News

Farmed in Okinawa for their food value, these giant meso-predators have had their entire genome sequenced, with unexpected results.

Professor Tomoyuki Takahashi has been named a 2022 International Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS) Academy Fellow.

A study has revealed how tau – a key protein implicated in Alzheimer’s disease – impairs communication between neurons, providing new avenues for treatment.

A novel method that looks at the molecular composition of brain synapses has revealed three times more proteins than previously thought, finds research published in PNAS.

Microtubules and F-actin in presynaptic terminals

In brain cells, neurotransmitters are carried inside “cellular vehicles”. OIST scientists elucidate the mechanisms behind the motion of these vehicles in mammalian synapses.

Scientists create giant neural connections in culture for the first time.

Professor Tomoyuki Takahashi introduces a new way to measure the distance from voltage-gated channels to vesicles, and explains how this distance affects neural signaling precision and efficacy.

In the latest issue of Neuron, Prof. Takahashi and Dr. Hori have reported the first reliable measurement of the rate that chemical neurotransmitter is replenished in the brain.

After a neuron fires an electrical impulse, this impulse needs to be chemically transmitted to another neuron to propagate into the neuronal circuit; otherwise communication would grind to a halt. In a paper published on May 10, 2012 in the journal Neuron, researchers at OIST identify a critical part of that chemical transmission.