brain
March 8, 2016
Rodents of unusual appetites
How food cravings and eating affects the brain By Jennifer Lu | MU Bond Life Sciences Center When it comes to cookie dough, we’re not the only ones who can’t control our cravings. Kyle Parker’s rats couldn’t resist, either, thanks to a tweak in their brain chemistry. Parker studies the neuroscience of food-based rewards. Matthew Will, associate professor of psychological sciences at the Bond Life Sciences Center, studies the neuroscience of behaviors such as over-eating and addiction | photo by Jennifer Lu, Bond LSC “It’s like when I eat dessert after I’ve eaten an entire meal,” said Parker,…
June 26, 2015
The view from the trenches: a conversation about Alzheimer’s disease
This immunofluorescence picture shows the brain of an Alzheimer’s disease mouse model, also known as the TgCRND8 mouse. In the picture, the amyloid beta plaques are stained green and the microglia, or immune cells of the brain, are stained red. Image courtesy of Luke Woods. By Caleb O’Brien | MU Bond Life Sciences Center Jean Camden and Luke Woods have an ant’s-eye view of Alzheimer’s disease. Both are bench scientists in the laboratory of Gary Weisman, a professor of biochemistry at the Bond Life Sciences Center. Jean has spent the past 12 of her 35…