Neuroscience deals with the structure and function of the nervous system and its components in biological organisms.
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Text/resource with information on all skeletal muscles and their motor units
Something analogous to an encyclopedia on baseball players with a list of all thier stats would be ideal.
I'm not looking for just generic muscle names, locations and illustrations.
Good answers ...
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1answer
632 views
What causes REM atonia to be lost in sleepwalking?
I understand that in normal REM sleep the voluntary muscles are in effect paralysed in order to prevent an individual acting out their dreams. This paper indicates that there are likley to be ...
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1answer
448 views
SPINAL CORD: Do the axons from white matter synapse with the cell bodies in grey matter?
After wading through a sea of information, I understand the main differences between the white matter and grey matter of the spinal cord.
I know that white matter contains myelinated axons in the ...
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2answers
282 views
Is it possible for any animals today to have more than one brain?
Is it possible for any organisms in the animal kingdom to have more than one brain?
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348 views
Density of neurons/cells in the mouse brain
Could someone point out some relevant papers or resources (an online DB maybe?) describing the density of neurons (or, more in general, of cells) in different areas of the mouse brain?
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1answer
100 views
Epilepsy explained by computational neuroscience
A few years ago, on my maths masters, I did a module in theoretical neuroscience. I was shown that the mathematical framework the course developed for neurons, with a small adjustment in the ...
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1answer
151 views
How old does a baby have to be before it can retain memories?
For most people (my earliest memories are of perhaps when I was 2 or so) their earliest memories would be when they were over a year old.
How old does the average baby have to be before it can ...
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1answer
196 views
Is it purely the nervous system causing vaginal lubrication (arousal)?
My girlfriend was watching some documentary on TLC about a paralyzed woman getting pregnant. I believe that woman still has some feeling, as she spoke about feeling the effects of a bladder ...
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2answers
107 views
Why are melodies/harmonies perceived as pleasurable by humans?
Is there any evolutionary advantage to finding melodies or harmonies pleasurable? Does the ear pick up these particular oscillating waves differently from other sounds, and if so, how does that affect ...
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1answer
97 views
Latency to audition in human beings?
On average, in a human being with no neurological deficits, how long does it take for a sound which is sensed in the ear to reach the cortex?
Which brainstem structures are most responsible for the ...
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1answer
112 views
Understanding Membrane / Resting Potential from the perspective of ions?
From wikipedia article RESTING potential: "there is no actual measurable charge excess in either side. That occurs because the effect of charge on electrochemical potential is hugely greater than ...
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1answer
138 views
Why apes started to contemplate and become altruistic? [closed]
I was asking this first on philosophy forums, but it is suggested, that answer could be found from evolutionary view of point, so here we go:
Again my question raised when thinking of myths, their ...
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1answer
480 views
What are the positive and negative effects of insulin on cognitive function?
A UCLA study seems to imply that insulin interferes with cognitive function.
The DHA-deprived rats also developed signs of resistance to insulin, a
hormone that controls blood sugar and ...
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2answers
954 views
What actually happens when my leg 'falls asleep'?
Most people have experienced the temporary loss of feeling and tingling in their leg resulting from sitting in an abnormal position for a short while. Usually you get a loss of feeling in your leg ...
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2answers
1k views
How do the brain and nerves create electrical pulses?
I have heard that information is sent between the brain and peripheral nerves via electrical pulses or signals, but I don't understand how they create them in the first place.
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488 views
Why do neurons die so quickly (relative to other cells) when deprived of oxygen?
This question could be considered a follow-up question to Why is a lack of oxygen fatal to cells?, although the top answer there does not address why damage starts to pop in.
The answer says this:
...
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1answer
153 views
Why is the Patellar reflex not triggered when the tendon is extended slowly?
I have been previously told that the Patellar reflex (knee-jerk-reaction) exists to prevent the hyper-extension of the patellar tendon. Yet if the impact to the tendon is delivered slowly - i.e. by ...
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1answer
64 views
If inhibiting S6 kinase decreases protein translation, then could inhibiting S6 kinase could possibly slow down long-term potentiation in neurons?
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P70S6_kinase...
Phosphorylation of S6 induces protein synthesis at the ribosome.
P70S6 kinase is in a signaling pathway that includes mTOR (the
mammalian ...
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70 views
Why do the brains of cocaine-users shrink faster than the brains of non-cocaine users?
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/04/cocaine-may-age-the-brain.html?rss=1
Cocaine-dependent individuals showed a significantly greater-than-normal age-related decline in gray matter in ...
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91 views
Can one dendrite pass through another?
While tracing dendrites on EyeWire I encountered the following situation. They belong to an Orientation Selective Ganglion Cell.
It's the first dendrite I've noticed with such a clear 'hole' in it, ...
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1answer
72 views
Soma-soma paired neurons
I'm reading this paper for a presentation I have to do. Since I have no real biology background I encountered a few questions and one I couldn't find an answer using my google-fu.
It's about how ...
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1answer
179 views
Brain + ethanol experiment suggestions needed
I need to demonstrate the effects of ethanol on a human brain (or other brain with developed telencephalon) in vitro; ideally the effects on vigilance and/or memory.
Could you please suggest such an ...
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1answer
75 views
Does the Parasympathetic Tract of Colon Sigmoideum Travel with Nervus Vagus and its Nucleus Dorsalis Nervi Vagi?
I have the following tractus now:
nucleus parasymphaticus sacrales -> nervus splanchnic -> ganglion
terminalis -> colon sigmoideum
The tract is parasympathetic.
It suggests me that it should ...
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1answer
64 views
Are CN3, CN7, CN9 and CN10 the only Parasymphatetic Cranial Nerves?
