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neurons

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A human figure’s brain with a “low battery” icon on it.
neuroscience

The Brain Has a ‘Low-Power Mode’ That Blunts Our Senses

By Allison Whitten
June 14, 2022
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Neuroscientists uncovered an energy-saving mode in vision-system neurons that works at the cost of being able to see fine-grained details.

A video that shows washes of light moving across a model of a human brain.
neuroscience

Brain Chemical Helps Signal to Neurons When to Start a Movement

By Allison Whitten
March 22, 2022
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Dopamine, a neurochemical often associated with reward behavior, also seems to help organize precisely when the brain initiates movements. It’s the latest revelation about the power of neuromodulators.

Image of Trichoplax adhaerens moving against a black background.
biomechanics

This Animal’s Behavior Is Mechanically Programmed

By Jordana Cepelewicz
March 16, 2022
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Biomechanical interactions, rather than neurons, control the movements of one of the simplest animals. The discovery offers a glimpse into how animal behavior worked before neurons evolved.

neural networks

AI Overcomes Stumbling Block on Brain-Inspired Hardware

By Allison Whitten
February 17, 2022
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Algorithms that use the brain’s communication signal can now work on analog neuromorphic chips, which closely mimic our energy-efficient brains.

Illustration of a person remembering the orientation of an arrow, but also a range of other orientations it might have had.
neuroscience

Neural Noise Shows the Uncertainty of Our Memories

By Veronique Greenwood
January 18, 2022
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The electrical chatter of our working memories reflects our uncertainty about their contents.

2021 in Review

The Year in Biology

By John Rennie
December 21, 2021
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The detailed understanding of brains and multicellular bodies reached new heights this year, while the genomes of the COVID-19 virus and various organisms yielded more surprises.

3D model of several pyramidal neurons in cortical layer 5 of mammalian brain.
neuroscience

New Brain Maps Can Predict Behaviors

By Monique Brouillette
December 6, 2021
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Rapid advances in large-scale connectomics are beginning to spotlight the importance of individual variations in the neural circuitry. They also highlight the limitations of “wiring diagrams” alone.

Illustration of tangled branches that can also look like the folds in a brain.
neuroscience

To Be Energy-Efficient, Brains Predict Their Perceptions

By Anil Ananthaswamy
November 15, 2021
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Results from neural networks support the idea that brains are “prediction machines” — and that they work that way to conserve energy.

immunology

The Brain Can Recall and Reawaken Past Immune Responses

By Esther Landhuis
November 8, 2021
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The brain not only helps to regulate immune responses, but also stores and retrieves “memories” of them.


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