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Dec302018 by adminNo Comments

Sound influences the way mice and rats sense touch

Science

Dec. 28 (UPI) -- New research suggests the brain's main sensory centers -- the visual cortex, auditory cortex and somatosensory cortex -- are influenced by one another. Through a series of tests, researchers in Japan showed auditory inputs to the barrel cortex in mice and rats influences the rodents' responses to tactile stimulation. The barrel cortex is a type of somatosensory cortex found in rodents. The region oversees the brain's perception of and response to touch, pain and temperature. Scientists think the link between the barrel cortex and rodent whiskers is similar to the link between the human brain's somatosensory cortex and human fingertips. Researchers used patch clamps, an electric brain recording technology, to measure the influence of different sensory inputs on individual ...

Rats and pigeons 'replace iconic species'

Science

The modification of land for farming and building cities is favouring the same species everywhere, according to a new study.Animals like rats and pigeons are taking over from less common ones, which can survive only in certain habitats, say scientists.Researchers looked at 20,000 animals and plants in 81 countries. They found that species occupying a large area tend to increase in places where humans use the land.However, fauna and flora that occupies a small area is lost. "We show around the world that when humans modify habitats, these unique species are consistently lost and are replaced by species that are found everywhere, such as pigeons in cities and rats in farmland," said Dr Tim Newbold, a research fellow at University C...

Researchers restore vision in rats after retinal cell transplant

Health

Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Transplanted fetal retina cells successfully restored vision in blind rats by restoring neurons in the vision centers of their brains. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine found that sheets of fetal cells integrated into the retina -- which is in back of the eye -- can generate nearly normal visual activity in their brains. The findings were published Monday in JNeurosci, the Journal of Neuroscience. "It's been known that retinal sheet transplants can integrate into the degenerated eyes and allow the animals to detect light," Dr. David Lyon, associate professor of anatomy and neurobiology at UCI School of Medicine, said in a press release. "But, beyond rudimentary light detection it was not known how well the visual system in the brain fun...