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Credit: Weizmann Institute of Science
The brain is often likened to a computer: its hardware - neurons organized in complex circuits, its software - a plethora of codes that govern the neurons behavior. But sometimes the brain performs exceptionally well even when its hardware seems inadequate for the task. For example, it s been puzzling how we and other mammals manage to navigate large-scale environments even though the brain s spatial perception circuits are seemingly suited to representing much smaller areas. A team of researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science, led by Prof. Nachum Ulanovsky of the Neurobiology Department, tackled this riddle by thinking outside the experimental box. By combining an unusual research model - fruit bats - with an unusual setting - a 200 meters-long bat-tunnel - they were successful in revealing a novel neuronal code for spatial perception, as reported today in
Beta-sitosterol may relieve anxiety: Mouse study Scientists say the plant-derived substance may play a key role in reducing anxiety levels in humans.
Israeli researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science found that a plant-derived substance may play a key role in reducing anxiety levels.
Beta-sitosterol is one of a many organic compounds found in plants that have a structure like that of body-produced cholesterol. It’s found in a number of foods such as avocado, nuts, and grains, and is also sold as a dietary supplement intended mainly to reduce cholesterol levels.
The research
The new study, published in
Cell Reports Medicine, piggybacks off of research from several years ago, which examined international genomic databases to find existing drugs or compounds that mimicked a certain gene expression that would help induce “calmness.” The search led to a series of behavioral experiments which found that beta-sitosterol was able to produc
The brain is often likened to a computer: its hardware - neurons organized in complex circuits, its software - a plethora of codes that govern the neurons' behavior.
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Studying fruit bats in a tunnel, Nachum Ulanovsky and the team hone the Nobel-winning theory of how we (and bats) navigate in the vast real world, not abox in the lab