Keep pulling the thread on Kevin Mitchell.
Research by Seth Grant's lab discovered that synapses contain thousands of proteins, challenging the earlier assumption that they contained only about 10 and were all identical.
Many proteins critical to synapse function are also present in single-celled organisms like fungi, indicating these proteins evolved before the nervous system.
Kevin Mitchell's book "Free Agents, How Evolution Gave Us Free Will" challenges the mainstream neuroscientific and philosophical position that free will is an illusion.
The roundworm C. elegans is used as a model organism for studying Parkinson's disease, which involves the loss of dopamine neurons in the basal ganglia.
C. elegans was the first multicellular organism to have its entire genome sequenced and its complete neural wiring diagram mapped.
The roundworm C. elegans is estimated to have genetic homologues for 80% to 90% of the human genes associated with neurologic diseases.
Experiments using C. elegans have identified genes that were not previously known to be involved in Parkinson's disease.
Experiments have shown that mimosa plants can be anesthetized, causing them to stop responding to their environment and eliminating their measurable electrical activity.
Plants utilize the same molecules that function as neurotransmitters in animals and exhibit circadian rhythms based on melatonin, the same molecule used by animals.
Vaccines are one of the most important discoveries in medical history and the best way to prevent serious infectious diseases.
Neuroscientist Luis Pessoa argues that the model of the brain having separate systems for emotion and cognition is obsolete, as these functions are deeply intertwined at every level.
The amygdala is involved in attentional functions such as arousal and vigilance and in value representation for decision-making, not just fear processing.