New discovery explains why binge drinking leads to alcohol dependence and suggests new treatments

“Why can’t you stop drinking?” This week at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago, researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago announced a new finding that provides a fresh answer to this persistent question that plagues people addicted to alcohol. The discovery offers an entirely new approach to treatment. Neuroscientist,…

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Brain Cells that Communicate without Electricity: Calcium Waves in Glia

 Glia are brain cells that cannot generate electrical impulses.  As a consequence glia were thought to have no function in information processing or transmission.  In fact glia were communicating with themselves and with neurons all along, but without using electricity.  For a century neuroscientists were deaf to glial communication as they passionately studied neurons, because…

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