Parasitic tapeworm larvae release glutamate and other excitatory molecules that can directly excite brain neurons.

The brain has plans in place when fires break out. Normally, a molecule called PKD1 rushes in to the rescue, but in ...

A microscopic parasite quietly infects the brains of millions worldwide. Known scientifically as Toxoplasma gondii, this tiny ...

Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite, is silently affects brain signaling - possibly altering neural balance even in people without ...

Infection with a common parasite can seriously disrupt the brain function of intermediate hosts – potentially including ...

A team of scientists at the University of California, Riverside, explains in a paper published in PLOS Pathogens how a microscopic parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, can significantly disrupt brain function ...

The astrocytes' response to neuronal signals can also change; they can modulate how they respond to neurotransmitters such as dopamine and glutamate. “Astrocytes are really big, and a single cell can ...

Of nine types of astrocytes they found in the hippocampus—a key memory region—one had the cellular machinery required to send glutamate signals.

Glutamate release responses always took place at specific hotspots of an astrocyte, providing direct functional evidence for the existence of a specialized population of glutamatergic astrocytes ...

Volterra added, “We have identified a subgroup of astrocytes responding to selective stimulations with rapid glutamate release, which occurred in spatially delimited areas of these cells ...