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Study: Heterozygous loss of KCNQ2 potassium channel gene induces autism-associated behaviors
Molecular and integrative physiology professor Hee Jung Chung, her postdoctoral fellow Eung Chang Kim, Psychology professor Justin Rhodes, and their colleagues discovered that heterozygous loss of KCNQ2 potassium channel gene induces autism-associated behaviors in mice including social avoidance,...
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Living in a Cacophonous World
We live in an environment characterized by a multitude of complex, diverse sounds. The ability to filter, select and understand specific sounds from this rich environment can impact learning, speech, and even our survival. Just imagine driving your car in heavy traffic while listening intently...
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Christian Lab: Effects of epilepsy on neural activity in mice fluctuate with reproductive cycle, study finds
Mice with epilepsy have altered patterns of neuron activity in the portion of the brain that controls the reproductive endocrine system, University of Illinois researchers report in a new study.
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Study: Abnormal expression and phosphoinositide regulation of KCNQ/Kv7 channels linked to severe form of genetic epilepsy
Molecular and integrative physiology professor Hee Jung Chung, postdoctoral fellow Eung Chang Kim, and their colleagues discovered that abnormal expression and phosphoinositide regulation of KCNQ/Kv7 potassium channels underlie neuronal hyperexcitability and injury in early-onset epileptic...
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RNA-Binding protein, Mov10, is key to both survival and brain function
A study led by Dr. Geena Skariah, a recent Neuroscience graduate of the Ceman lab in Cell and Developmental Biology, and current postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan, revealed the importance of the protein Mov10 (Moloney leukemia virus 10) in neurological development in animals....
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Study: Protein found to be key component in irregularly excited brain cells
Research scientist Kwan Young Lee, molecular and integrative physiology professor Nien-Pei Tsai, and their colleagues discovered that an overabundance of the tumor suppressor protein p53 in neurons can lead to impaired regulation of neuronal excitability in a mouse model of Fragile X syndrome.
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Virtual predator is self-aware, behaves like living counterpart
Rhanor Gillette and his colleagues built a virtual ocean predator that has simple self-awareness.
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Chung Lab: Prolonged seizure activity causes caspase dependent cleavage and dysfunction of G-protein activated inwardly rectifying potassium channels.
New findings suggest that novel down-regulation of GIRK channels by caspase-3 may contribute to NMDAR-dependent hippocampal atrophy following chronic epileptic seizures
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NSF awards Illinois $3 million for interdisciplinary graduate student training
Professor Martha Gillette will lead the program to form new insight on the brain and expand participation in field of brain science.
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Assistant Professor Nien-Pei Tsai’s lab has published a study in PLOS Genetics on how a novel epilepsy-associated gene controls neuronal excitability
Epilepsy is a medical condition characterized by spontaneous seizures due to hyperexcitability of brain neurons. Assistant Professor Nien-Pei Tsai, graduate student Jiuhe Zhu and colleagues uncovered that an insufficient function or mutations of a novel epilepsy-associated gene Nedd4-2 leads to...