A Rubber Hand Alleviates Pain

Researchers conducted an experiment in which test subjects felt like a rubber hand was part of their own body. As a result, their own hand became less sensitive to pain.

If a person hides their own hand and focuses on a rubber hand instead, they may perceive it as part of their own body under certain conditions. What sounds like a gimmick could one day be used to help patients who suffer from chronic pain: Researchers at the LWL University Hospital in Bochum, Germany, have shown that pain caused by heat is experienced as less severe thanks to the rubber hand illusion.

Two Brain Areas Compete for Control

The locus coeruleus and the ventral tegmental area compete for control over the formation of memory content. This has been shown by a team of neuroscientists using light-controlled nerve cells.

Researchers at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, have studied the impact of two brain areas on the nature of memory content. The team from the Department of Neurophysiology showed in rats how the so-called locus coeruleus and the ventral tegmental area permanently alter brain activity in the hippocampus region, which is crucial for the formation of memory.

Primary School Children Outperform All Other Age Groups

Tobias Ruck schätzt die Verzahnung von Klinik und Forschung (in German)

Die Neurologische Klinik und Poliklinik der Ruhr-Universität Bochum am BG Universitätsklinikum Bergmannsheil hat einen neuen Direktor. 

Prof. Dr. Tobias Ruck schätzt die enge Verzahnung von Klinik und Forschung: „Das Bergmannsheil ist als Teil des Universitätsklinikums der Ruhr-Universität Bochum auch in der neurowissenschaftlichen Forschung sehr aktiv. Somit bieten sich meinem Team und mir hervorragende Rahmenbedingungen, das klinische und wissenschaftliche Profil unserer Klinik weiter zu schärfen und auszubauen.“

Niklas Thon übernimmt Leitung der Neurochirurgischen Klinik (in German)

Membrane Anchor Suppresses Protein Aggregation

Researchers have gained valuable insight into the development of prion diseases of the brain.

Protein aggregation is typical of various neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and prion diseases such as Creutzfeld-Jakob disease. A research team headed by Professor Jörg Tatzelt from the Department of Biochemistry of Neurodegenerative Diseases at Ruhr University Bochum, Germany, has now used new in vitro and cell culture models to show that a lipid anchor on the outer membrane of nerve cells inhibits the aggregation of the prion protein.

Switching Off Fear

The extended amygdala plays a major role in assessing diffuse threats and in persistent fear reactions. Studies show that it is also involved in learning and unlearning specific fear stimuli.

If a neighbor’s dog dislikes children and jumps up at them, barking loudly, the children might give all dogs a wide berth for a while. A sensible learning effect – as who knows whether all dogs are so aggressive? You can also free yourself of a fear learned in this way: If the children have better experiences with friendlier dogs, they can lose their fear again.