'Waves' of neural activity give new clues about Alzheimer's
During deep sleep, large populations of neurons in the cerebral cortex and subcortical brain structures simultaneously discharge electrical pulses. They are slow oscillations, that travel as 'waves' of neural activity from one point to another in the cortex once every one to four seconds. "This global rhythmic activity, controlled by the cerebral cortex, is associated with a lack of consciousness," says Mavi Sanchez-Vives, director of the Neuroscience Systems group at the August Pi i Sunyer Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBAPS, Barcelona), whose research team has suggested that it is the default activity of the cortical circuits. These oscillations consolidate memory and synaptic plasticity and maintain metabolic and cellular function, among others. Within the framework of the European SloW Dyn (Slow Wave Dynamics) project which the neuroscientist leads, researchers have now discovered differences in this brain activity between healthy mice and mice with cogn...