TWiN welcomes mice to the elite club of ‘self-aware’ animals, with a study demonstrating a mirror-induced self-directed behavior in mice resembling visual self-recognition.
TWiN discusses a study of on the pathways that control opioid analgesic tolerance, a root cause of opioid overdose and misuse, which can develop through an associative learning.
Vivianne explains how early in Alzheimer’s disease, the brain attempts to counteract the increased excitatory drive caused by amyloid deposition, and that melanin-concentrating hormone, produced during sleep, is involved in this protective response.
TWiN explains how a cytokine produced by neurons activates microglia which modify the extracellular matrix and remodel synapses, leading to memory consolidation.
The TWiN team explain the basic principles of synaptic transmission, and review a classic paper demonstrating that recycling endosomes are important for modifying synaptic strength, which is involved in information storage and processing.
