Schema of the experimental device (arenas). (a) Set-up used during the conditioning phase. The time to find the reward was noted. (b) Slightly modified set-up used during the memory tests. The time spent by the ant in the vicinity of the odors (areas, in dashed lines) was recorded during 2 min. Each area measured...
Humans use a vast array of pharmaceuticals to stay healthy—what do those drugs and their breakdown products mean for the health of groundwater ecosystems? Credit: SharonDawn/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Engulfing a pill merely seems to make it disappear. In reality, drugs sooner or later leave your organism and go into waterways, where they can suffer more...
(Shubhangi Ganeshrao Kene/Science Photo Library/Getty Images)Alagille syndrome is a potentially deadly genetic disorder that affects numerous organs and systems, most notably the liver. Currently, there's no known treatment for it-- however, researchers have now identified a potentially effective therapy.Called NoRA1, the newly developed drug targets the Notch pathway, a cell-level signaling system in the...
Credit: James Yarema on UnsplashFor the millions of people living with diabetic issues, insulin is a life-saving drug. Unlike many other medicines, however, insulin can not be easily provided by swallowing a pill-- it needs to be injected under the skin with a syringe or pump. Scientists have been making steps towards an insulin...
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public DomainA team of neuroscientists led by a College of Pittsburgh Institution of Medicine scientist created a test to spot a new marker of Alzheimer's illness neurodegeneration in a blood sample. A research on their outcomes was released today in Brain.New BiomarkerThe biomarker, named brain-derived tau, or BD-tau, outperforms...
(Dougal Waters/Getty ImagesYou've driven home from work along the same course for the past five years. However, lately, you've been stopping at the same intersection, struggling to remember if you must turn left or right. Many occasions in everyday life could make us question whether lapses in memory are common, a sign of cognitive...
Credit: Thor BalkhedAn artificial cornea made from pig skin might end our reliance on human donors and provide millions of individuals worldwide back their sight.The ChallengeThe cornea is a hard, transparent layer of tissue which covers the front side of the eye. It aids focus light on the retina, and if it is damaged...
A new panel report contends that compelling evidence backs a natural origin for the COVID-19 outbreak that first walloped Wuhan, China, in January 2020.HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGESThe acrimonious disscussion over the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic flared up again this week with a report from a specialist panel concluding that SARS-CoV-2 likely spread...
Credit: MedtronicAn early diagnosis means early treatment and a better chance of a positive result.Patient end results are often better when a disease is diagnosed and also cured early; however, some diseases do not trigger symptons until a patient is already sick-- ovarian cancer, for instance, can go undiscovered for ten years or...
Wake forest medical centerBrain electrodes developed to mimic the hippocampus appear to increase the encoding of memories-- and are two times as effective in people with bad memory.A singular form of brain stimulation seems to boost people's capability to remember new details-- by imitating how our brains create memories.Memory prosthesisThe "memory prosthesis," which includes...