It has been my thought for a long time that that is the case but I am unsure about it now, since the parasympathetic tract of colon sigmoideum does not seem to have connection with CN 10. It connects ...
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1answer
58 views
Somatosensory System
I have a test in my upcoming Neuroscience class, one of the items on the study guide is:
Identify 2 means by which a maintained, constant stimulus produces only a transient excitation of the ...
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3answers
309 views
Do men have more extreme variations than women?
This question was considered unsuitable for Skeptics and I think it is more suited to BIology than Cognitive Sciences
I was reading this article which I found interesting. It is not supported with ...
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1answer
198 views
What is a inhibitory tone when talking about neurons?
In this SE answer: Could an "overactive" brain increase the chances of Alzheimer's Disease?
user @nico used the word inhibitory tone What does that ...
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1answer
84 views
What evidence gives clues to the physiological basis for conversion disorder?
Conversion disorder has a set of DSM diagnosis criteria, which, among other things, includes ruling out all neurological disease.
However, as the media has shown us (and one could argue a biased ...
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1answer
126 views
What are the constraints when growing an artificial brain?
Are there any experiments on growing artificial brains from brain tissue?
What are the constraints? Will such tissue grown to the mass greater than that of human brain surpass it in intellect or it ...
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1answer
156 views
Is the minicolumn the unit of the neocortex?
There are many arguments for what the unit of the neocortex is. "Columns" seem to be the standard, but what exactly those are is extremely contradictory between individuals, cortical regions, and ...
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1answer
123 views
Do taller people have larger somatosensory cortices than short people?
Do taller people have larger somatosensory cortices than short people? What about larger motor cortices? And if so, could this imply that they have less space devoted to other functions, like ...
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1answer
187 views
Is it correct that the body only responds to the most painful stimulus?
I'm rather ashamed to say that this question is partly based on an episode of House.
I have previously heard that, if there are multiple simultaneous painful stimuli, the mind will only feel the ...
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1answer
3k views
How reversible is decerebrate posturing caused by brain stem damage?
This is a follow-up question to How likely would Abraham Lincoln be to survive his wounds today?
You don't have to see a CT scan or autopsy to know if the brainstem is
injured (directly or ...
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151 views
What would be the conduction speed of A-alpha fibers, were they unmyelinated?
It's known (Hursh 1939) that myelinated axons exhibit the behavior v = 6d, where v is the propagation speed [m/s] and d is the axon diameter [μm].
A related relation for unmyelinated axons is ...
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If D1 receptors stimulate adenylate cyclase (through GPCRs) and D2 receptors inhibit it, then why do mutations in both have similar effects?
D1 and D2 both refer to specific types of dopamine receptors.
I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that the D1 receptors are in regions different from D2 receptors.
I know that adenylate ...
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1answer
551 views
How do dopamine agonists like amphetamine/methylphenidate affect acetylcholine signalling?
Do they increase it, or is the effect mostly neutral?
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317 views
Are there neurons that can sense light shining in your ears?
I know someone who bought earphones that shine light in you ears. According to what he was told, there are neurons that sense light and then make you feel wide awake when activated, which seemed like ...
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1answer
166 views
First discovery of long-term depression?
LTP was first described by Tim Bliss and Terje Lømo in their paper Long-lasting potentiation of synaptic transmission in the dentate area of the anaesthetized rabbit following stimulation of the ...
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1answer
91 views
What portions of the brain have drastic changes in activation when we “sense” someone is there?
I was watching an old Arnold Schwarzenegger movie ("Commando") where he plays an elite soldier (surprise). An enemy tries to sneak up on him, and Arnold says that he smelled the other guy ...
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2answers
489 views
How does a brain distinguish stimuli?
If all the brain ever "sees" is action potentials, how do we know that one set of action potentials denotes a flash of light, another one signifies a loud sound, etc ?
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160 views
Is the squid giant axon the fastest conducting unmyelinated axon known?
The conduction velocity of the squid giant axon can reach 30 m/s. Is there any known example of an even faster conducting unmyelinated axons?
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1answer
207 views
Why does regular exercise increase brain volume?
It has been shown in several studies that regular aerobic exercise increases brain volume in aging humans. The changes were observed in hippocampus and were correlated with dramatic reduction of ...
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1answer
81 views
Are Schwann cells the sole source of myelination in PNS?
Are Schwann cells the only source of myelin for axons in the peripheral nervous system, or are there other neuroglia or other processes that result in myelination of PNS axons?
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1answer
80 views
Are cerebellar basket and stellate neurons actually different cell types?
The title more or less says it all, but to contextualise a bit:
Cerebellar molecular layer interneurons have been classified, probably since Cajal, into the basket cells, which synapse onto the soma ...
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2answers
313 views
Do human beings have pheromone receptors?
What is the current consensus on whether or not humans have receptors that detect pheromones?
If there are purported receptors, in what anatomical areas are they located? With what organ systems do ...
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1answer
82 views
What are the main mechanisms of interaction between the nervous and immune systems?
We know from pop science that our psychological states have an effect on our immune systems ("worrying ourselves sick", etc.), but what are the actual mechanisms through which our nervous systems pass ...
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1answer
4k views
How does cerebrospinal fluid circulate in the central nervous system?
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is produced in the choroid plexus of the lateral ventricles and in the 4th ventricle of the brain. CSF then circulates through the ventricles of the brain and the ...
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276 views
What limits the maximum spacing of Nodes of Ranvier and which organisms tend to have the widest gaps?
Assuming that a longer distance between gaps in the myelin sheath is beneficial for an organism due to the increased propagation speed, what is the limiting factor in determining the maximum spacing ...
