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Fundamental Research Division
The DRF at the CEA assemble approximately 6,000 scientists since January 2016.
A research team led by Denis Le Bihan (CEA) at the NeuroSpin neuroimaging center has just demonstrated that water diffusion slows down in activated regions of the brain.
Thanks to a high-field MRI scanner, researchers from the CEA-I2BM followed the dynamics of ion exchange in neurons, which conduct the propagation of nerve impulses.
A team from Neurospin (CEA-I2BM) and the Cognitive and Integrative Neuroscience Institute of Aquitaine (CNRS/Université de Bordeaux) has visualized the activation of individual neurons by MRI. This result is published in PNAS.
The CEA-iMETI is developing tools and protocols to facilitate the cross-referencing of experimental results obtained in animal tissues with results from human tissues.
Researchers from the CEA-iBiTec-S have developed rapid detection tests against the plague-causing agent Yersinia pestis, to detect the bacillus in the environment. Because plague has not yet been eradicated.
Improving neuron production in elderly persons presenting with a decline in cognition is a major challenge facing an ageing society and the emergence of neuro-degenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. INSERM and CEA researchers recently showed that the pharmacological blocking of the TGFβ molecule improves the production of new neurons in the mouse model.
The drawback to current optical imaging markers is their short life. Researchers are now developing fluorescent nanocrystals (quantum dots) to supplant these markers. A team from the CEA-iBiTec-S, in collaboration with the CEA-I2BM and ESPCI, has developed a new surface chemistry for these particularly effective nanoparticles.
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault announced the signature of an agreement for a collaboration between the CEA’s Department of Life Sciences and Canada’s National Research Council (NRC). This partnership aims to explore the potential in using gas and industrial wastes for the production of microalgae.
Bacteria contain astonishing enzymes that could inspire scientists in the fabrication of fuel cells. Such is the case for researchers from the IBS, who have just determined the crystallographic structure and mechanism of action for an enzyme from Escherichia coli.
The immature brain of a premature infant is capable, at the age of three months pre-term, of distinguishing syllables uttered by male and female voices. These results obtained by INSERM researchers at the University of Picardy Jules Verne and the CEA’s NeuroSpin Imaging Centre highlight the very early sophisticated organisation of the regions of the brain involved in language-processing and social communication in humans.
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CEA is a French government-funded technological research organisation in four main areas: low-carbon energies, defense and security, information technologies and health technologies. A prominent player in the European Research Area, it is involved in setting up collaborative projects with many partners around the world.