#university college london

07:00 || Lone mornings in the library.

As the term is only just kicking off, nobody attends the libraries early in the morning. Allowing me to bask in silence!! The above images are taken in The Flaxman Gallery inside the Main Library at University College London.

Follow my Studygram: studyingbrains 

Follow my Twittertoo!

7/02/2021 I’ve been working on my notion databases to keep track of my grades all morning while it snows! I only have a few marks back at the moment and I’m currently averaging about 77(?) so that’s good but I feel so much pressure to keep it up. I’ve been getting to grips with notion and I’m really liking it for some things; you can see all of my databases to the left. Let me know if you’ve used notion and what you thought, I’ve not used javascript before! xx Emily

Estrogens alleviate hyperactivity in ‘autistic’ zebrafish

The female sex hormone estrogen reduces sleep disruption in zebrafish genetically designed to help understand autism spectrum disorder (ASD) scientists have discovered.

Researchers from the University College London In collaboration with scientists at Yale University and University of California, San Francisco, were investigating the function of genes linked to autism and seizures in humans by using zebrafish as a model system. They unexpectedly discovered that estrogens calm hyperactive fish during the night, which will help scientists to understand the brain pathways affected in ASD.

The finding is intriguing given ASD is four times more common in men than women. All humans produce estrogen, but levels are significantly higher in women than men.

These images show zebrafish brains, with axon tracts, neurons and interneurons tagged in different colours.

This research helps scientists to understand the function of an autism risk gene in the developing brain, which is important for understanding the biology of autism.

Images: Kate Turner,  UCL

Read more