Strong emotions plus non-REM sleep equals longer-lasting perceptual memories


Perceptual memories linked to positive emotions, such as joy or happiness, are strengthened during sleep, specifically during periods of deep non-REM sleep.

The joys of computational mass spectrometry


Scientists have developed a new automated computational mass spectrometry system that can search an organism’s entire metabolome for as-yet-unknown metabolites (potential drugs).

Ethanol pretreated soil protects plants from drought


Pretreating soil with ethanol protected plants, including wheat and rice, from the adverse effects of water deprivation.

Learning and unlearning to fear: The two faces of noradrenaline


Fear association and unlearning fear association require different populations of noradrenaline neurons in the locus coeruleus.

Superfly flight simulator helps unravel navigation in the brain


Optical imaging neural activity in flies as they use a flight simulator can help us understand how the brain codes navigation.

Gray matter volume links symptoms in autism


Low gray matter volume in the posterior superior parietal lobule (pSPL) was found to correlate with specific cognitive and perceptual symptoms of autism.

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Sphingolipid S1P: Potential new target for schizophrenia treatment


Sphingolipid S1P is reduced in brain white matter of people with schizophrenia, making S1P receptors a good target for new treatments.

The free-energy principle explains neural network behavior


Scientists show that the free-energy principle can explain how neural networks work.

Next stop: clinical hair regeneration


A new recipe for continuous cyclical hair regeneration in mice. This means that the hair will continue to fall out and regrow like normal hair.

Microbial infections are a parasitic plant’s dream


Parasitic plants use quinones produced by their host to attack. Now we know that crops produce quinones as an immune response against microbial infection. How can we protect crops from both kinds of attack?

Brainless memory makes the spinal cord smarter than previously thought


The spinal cord learns how to direct limb muscles to avoid aversive sensations and recalls the memories using separate neural circuitry. Oh, and without a brain!

Centennial RIKEN Research


???This Spring we’ve put together a special centennial issue of RIKEN Research ???

Opossums are the first genome edited marsupials


A new piezoelectronic microinjection method has allowed the first successful genome editing in marsupials: albino opossums.

Transgenic plants ??on acid survive without water


Scientists designed transgenic plants that survive drought-like conditions by bumping up acetic acid production only when water is scarce.

Why (mouse) mothers take risks to protect their infants


The calcitonin receptor and its ligand amylin act in the brain to motivate mouse mothers to protect their pups, even in risky/dangerous situations.

New lab-grown retinal sheets almost ready for clinical trials


A new retinal transplant technique works by preventing bipolar cells from maturing in lab-grown retinal sheets.