Neuron

Topic description and stories

Calcium may play a role in the development of Parkinson’s disease

19 Feb 2018

Researchers have found that excess levels of calcium in brain cells may lead to the formation of toxic clusters that are the hallmark of Parkinson’s...

Brain showing hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (plaques in blue)

New imaging technique measures toxicity of proteins associated with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases

23 Nov 2016

A new super-resolution imaging technique allows researchers to track how surface changes in proteins are related to neurodegenerative diseases such...

Brain of a frog embryo. The coloured structures are cell nuclei (containing DNA), the white structure in the center corresponds to the optic tract, which contains the neuronal axons studied.

Neurons feel the force – physical interactions control brain development

19 Sep 2016

Researchers have identified a new mechanism controlling brain development: that neurons not only ‘smell’ chemicals in their environment, but also ‘...

Zoomed-in super-resolution (dSTORM) images of the fibrils inside the neuron formed of exogenous ‘’seed’’ fibrils (green) elongated by endogenous α-synuclein (red)., Credit: Dorothea Pinotsi

Researchers identify when Parkinson’s proteins become toxic to brain cells

14 Mar 2016

Observation of the point at which proteins associated with Parkinson’s disease become toxic to brain cells could help identify how and why people...

A growing axon tip exhibits polarised mRNA translation (red), Credit: K-M. Leung

The amazing axon adventure

05 Feb 2016

How does the brain make connections, and how does it maintain them? Cambridge neuroscientists and mathematicians are using a variety of techniques to...

Modelling how the brain makes complex decisions

04 Feb 2016

Researchers have built the first biologically realistic mathematical model of how the brain plans and learns when faced with a complex decision-...

Graphene shown to safely interact with neurons in the brain

29 Jan 2016

Researchers have shown that graphene can be used to make electrodes that can be implanted in the brain, which could potentially be used to restore...

Left: cricket on a trackball during experiment. Right: Auditory neuron in cricket brain.

Neural circuit in the cricket brain detects the rhythm of the right mating call

11 Sep 2015

Delay mechanism within elegant brain circuit consisting of just five neurons means female crickets can automatically detect chirps of males from same...

Link between proteins points to possibilities for future Alzheimer’s treatments

23 Apr 2015

Researchers have identified how proteins that play a key role in Alzheimer’s disease are linked in a pathway that controls its progression, and that...