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Scientists Use a Haunted House to Study Fear
Researchers at Caltech are getting into the Halloween Spirit! Colin Camerer, the Robert Kirby Professor of Behavioral Economics and director of the T&C Chen Center for Social and Decision Neuroscience and his colleague Dean Mobbs, an assistant professor of cognitive neuroscience and Chen Scholar at Caltech are teaming up with a seasonal haunted house near Los Angeles […]
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Mending Broken Hearts with Neural Crest Cells
Zebrafish—striped fish a few centimeters long—have the ability to regrow up to 20 percent of their hearts after sustaining major damage. Research published in the journal eLife, done in the lab of Marianne Bronner, Albert Billings Ruddock Professor of Biology, director of the Beckman Institute and affiliated faculty member of the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen […]
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Caltech Researcher Discovers that Male and Female Mouse Brains have Different Neurons
New research done in collaboration between David Anderson, PhD, Seymour Benzer Professor of Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and director of the Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience and a team at the Allen Institute for Brain Science recently discovered rare brain cell types that are unique to male mice and other types that […]
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Researchers Make it Possible for Ultrasound to Reveal Gene Expression
Caltech Professor Mikhail Shapiro has overcome one of the main limitations to using “reporter genes,” markers that help researchers get a sense for what cells are doing. Because light does not penetrate well through most living tissue, the commonly used green fluorescent protein cannot be used for monitoring the activity of cells deep inside an […]
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How Memories Form and Fade
Ever wonder why you can remember the name of your childhood best friend that you haven’t seen in years yet easily forget the name of a person you just met a moment ago? New research done in the laboratory of TCCI®-affiliated biology professor Carlos Lois at Caltech, uses mouse models to determine that strong, […]
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Orchestrating Development in the Fly Embryo
New research from TCCI®-affiliated faculty member, Professor Angelike Stathopoulos, at Caltech illuminates how proteins act like conductors, giving cues during the earliest stages of development in fruit flies. This work will help us better understand basic biology underlying human development. Read more on Caltech’s website
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Settling the Debate on Seratonin’s role in Sleep
Caltech scientists have answered a long-debated question about the role of serotonin in relation to sleep, finding that it IS necessary for sleep in Zebrafish and mouse models. The work is a collaboration between the Caltech laboratories of David Prober, professor of biology and affiliated faculty member of TCCI® at Caltech and Viviana Gradinaru, […]
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Gut Bacteria Influence Autism-Like Behaviors In Mice
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects an estimated one in 59 people in the United States, causing a variety of difficulties with social communication and repetitive behavior. Many factors, including genetic and environmental effects, are believed to influence symptoms, and there are no approved treatments. Now, using mouse models, Caltech researchers have discovered that gut bacteria […]
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Being Refreshed Is Not The Same As Being Hydrated
Yuki Oka, an assistant professor of biology and Chen Scholar at Caltech, wanted to better understand how the brain processes satiation and pleasure signals related to drinking. He was curious for example why, after you have exercised on a hot day, a cool glass of water will quench your thirst immediately—even before your body has […]
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Anxious People Quicker to Flee Danger
New research conducted by Dean Mobbs, assistant professor of cognitive neuroscience at Caltech shows that individuals with anxiety escape distant threats of danger sooner. The study appeared online May 20 in the journal Human Nature Behavior and was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and the Tianqiao & Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience. Read more […]