Opening the black box of dendritic computing

How do nerve cells compute? This fundamental question drives LMU neurobiologists led by Andreas Herz. They have now presented a novel method to disentangle complex neural processes in a much more powerful way than was previously ...

Functioning 'mechanical gears' seen in nature for the first time

a plant-hopping insect found in gardens across Europe - has hind-leg joints with curved cog-like strips of opposing 'teeth' that intermesh, rotating like mechanical gears to synchronise the animal's legs when it launches ...

Music in our ears: The science of timbre

New research, published in PLOS Computational Biology, offers insight into the neural underpinnings of musical timbre. Mounya Elhilali, of Johns Hopkins University and colleagues have used mathematical models based on experiments ...

Merkel cells revealed as secret behind sensation of light touch

Scientists have proved experimentally what has been suspected since the discovery of Merkel cells in the skin over a century ago: the sense of light touch that is critical for hand dexterity would not be possible without ...

Human ES cells progress slowly in myelin's direction

Scientists from the University of Wisconsin, USA, report in the journal Development the successful generation from human embryonic stem cells of a type of cell that can make myelin, a finding that opens up new possibilities ...