When looking for food, the roundworm C. elegans searches the same area for up to 20 minutes before trying its luck at more distant locales. New research on the worm’s brain explains how this behavior arises at the level of molecules and cells.
Scientists have learned new tricks that could be useful in preventing mosquito-borne illnesses such as Zika and yellow fever. A new study shows that some appetite-reducing drugs can curtail the insects’ impulse to feed on warm-blooded hosts.
By analyzing gene expression patterns, researchers have identified previously unknown distinctions between mouse and human neurons. They have also developed a new way to track cellular changes associated with brain disorders.
Researchers have assembled a new and improved DNA catalogue for the mosquito Aedes aegypti. This tool will help researchers understand the insect’s biology, and may lead to new strategies for preventing diseases like Zika and dengue.
Maimon, who studies cognition and decision-making, and Marraffini, who studies the bacterial defense system CRISPR-Cas, are among 19 scientists nationwide to receive this designation.
Scientists have discovered a curious way for cells to die. In studying it, they are learning about how remnants of diseased cells are normally chewed up and removed.
A new study illuminates the biology that guides behavior across different stages of life in worms, and suggests how variations in specific neuromodulators in the developing nervous system may lead to occasional variations.
Our ability to hear relies on tiny bundles of hair-like sensors inside the inner ear. Scientists have identified a key component of the machinery that makes these bundles grow in an orderly fashion.
Scientists have discovered a group of brain cells that may play a role in keeping smokers addicted to nicotine. Their work could ultimately lead to new drugs to help people conquer their tobacco dependence.
Ruta, who explores how brains produce such flexible responses to fixed stimuli, has been promoted to Gabrielle H. Reem and Herbert J. Kayden associate professor.
Kronauer has been promoted to associate professor. He has dedicated his laboratory to investigating the molecular basis underlying complex social behavior among insects.
A protein transferred from male to female mosquitoes during sex influences female mating behavior—a phenomenon that could be exploited to limit the spread of mosquito-borne illnesses like Zika and dengue.
Young was honored for his discoveries of molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm. He accepted the Nobel medal and diploma from King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.
Researchers have found that the cells directing the very first steps of brain formation are not other neurons, as scientists have long assumed. They've also uncovered previously hidden molecular pathways that attract neurons into the brain.
Hatten is awarded for her significant contributions to neuroscience. She studies the mechanisms of neuronal differentiation and migration during the early stages of embryonic development.
Scientists found that inhibiting a regulatory protein alters the intricate signaling chemistry that is responsible for many of the disease’s symptoms. The findings provide a path to possible therapeutics for disorders associated with Fragile X.
Bargmann is honored for her research exploring how genes and the environment interact to generate a variety of behaviors, and how behavioral decisions are modified by context and experience.
Scientists have found unexpected differences in how male and female mice respond to stress. Their findings are raising big questions about sex discrepancies in the brain and their impact on neuropsychiatric disease.
Rockefeller University biologist Michael W. Young, who studies the biological clocks that regulate sleep, metabolism, and response to disease, is this year’s recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Scientists have located two areas in the brain that help us recognize familiar faces. The discovery will help them delve deeper into the relationship between face recognition, memory, and social knowledge.
Scientists disrupted a gene essential for sensing pheromones, resulting in severe deficiencies in the ants’ social behaviors and their ability to survive within a colony.
Within the oldest part of the brain, scientists have found cells in charge of controlling appetite and eating. The discovery could revitalize efforts to develop drugs for obesity that make us less hungry.
Neuroscientists have taken a major step toward answering longstanding questions about how Prozac and similar drugs act in the brain. Their findings could lead to better antidepressants that don't take weeks to kick in.
To learn more about dolphin cognition and communication, researchers have developed an underwater touchscreen using optical technology, the first of its kind.
