Psychology and Neuroscience Stack Exchange
Psychology and Neuroscience Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [neuroscience]

For questions on the structure and function of the nervous system.

For questions about the nervous system. We welcome all Neuroscience-related questions, ranging from macroscopic to microscopic down to the molecular level. Anatomical questions are welcomed, as well as functional (physiological) questions of the nervous system.

For information on the division of labor between this site and Biology.SE on this subject see:

For a comprehensive textbook, see:

  • Kandel, E. R., Schwartz, J. H., & Jessell, T. M., Siegelbaum, S. A., Hudspeth, A. J. (Eds.). (2013). Principles of neural science (Vol. 5). New York: McGraw-Hill.
  • Squire, L. R. (Ed.). (2013). Fundamental neuroscience. Academic Press.
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How much power, in watts, does the brain use?

When IBM's Watson won on Jeopardy a few years ago, it did so using a room full of servers with a cooling system and a fat power feed, competing against a couple of humans powered by the equivalent of a tuna fish sandwich every several hours. How…
WBT
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Is a neuron's information processing more complex than a perceptron?

I've been researching the relationship between brain neurons and nodes in neural networks. Repeatedly it is claimed neurons can do complex information processing that vastly exceeds that of a simple activation function in a neural network. The…
yters
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Has an upper-limit on the physical spacing represented by grid cells in Entorhinal cortex been probed?

There is considerable research reporting activity of unit recordings from grid cells in the Entorhinal cortex (e.g. [1]) - typically of rats running around in enclosed spaces. Is there any information on the upper-limits of the physical distance…
DavidJ
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What is the difference between psychophysics and neurophysiology?

I'm an engineering student who is doing some subjective tests. What are the difference between psychophysics and neurophysiology? Is it correct that in the latter case, we have to implant to read the brain signals?
Dzung Nguyen
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In C. elegans, which neuron has the largest span, and why is it this large?

The model organism C. elegans is about 1 mm in length. This is quite small. In fact, some C. elegans neurons span >25% of the length of its body (ref.). This observation leads me to the following question: Which neuron in C. elegans has the…
Douglas S. Stones
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Can neural spiking in an organism temporarily cease?

I'm interested in modeling human brain spiking activity. Are there cases in which neural spiking completely ceases in an organism and yet later resumes? I've considered: hypothermic drowning, but medical reports (e.g., here) on the topic suggest…
John Pick
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How many thalamocortical relay cells synapse onto each spiny stellate cell in neocortex?

I am curious about how many different thalamocortical relay cells synapse onto each layer IV spiny stellate cell, on average? The answer is likely to be different per region and species, of course. I understand the topographic mapping that occurs,…
Preece
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What exactly is the neurobiological mechanism behind the functioning of the human muscle?

From what I have read, its been given that muscle functioning and coordination involves two processes: frequency summation and muscle recruitment. What I want to know is that, do these two processes work simultaneously or are these two stages…
user24896
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What is the difference between brain parcellation and brain segmentation? (question based on Freesurfer)

What is the difference between brain parcellation and brain segmentation? (question based on Freesurfer that produces parcellation volume and segmentation volume measures)
SaidB
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How is the brain cooled?

I remember[ed] reading a story on a brain-inspired integrated mechanism for energy-delivery and cooling in (experimental) new computer chips: The human brain packs phenomenal computing power into a tiny space and uses only 20 watts of energy - an…
the gods from engineering
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What causes CSF to flow?

Since matter at rest tends to stay at rest until acted upon, there must be some mechanism in the brain causing cerebrospinal fluid to move from the choroid plexus to other areas of the central nervous system. Is there some kind of hydraulic pump…
Aaron Cox
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Are axon terminals always part of a synapse, or are there any that just release neurotransmitters into the ether during an action potential?

By "ether" I mean to no post-synaptic cell in particular. If this is the case, how common is it for an axon terminal to not be part of a synapse? Related question: do axon terminals form only as part of a synapse? Or are they formed ahead of time,…
Tim
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The function of pumps in forming the resting potential

I am confused by the following. Apparently the resting potential of -65mV is reached when the two forces, diffusion and electrical gradient are in equilibrium. So why does the book say "The electrical potential difference across the membrane [..]…
Vadim
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Why is inward electrical current negative?

I don't really understand, why the inward current (for example, during depolarization the flow of Na+ inside the cell) is negative? In the textbooks, it is always depicted with minus values (see picture). Ion current is supposed to be positive in…
Alina Zamaletdinova
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Long term effect of masturbation on Estrogen receptors

I was writing an article on masturbation and was doing some net based research. I saw on a paper (Phillips-Farfán et al. 2007) that frequent masturbation increases estrogen receptors in the brain. My question is does estrogen receptivity decrease…
Tyler
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