A French Man Who Lives A Relatively Normal, Healthy Life - Despite Missing 90 Percent Of His Brain -

(Image caption: The synapses of pyramid cells in the cerebral cortex form functional groups. Some of the related synapses are shown in green in the reconstruction. Credit: © MPI of Neurobiology / Scheuss)

Neurons form synapse clusters

The cerebral cortex resembles a vast switchboard. Countless lines carrying information about the environment, for example from the sensory organs, converge in the cerebral cortex. In order to direct the flow of data into meaningful pathways, the individual pyramidal cells of the cerebral cortex act like miniature switchboard operators. Each cell receives information from several thousand lines. If the signals make sense, the line is opened, and the information is relayed onward. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology in Martinsried have now shown for the first time that contact points between specific neuron types are clustered in groups on the target neuron. It is probable that signals are coordinated with each other in this way to make them more “convincing”.

The cells of the cerebral cortex have a lot to do. They process various types of information depending on the area in which they are located. For example, signals from the retina arrive in the visual cortex, where, among other things, the motion of objects is detected. The pyramidal cells of the cerebral cortex receive information from other cells through thousands of contact points called synapses. Depending on where, how many and how often synapses are activated, the cell relays the signal onward – or not.

Information is passed on in the form of electrical signals. The neurobiologists were able to measure these signals at various contact points of the neuron. “The exciting thing is that the signals that a cell receives from, say, ten simultaneously active synapses can be greater than the sum of the signals from the ten individual synapses,” says Volker Scheuss, summarizing the basis of his recently published study. “However, until now it was unclear whether this phenomenon can be explained by a specific arrangement of synapses on pyramidal cells.”

By combining modern methods, the neurobiologists in Tobias Bonhoeffer’s Department have analysed the arrangement of synapses. They were able to selectively activate a specific type of pyramid cell in brain slices from mice using optogenetics. Thanks to simultaneous “calcium imaging”, they were then able to observe and record the activity of individual synapses under a two-photon microscope. In this way, they succeeded in showing for the first time how synapses are arranged with respect to each other.

The result of such synapse mapping analysed with a newly developed algorithm was clear: The synapses of pyramidal cells form clusters consisting of 4 to 14 synapses arranged within an area of less than 30 micrometres along the dendrite. “The existence of these clusters suggests that the synapses interact with each other to control the strength of the combined signal,” explains Onur Gökçe, author of the study. This is the first anatomical explanation for the disproportionate strength of clustered synapse signals in comparison to the individual signals – a finding known from activity measurements. The observation in layer 5 pyramidal cells was of particular interest, as the activity of these cells oscillates synchronously. “This rhythmic activity, which probably influences the processing of visual information, could synchronously activate synapse clusters, thus boosting the overall signal received,” says Scheuss.

After the heart is “cleansed of blood and all cells”, only connective tissues remain. This is ideal for doing heart transplants because the recipient’s immune system is less likely to reject the ghost heart if it has no trances of the donor’s body. [Image via http://bit.ly/2izEnse]

Quote from #JaneGoodall primatologist and anthropologist. More quotes like this to inspire you in my new journal I Love Science, in stores March but ready for preorder now! #womeninscience #ilovescience #anthropology #scientificliteracy

Phenyllithium or lithobenzene is an organometallic agent with the empirical formula C6H5Li. Crystalline phenyllithium is colorless; however, solutions of phenyllithium are various shades of brown or red depending on the solvent. It is a highly air and moisture sensitive compound, that could be easily decomposed by any protic solvent. 

In this case it was a byproduct of a synthesis of an organophosphorous compound and it was only present in a LOW concentration, therefore it was safe to decompose it by simply adding cold water. It’s important to note that it could be dangerous to decompose organometallic compounds by simply adding water. Also, in this case, the highly toxic BENZENE was the product of this reaction, what should be handled with care.

Watch: Bill Nye uses science to defend women’s reproductive rights

Follow @the-future-now

The Hubble Space Telescope captured this picture of the wispy remains of a supernova explosion. The dust cloud in the upper center of the picture is the actual supernova remnant. The dense concentration of stars in the lower left is the outskirts of star cluster NGC 1850. Full resolution picture here. More info here. Credit: NASA, ESA, Y.-H. Chu (Academia Sinica, Taipei)

a mushroom rainbow to put the fun in fungi. cause they don’t need psilocybin to be magic. and though some mushrooms are coloured as a toxicity warning to predators, many others are brightly coloured to instead attract potential spore dispersers. see this for more on the bioluminescent mushrooms seen here. (photos)

Neurotransmitters are chemicals that help in transmitting signals across a synapse. Different neurotransmitters are associated with different functions. Knowledge about these helps us to treat various neurological conditions by either stimulating or inhibiting these production. #neurology #neuroscience #psychiatry #medicine #medstudynotes #medschool #mbbs #unimed #brain #nervoussystem #physiology #medblog #medblr #medstudent https://www.instagram.com/p/BrM4ocsBqJe/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=12tojib83c32d

Breaking News:

The Nobel Prize in Physics for 2018 has been awarded to Arthur Ashkin, Gerard Mourou and Donna Strickland “for groundbreaking inventions in the field of laser physics”.

Donna Strickland is the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 55 years.

Nobel Laureate Arthur Ashkin has been awarded the #NobelPrize in Physics “for the optical tweezers and their application to biological systems.”

Nobel Laureates Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland have been awarded the #NobelPrize in Physics “for their method of generating high-intensity, ultra-short optical pulses.”

Article here with more information about their work:

Arthur Ashkin, Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland win Nobel physics prize