Scientists discover anatomical changes in the brains of the newly sighted
Following cataract removal, some of the brain’s visual pathways seem to be more malleable than previously thought.
Sparse, small, but diverse neural connections help make perception reliable, efficient
First detailed mapping and modeling of thalamus inputs onto visual cortex neurons show brain leverages “wisdom of the crowd” to process sensory information.
Study: Zebrafish are smarter than we thought
Researchers have discovered that the brains of these simple fish can create three-dimensional maps of their surroundings.
After a lifetime of blindness, newly sighted can immediately identify human locomotion
Study on blind patients who recovered their sight suggests rethinking the belief that babies learn to recognize human movement through visual exposure.
When Alzheimer’s degrades cells that cross hemispheres, visual memory suffers
Research reveals cells that span brain hemispheres to coordinate activity in visual processing centers, shows Alzheimer’s degrades their structure and function.
Sprint then stop? The brain is wired for the math to make it happen
To ensure a quick halt, brain circuit architecture avoids a slow process of integration in favor of quicker differentiation, study finds.
Early sound exposure in the womb shapes the auditory system
Modeling study suggests that the muffled environment in utero primes the brain’s ability to interpret some types of sound.
Lawrence Udeigwe uses elegant math to understand complex systems of the brain
Martin Luther King Jr. Scholar bridges disciplines to translate vision into elegant math and neuroscience theory.
Behind the scenes, brain circuit ensures vision remains reliable
A study of mice watching movies shows our brain cells rely on a circuit of inhibitory neurons to help ensure that the same images are represented consistently.
Novel approach reverses amblyopia in animals
By temporarily suspending retinal activity in the non-amblyopic eye of animal models, neuroscientists restrengthen the visual response in the "lazy" eye, even at ages after the critical period when patch therapy fails.
Brain’s “memory center” is needed to recognize image sequences, but not single sights
The visual cortex stores and remembers individual images, but mice can’t recognize image sequences without guidance from the hippocampus.
As novel sights become familiar, different brain rhythms and neurons take over
As “visual recognition memory” emerges in the visual cortex, one circuit of inhibitory neurons supplants another, and slower neural oscillations prevail.
Eyeless roundworms sense color
C. elegans compares the ratio of wavelengths in its environment to avoid dangerous bacteria that secrete colorful toxins.
How the brain helps us remember what we’ve seen
Research finds that as one looks around, mental images bounce between right and left brain as they shift around in our visual system.
James Fujimoto wins the Visionary Prize from the Greenberg Prize to End Blindness
Historic effort to eradicate blindness marks major milestone with leading scientists recognized for pioneering work.