Neuroscience deals with the structure and function of the nervous system and its components in biological organisms.
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How does the brain's energy consumption depend on mental activity?
What is the impact of mental activity on the energy consumption of the human brain?
I am most interested in intellectually demanding tasks (e.g., chess matches, solving a puzzle, taking a difficult ...
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2answers
247 views
How is temperature sensed?
Can anyone summarize the mechanism by which when an object of a given temperature is placed in contact with, say, the skin on a human fingertip, the average speed of the particles of the object is ...
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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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Under what conditions do dendritic spines form?
I'm looking for resources or any information about the formation of dendritic spines and synaptogenesis, especially in relation to how new connections are formed on a daily basis.
Does the ...
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3answers
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Long-term-potentiation and memory. Where do we stand?
I was reading the answers to the question: How and where, in the human brain, are memories stored? and, as expected, LTP and LTD came out.
Every time I read about LTP/LTD there is always something ...
14
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2answers
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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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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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642 views
How and where, in the human brain, are memories stored?
Background
I am a computer programmer who is fascinated by artificial intelligence and artificial neural networks, and I am becoming more curious about how biological neural networks work.
Context ...
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1answer
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Do adjacent axons in a nerve influence each other?
Suppose I have a nerve fiber consisting of several axons all running in parallel to each other. When an action potential is generated in a certain axon, this will alter the concentration of sodium ...
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1answer
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How do neurons form new connections in brain plasticity?
I've been reading about brain plasticity and how the brain can "rewire" itself.
One of the things that is not clear to me - how neurons can establish new connections. Does this rewiring mean that ...
12
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1answer
514 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:
...
10
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2answers
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Could an “overactive” brain increase the chances of Alzheimer's Disease?
From Raichle ME. 2010. Two views of brain function. Trends in cognitive sciences 14: 180–90:
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common cause of progressive
cognitive decline and dementia in ...
6
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1answer
78 views
Which brain regions are D1 dopamine receptors expressed, and which brain regions are D2 dopamine receptors expressed?
This is a follow-up question to If D1 receptors stimulate adenylate cyclase (through GPCRs) and D2 receptors inhibit it, then why do mutations in both have similar effects?.
As a further question - ...
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0answers
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What light intensity determines the start/end of a photoperiod in humans?
I'm reading this article, which discusses the influence of Long Photoperiod (LP) and Short Photoperiod (SP) on melatonin production:
HIOMT drives the photoperiodic changes in the amplitude of the ...
4
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1answer
687 views
How does this illusion work?
I found this image on Google+
If you shake your head you can see a portrait of a person. Can anyone explain how the image is constructed in the brain?
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0answers
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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 ...
6
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2answers
417 views
How does an inhibitory synapse communicate to the cell body of a neuron?
I picture a neuron as having multiple trees of dendrites attached to the cell body with a single axon leaving the cell body. I believe the cell body near the axon root makes the decision to fire or ...
5
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2answers
77 views
How does a pinched nerve cause pain (at the molecular level)?
Is this due to pressure differentials in the surrounding tissue? (Is it possible to have a pinched nerve without compression of the surrounding tissues, and does this cause pain?)
What are the ...
4
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1answer
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What protocol does the nervous system use?
I just read How does an inhibitory synapse communicate to the cell body of a neuron? and found myself asking this question ... hopefully I'm not asking the same thing
Any body possessed of a nervous ...
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2answers
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What is the function of nodes of Ranvier in axons?
In a neuroscience class I'm taking, it was explained that myelin covers axons in sections, the uncovered sections are called nodes of Ranvier, and signals propagate much faster in the covered ...
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1answer
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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 ...
