In a new study in Neuron (PDF), researchers from Naoshige Uchida’s MCB lab provide an unprecedented look at how the brain makes foraging decisions—choices between sticking with a…
Tag: Publication
Early Exposure to Anesthesia May Shift Brain Development
MCB researchers show GABA-based sedation in newborns speeds up brain development, confirming decades of animal research in a human cohort. A new longitudinal study led by MCB’s Takao…
How Wild Mice Outsmart Predators: Evolution Tweaks the Brain, Not the Senses
A new Nature study from the lab of OEB and MCB’s Hopi Hoekstra reveals that wild mice from different environments use distinct defensive strategies when faced with threats—differences that…
You Are What Your Great-Grandparents Ate
What if a gene program evolved that could predict the future? Would organisms use it to boost their reproductive success? Recent work from the MCB lab of Craig…
Solar-Powered Thieves: New Study Uncovers Animal Organelle That Sustains Photosynthesis from Stolen Chloroplasts
They look like crawling leaves, but these sea slugs are anything but ordinary. MCB Professor Nick Bellono calls them “the weirdest animal we’ve ever studied”—a bold claim from…
Octopuses Use Microbial Signals to Guide Complex Behaviors
A new study published in Cell from the lab of MCB faculty member Nick Bellono reveals that octopuses detect microbial cues on surfaces to distinguish prey and eggs…
Understanding Dopamine Neurons on Multiple Timescales
A new paper in Nature (PDF) presents intriguing science on how dopamine neurons operate across multiple timescales to guide learning and decision-making. The study provides compelling experimental evidence…
New Stars in Neural Circuits: Astrocytes Guide Brain State Changes
Astrocytes, the most abundant non-neuronal cell type in the brain, have traditionally been thought of as passive supporters of neuronal circuits. However, in recent years, work from many…
A New Window into Protein Interactions at the Nanoscale
Understanding how proteins interact inside living cells is fundamental to biology. Yet, visualizing these interactions with high precision—and at the scale and condition at which they actually occur—has…
Decoding Learning: How Cues and Rewards Shape Behavior and Dopamine Signals
A new study from Naoshige Uchida's MCB lab provides new insight into how the brain processes contingency during associative learning. Published in Nature Neuroscience (PDF), the study demonstrates…
