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Similar Activity in the Brain's Language Network, No Matter What Language You Speak - Neuroscience News

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Summary: In a study of speakers of 45 languages, researchers found similar patterns of brain activity and language selectivity. Source: MIT For decades, neuroscientists have created well-defined maps of the brain’s “language network,” or regions of the brain specialized for processing language. Found primarily in the left hemisphere, this tissue includes areas within Broca’s area, as well as in other parts of the frontal and temporal lobes. However, most of these mapping studies were conducted on English speakers while they were listening to or reading English texts. MIT neuroscientists have now conducted brain imaging studies of speakers of 45 different languages. The results show that the language network of speakers appears to be essentially the same as that of native English speakers. This finding, though not surprising, establishes that the location and key properties of language networks appear to be universal. This work also lays the groundwork for the...

A new imaging technique allows researchers to view gene expression in the brains of living mice in real time

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A team led by the University of Minnesota Twin Cities has developed a new technique to image mRNA molecules in the brains of live mice. By genetically modifying the mice to produce mRNA labeled with the green fluorescent protein (shown above), the researchers were able to see when and where the mouse brain produced Arc mRNA. Credit: Hye Yoon Park, University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities A team led by the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities has developed a new technique that allows scientists and engineers, for the first time, to visualize mRNA molecules in the brains of living mice. This research reveals new insights into how memories are formed and stored in the brain and could provide scientists with new information about diseases like Alzheimer’s. This paper was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) . There are still many mysteries surrounding the ...

A new imaging technique allows researchers to see gene expression in the brains of living mice in real time

A team led by the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities has developed a new technique that allows scientists and engineers, for the first time, to visualize mRNA molecules in the brains of living mice. This research reveals new insights into how memories are formed and stored in the brain and could provide scientists with new information about diseases like Alzheimer’s. The paper is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), a peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary, high-impact scientific journal. There are still many mysteries surrounding the process of how memories are physically created and stored in the brain. It is well known that mRNA—a type of RNA involved in making proteins—is produced during the processes of memory formation and storage, but the technology for studying this process at the cellular level is still limited. Previous research has often involved dissecting mice to examine their brains. A research...