7 January 2021 Visual hallucinations in people who have lost their sight can stem from spontaneous activity in the brain’s visual centres, according to a study led by UCL and Weizmann Institute of Science researchers.
The study, published in
Brain, investigated why some people who have lost their eyesight experience vivid hallucinations, a condition called Charles Bonnet syndrome.
The researchers were studying slow, spontaneous fluctuations, which appear unconsciously in our brains when we rest. The research team was seeking to understand whether unprompted behaviours, that occur without any external cause, might be triggered by these spontaneous brain fluctuations.
People experiencing Charles Bonnet visual hallucinations presented the research team with a rare opportunity to investigate their hypothesis. This is because in Charles Bonnet syndrome, the hallucinations appear at random, in a truly unprompted fashion, and the vis
Global acclaim
December 20, 2020
Pakistani professionals have been winning laurels around the world with their outstanding contributions in various fields. The latest to make it to the top is a Pakistan-born molecular biologist who is billed to receive the prestigious 2021 Leibniz Prize. Dr Asifa Akhtar has been recognised for her groundbreaking cell-biological work on mechanisms of epigenetic gene regulation. Holding a key position of Vice President at Germany’s Max Planck Society, Dr Asifa was picked as the winner by the DFG on December 10. She will be awarded the prize, which is endowed with 2.5 million euros, at a virtual ceremony on March 15, 2021.
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Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute and University College London have rebuilt a human thymus, an essential organ in the immune system, using human stem cells and a bioengineered scaffold. Their work is an important step towards being able to build artificial thymi which could be used as transplants.
The thymus is an organ in the chest where T lymphocytes, which play a vital role in the immune system, mature. If the thymus does not work properly or does not form during foetal development in the womb, this can lead to diseases such as severe immunodeficiency, where the body cannot fight infectious diseases or cancerous cells, or autoimmunity, where the immune system mistakenly attacks the patient s own healthy tissue.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), opioid overdoses killed more than 46,000 people in 2018. Even in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic, opioid addiction remains a serious public health issue throughout the United States.
Students in a Rutgers University–Camden biology class are working to better understand the neuroscience related to this crisis, thanks to an innovative program that allows them to conduct research from home.
“People are struggling with addiction and the loss of loved ones,” says Nathan Fried, a Rutgers University‒Camden assistant teaching professor of biology. “It has touched personally each and every one of us.”