Archive Tag: Discovery Neuroscience

At right, a close-up of mouse brain tissue shows an engineered protein (stained green) being expressed by astrocytes, but no other cells. UCLA scientists used this technique to selectively silence astrocytes to explore their roles in mouse behavior.
UCLA Health

In studying astrocytes – understudied brain support cells that make up about 40 percent of our brain – UCLA researchers led by Baljit Khakh, a UCLA professor of physiology and neurobiology, found a connection that opens the door for new therapies for psychiatric disorders like OCD. Read more

DGC Newsletter – Issue #5
Timing: Spring 2018
Topic: How smartphones are being leveraged to tackle depression for both diagnosis and treatment purposes

Beginning in spring 2017, UCLA Depression Grand Challenge (DGC) started publishing a subscriber-based newsletter. Issue #5 showcased how smartphones are being leveraged across the DGC to tackle depression for both diagnosis and treatment purposes.

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A new method enables scientists to see an astrocyte (green) physically interacting with a synapse (red) in real time, and producing an optical signal (yellow).
Khakh Lab/UCLA Health

Baljit Khakh, a professor of physiology and neurobiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, developed a novel tool to more closely analyze astrocytes’ relationships with synapses in the brain. Astrocytes are brain cells that are believed to hold key information about neurological disorders. Khakh and his team utilized Read more