28 November 2017
30 November 2017
Humans of Science: Tony Bell
Who are today’s scientists? Inspired by the project “Humans of New York”, Ar Magazine turns the spotlight on individual humans of science every month.
Name: Tony Bell
Projects: Neural data analysis, multilayer unsupervised learning, the multilevel organization of living systems and the role of water.
Photo credit: Marina Fridman
07 December 2017
When parasites rule… some animals cannot refrain from doing pretty stupid things!
It is well-known that mice infected by the parasite Toxoplasma gondii lose their innate aversion to cats. New research is now starting to shed more light on the precise nature of the behavioral changes that this tiny unicellular organism elicits in rodents as it literally takes control of their brain.
_Imagine these animals in the wild. They have difficulties activating a cautious behavior._- Cristina Afonso
11 December 2017
Applications now open!
Applications for the 2017 INDP Programme are now open!
Applications for 8 Doctoral fellowships in the 2017-2018 class of the International Neuroscience Doctoral Programme (INDP), hosted at the Champalimaud Center for the Unknown (CCU) in Lisbon, Portugal will be open from December 11th, 2017 to January 11th, 2018. Selected students are guaranteed a stipend and tuition support for 4 years.
18 December 2017
Bruno Costa-Silva receives EMBO Installation Grant
EMBO announces today (December 18, 2017) seven life scientists as recipients of EMBO Installation Grants. These grants will support the early-career researchers in establishing their independent laboratories in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Portugal and Turkey.
Bruno Costa-Silva, head of CR’s Systems Oncology lab, was one of the seven awardees. His project will study the association of Exosome populations with liver metastasis.
04 January 2018
Scientists reveal the “Lego pieces” that form complex zebrafish movements
Motor behavior could be formed from a range of continuous possible movements. But it could also be constituted by sequences of distinct, discrete movement types. New results suggest that the latter is the case, at least for zebrafish larvae.
Much like music is made of notes, the complex behaviors of zebrafish larvae, such as hunting or social interactions, are formed from a small set of movements types arranged in specific sequences. – João Marques
18 January 2018
Life of PI: A neuroscientist with a passion for the mathematics of things
From chemistry to physics to neuroscience, from Spain to the United Kingdom, back to Spain again and then to Portugal, Gonzalo de Polavieja’s career has certainly had more than a twist. Since 2014, he is the principal investigator, or PI, of the Collective Behavior Lab at the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, in Lisbon.
31 January 2018
Body movements just need a “puff” of dopamine to get started
A new study in mice suggests that a burst of activity in dopamine-producing neurons, just at the beginning of a movement only, as opposed to all the time, is all it takes for a movement to unfold correctly. This may have important implications for treating Parkinson’s disease, which is caused by the death of the neurons that make dopamine.
02 February 2018
Fruit fly hunger games: taste neurons in control
Right at the tip of the fruit fly’s tongue sit two sets of taste neurons that have now been found to be crucial for the insect to develop a craving for protein.
The first set makes the fly start to eat yeast, telling it it is the right food, and the second set tells it to keep on eating it, that yeast is still the right food. -Carlos Ribeiro
Read the full story here
09 February 2018
Humans of Science: Marina Fridman
Who are today’s scientists? Inspired by the project “Humans of New York”, Ar Magazine turns the spotlight on individual humans of science every month.
Name: Marina Fridman
Lab: Cortical Circuits lab
Project: Characterization of the projections from the lateral posterior nucleus of the thalamus to layer 1 of cortex
Photo credit: Tor Stensola
