It is yet unknown when and in what form the central nervous system in Bilateria first came into place and how it further evolved in the different bilaterian phyla. To find out, a series of recent molecular studies have compared neurodevelopment in slow-evolving deuterostome and protostome invertebrates, such as the enteropneust hemichordate Saccoglossus and the polychaete annelid Platynereis. T...

Evidence is presented which indicates that, at the level of conscious experience, information processing in the brain is basically Gabor-like rather than binary (as in Shannon's information measurement theory). The process takes place in a phase space created by a multiply interconnected web of teledendrons, synapses and dendrites. The axons of neurons sample the phase space to create cell asse...

Two recent developments have modified our traditional concept of the neuron: output synapses have been discovered intermixed with input synapses and synaptic transmission has been shown to grade with presynaptic voltage. In a number of invertebrate spikeless and spiking neurons, synaptic transmission lasts for the duration of the presynaptic depolarization . There is a threshold presynaptic vol...

The neocortex is a laminated brain structure that is the seat of higher cognitive capacity and responses, long-term memory, sensory and emotional functions, and voluntary motor behavior. Proper lamination requires that progenitor cells give rise to a neuron, that the immature neuron can migrate away from its mother cell and past other cells, and finally that the immature neuron can take its pla...

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (als), the most common form of motor neuron disease, is a progressive and devastating disease involving both lower and upper motor neurons, typically following a relentless progression towards death. therefore, all efforts must be made by the clinician to exclude alternative and more treatable entities. als with laboratory abnormalities of uncertain significance is...

background: primary cultures of embryonic neurons have been used to introduce a model of neurons in physiological and pathological conditions. however, age-related cellular events limit this method as an optimal model in adult neurodegenerative diseases studies. besides, short-interval changing media in previous cultures decreases the effectiveness of this model. as an example of this matter, w...

in this study tsga10 has been demonstrated as a testis-specific human gene that encodes a protein localized in sperm-tail and conserved in ciliary structure. further investigations showed tsga10 signalling and expression during embryogenesis, brain development and some malignancies including brain tumors. given the role of this protein in neuronal development and in certain tumors, it could pot...

background and objective: diagnosis of hirschsprung’s disease (hd) as the most common cause of neonatal intestinal obstruction is based on the presence of aganglionosis from seromuscular or full thickness biopsy. due to the complication of full thickness or seromuscular rectal biopsy, mucosal-sub mucosal biopsy is more intended. however, interpretation of these biopsies stained with hematoxylin...