Simon Wiegert News Today

Weizmann Institute Optogeneticists Use Mosquito Rhodopsins to Boost Brain Research New versions of light-sensitive proteins could illuminate the dark corners of our brain’s communication pathways Weizmann Institute of Science Segment of a mouse brain. Red illuminated areas are communication pathways between neurons that express the mosquito-derived protein. In blue: cells’ nuclei Weizmann Institute of Science Illustration of the mosquito rhodopsin’s structure. Efficient and stable Pre...

Weizmann Institute of Science Can a protein found in a mosquito lead to a better understanding of the workings of our own brains? Prof. Ofer Yizhar and his team in the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Neurobiology Department took a light-sensitive protein derived from mosquitos and used it to devise an improved method for investigating the messages that are passed from neuron to neuron in the brains of mice. This method, reported today in Neuron, could potentially help scientists solve age-old...

Can a protein found in a mosquito lead to a better understanding of the workings of our own brains? Prof. Ofer Yizhar and his team in the Weizmann Institute of Science’s Neurobiology Department took a light-sensitive protein derived from mosquitos and used it to devise an improved method for investigating the messages that are passed from neuron to neuron in the brains of mice. This method, reported today in Neuron, could potentially help scientists solve age-old cerebral mysteries that coul...

 E-Mail IMAGE: A mouse brain section highlighting the hippocampus is overlaid with the molecular structures of the anesthetics isoflurane (purple), medetomidine/midazolam/fentanyl (orange), and ketamine/xylazine (red). The four panels in the lower part... view more  Credit: Simon Wiegert, CC-BY Memory loss is common after general anesthesia, particularly for events occurring immediately before surgery--a phenomenon called retrograde amnesia. But a new study publishing on April 1st 202...

Some general anesthesia affects region of brain responsible for memory By (0) Drugs used in general anesthesia may cause structural changes in the area of the brain responsible for memory, a new study has found. File Photo by Julian Rovagnati/Shutterstock April 1 (UPI) -- Different general anesthetics used during surgical procedures cause chemical changes in patients brains, affecting memory, a study published Thursday by PLOS Biology found. Three commonly used combinations of anesthetics, te...