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Evidence in mice that electroacupuncture reduces inflammation via specific neural pathways
Stimulating the nervous system using small electric current by acupuncture could tamp down systemic inflammation in the body, suggests new research in mice from a team of neuroscientists in the U.S. and China. The research, publishing August 12 in the journal Neuron, helps to map the neuroanatomical underpinnings of this ancient medical practice.
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New theory suggests autism may not be tied to mind blindness
Tracking the extent to which other people think differently from yourself appears to be more relevant than understanding someone else’s thoughts per se. Neuroscientists at Ghent University and the University of New South Wales (Sydney) came to this conclusion.
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2020 TCCI Fall Newsletter
We hope this email finds you healthy, safe and well. 2020 has presented us all with seemingly unending challenges. We believe however, it is during these times, that we see the best
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Earlier Help for Anorexia
The most life-threatening of all psychiatric disorders is anorexia nervosa, affecting about one percent of Americans. The eating disorder typically emerges in adolescence and is characterized by low body-mass index and an intense fear of weight gain. Anorexia damages the heart, sometimes fatally, and can injure the brain and other organs, weaken bones and muscles, impair […]
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Merkin Institute Catalyzes COVID-19 Research at Caltech
Several TCCI® for Neuroscience faculty members at Caltech have received grants from Merkin Institute for Translational Research to study different aspects of COVID-19. Dean Mobbs, assistant professor of cognitive neuroscience and Chen Scholar; Cindy Hagan, research assistant professor of neuroscience; and Ralph Adolphs, Bren Professor of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Biology, and director of the Caltech […]
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Famous Economics Experiment Reproduced Thousands of Times
In an open marketplace, such as a farmers’ market where produce and other goods like candles and flowers are exchanged for money, the ideal prices for both consumers and sellers will quickly emerge. For example, if a seller tries to offer a bag of peaches for $10 but another vendor is willing to sell similar […]
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Risks of Cognitive Impairment Linked to Sleep Characteristics and Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers
Researchers in the labs of Professor Yu Jintai within the Department of Neurology at Fudan University-affiliated Huashan Hospital and Professor Tan Lan from the Department of Neurology at Qingdao University have discovered that frequent sleepiness during the day, insufficient sleep or too much sleep at night can affect the levels of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) indicators […]
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Decoding the language of cellular messaging
Before the days of rote texting and email, if you wanted to communicate with a friend you might have written a physical letter. Similarly, the individual cells in our bodies communicate with each other by sending tailored “letters”—not with paper and pen, but in the form of proteins called ligands. Researchers in the laboratory […]
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Imaging enzyme activity with ultrasound
For years, Caltech’s Mikhail Shapiro, a TCCI®-affiliated faculty member, has been working to extend ultrasound imaging into the microscopic realm. Now, with a new breakthrough based on genetic engineering, he is making it possible for researchers to use ultrasound to watch enzymes at work within cells. In a new paper appearing in the journal Nature Chemical Biology, Shapiro and […]
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Molecular “Tails” Are Secret Ingredient for Gene Activation in Humans, Yeast, and Other Organisms
It might seem as though humans have little in common with the lowly yeast cell. Humans have hair, skin, muscles, and bones, among other attributes. Yeast have, well, none of those things. But besides their obvious differences, yeast and humans, and much of life for that matter, have a great deal in common. One […]