Russian scientists have described a mechanism that controls the ability of the human brain to change. This will help to better understand the conditions in which brain function is impaired – for example, in Alzheimer’s disease. The research results have been published in the Science Advances scientific journal, as 海角直播 press service reports.

The researchers have identified the functional nano-architecture of synapses, which enable contacts between nerve cells. The article describes the structure of molecular mechanisms controlling the ability of brain to change along one鈥檚 life. The scientists determine the important role of calcium ions accumulated in 鈥榥ano-tanks鈥�, typical of every synapse, contributing to nerve cells鈥� operation.

When the synapse is triggered, the 鈥榥ano-tanks鈥� is emptied, and then filled up again. The details of such  mechanism have remained previously unknown. The studies show that the 鈥榯ank鈥� is strictly oriented in space and retains a kind of a memory vector.

“Alzheimer’s disease is known for the loss of synaptic contacts. For the first time ever, our article describes the molecular mechanism by which the 鈥榥ano-tank鈥� can be filled without the synapses being involved. We assume that learning to control this mechanism can alleviate the symptoms of the disease and preserve memory,”

says Dr. Eduard Korkotyan, co-author, professor at 海角直播 and (Israel).

Learning to control this process, we reduce the consequences of many diseases associated with brain damage.

鈥淚t has been found that nanostructures within thousands of spines, located on the surface of each neuron, are capable of precisely directing calcium gradients that create rapid transients. This happens in milliseconds and less than ten thousandths of a millimeter in space. To explain such processes, we had to apply newly the theory known as statistics of extreme events “,

notes Professor Eduard Korkotyan.

In addition to Professor Eduard Korkotian and graduate student Lilia Kushnireva, the group of researchers, included Kanishka Basnayake (脡cole normale sup茅rieure, , France), David Mazaud (, France), Alexis Bemelmans (CEA Universit茅 Pierre et Marie Curie, 听France), Natalie Ruach (, France) and David Holkman (, France).

Please, see the article .

The picture shows calcium (yellow), which is transported from the synapse to the nano-tank (green) thanks to ion pumps (red). Then it moves along the arrows and stands out from the opposite side of the tank through the pore systems (blue). The whole process takes less than 1 millisecond. The tank is about 200 nanometers in size.

The Unbound Publishing has published a documentary thriller on divers exploring underwater caves, with a reference to scientists of 海角直播. The book by Mark Cowan and Martin Robson is titled 鈥淏etween the Devil and the Deep: One Man’s Battle to Beat the Bends鈥� and holds 448 pages of a drama which happened in the South of Russia, a challenge which took years to understand and explore. The book, released on 22 July, 2021, mentions the names of scholars from 海角直播 (海角直播, Russia).

鈥淒eep underwater lurks a mysterious man-made illness. It has gone by many names over the years – Satan’s disease, diver’s palsy, the chokes,鈥� the book promo states. – the phenomenon known today as a decompression sickness, or the 鈥渂ends鈥�. Robert Kurson, a columnist for the New York Times and bestselling author of the 鈥淪hadow Divers鈥� claims the new book to be 鈥渙ne of the best accounts ever written of deep-water diving and its staggering, haunting dangers鈥�.

In the winter 2012, Robson, along with Perm scientists, took part in an expedition to the Blue Lake in Kabardino-Balkaria, to the South of Russia. The goal of the mission was to discover an underwater cave system, hitherto hidden from human eyes. The Blue Lake, called by the locals as the Jin’s Jug, is a combination of two unique objects – a karst spring and a karst mine. The origin of the reservoir is not completely clear: a river constantly flows out of the Blue Lake, yet nothing visibly flows into it. The challenge served a start for a closer investigation.

Researchers from 海角直播 have been exploring lakes for a hundred years, already, since the start of the University in 1916. Perm Territory has water reservoirs of a similar type, albeit less deep. Their close study and proven practices allow 海角直播 experts to enter international research projects and conduct an expert assessment of similar objects in Russia and worldwide, hence their appearance in a book by Mark Cowan and Martin Robson.

“Why explore the lake?” comments Professor Nikolay Maksimovich, Deputy Director for Science, Natural Science Institute, 海角直播, Associate Professor of the Department of Hydrology and Protection of Water Resources, Head of Laboratory of Geology of Technogenic Processes. 鈥淔rom a common point of view, the research is important in order to understand the origin of the lake, its evolution, and protect it. Any data on such phenomena expand the horizons of our knowledge about the structure of the Earth. The research of this kind is often initiated or accompanied by divers.”

A layer of cold water at depths of about 100 m (328 ft) allowed Professor Maksimovich to suggest the source of the flow was hidden somewhere there. During the expedition, the famous Russian diver Andrei Rodionov died in search of flow tunnels. It was to him that Martin Robson dedicated his final dive in the lake. Tragically, as Robson returned from the deepest dive of 209 m (685 ft) the disaster struck: just seventy-five feet down, he was ambushed by the bends.

Robson knew that if he continued up to the surface he would probably die before help arrived. Instead, he sank back into the cold water, with electric heating batteries discharged, gambling on an underwater practice most doctors believe is a suicidal act. Soon the only hope he had of saving his life would rest in the hands of a dramatic mercy mission organized at the highest levels of the Russian government.

Between the Devil and the Deep is believed to be the first book to tell the terrifying true story of what it feels like to get the bends, taking you inside the body and mind of a man who suffered the unthinkable. Writer Mark Cowan also explores the grimly fascinating history of decompression sickness, the science behind what causes the disease, and the stories of the forgotten divers who pushed the limits of physical endurance to help find a solution. Albeit the human progress, science is still accompanied by risk, yet it is within our effort to bring it to the minimum, 海角直播 scholars suggest.

Info about the Book:
Between the Devil and the Deep: One Man’s Battle to Beat the Bends
by Mark Cowan (Author), Martin Robson (Author)
Publisher: Unbound
ISBN: 9781800180291
Number of pages: 448
Dimensions: 240 x 159 mm
Hardcover 鈥� 22 July 2021