance molecules; his career path including many roles in both basic and translational science; and exciting unsolved mysteries in the field of axon guidance.
[Note: Our S5E6 interview with last week's speaker, Tianyi Mao, upcoming!]
"How can the brain think that the brain itself hurts (e.g., during a headache)? Are headaches and migraines (excluding secondary headaches) essentially psychosomatic in nature?"
Before I answer your question, I need to say one important thing: ouch!
That’s right – as I sat down at my keyboard to answer your question, I stubbed my toe quite painfully on my desk. Fortunately, this is a great time to explain how the brain processes pain, which will help answer your question.
Read MoreNeural stem cells help create new cells for the brain to maintain itself in normal circumstances and to heal itself after injury, but they come in a variety of flavors. What causes some types of neural stem cell to activate and drive regeneration, while others remain dormant?
Read MoreHow much does the brain know about itself? In this Ask a Neuroscientist, Guillaume Riesen considers three different types of "knowledge" that the brain might have about itself: physical sensations, energy usage, and abstract thought.
Read MoreToday, our guest is Mark George, Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), where he is director of the Brain Stimulation Laboratory. We’ll be speaking with him about using TMS to probe causality in the human brain, how vagal nerve stimulation could be working to treat depression, and a little bit of entemology /beekeeping.
“The witching hour… was a special moment in the middle of the night when every child and every grown-up was in a deep, deep sleep, and all the dark things came out from hiding and had the world all to themselves.”
-Roald Dahl, The BFG
In folklore and literature, the sleeping hours represent a state of heightened vulnerability, a time when the “ghoulies and ghosties, and long-leggedy beasties” roam free and wreak havoc. Today, neuroscientists are unraveling the biological underpinnings of nightmares, night terrors, and other sleep disturbances.
Recently, I had the chance to sit down to discuss these nighttime phenomena with biologist H. Craig Heller, PhD, a member of the Stanford Neurosciences Institute and an expert in the neurobiology of sleep.
Read MoreToday, our guest is Daniel Dombeck, an Assistant Professor of Neurobiology at Northwestern University. We’ll be speaking with him about microscopy in the brain; mouse virtual reality and the original "mouse on a ball"; and how to get your mouse to groom.
Home of NeuWrite West and the Stanford Neuroblog.
Do you have burning questions about how the brain works? You’ve come to the right place! Submit all your questions to NeuWrite West and we will have a neuroscientist research and answer your question.
Note: The NeuWrite West team consists of research scientists. Therefore, we can not provide answers to questions of a medical nature; we are not medical doctors.
Questions will have a turn-around time of approximately one month.
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