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- Glossary
Migraine with aura
The symptoms at the onset of a classic migraine attack. About one in five migraine attacks is preceded by characteristic perceptual disturbances, such as patients only being able to see part of their field of vision or seeing blurry. These symptoms usually come on slowly and also disappear slowly. This does not cause any damage to the brain tissue.
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- Glossary
Microexpressions
Microexpressions are facial expressions that last only a fraction of a second. They cannot be consciously controlled and are rarely consciously perceived by others.
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- Glossary
Microglia
The smallest type of glial cell is part of the cellular immune system and is responsible, among other things, for removing dead neurons. Microglia can move in an amoeba-like manner.
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- Glossary
Microtubules
Microtubules are one of the main components of the cytoskeleton, which gives cells stability and support. They consist of many copies of the proteins alpha- and beta-tubulin, which pair up to form tubes with a diameter of 20 to 30 nanometers. In addition to their supporting function, microtubules play an important role in transporting messenger substances through the cell. In neurons, for example, vesicles filled with neurotransmitters move along them to the synapses. In the nerve cells of the brains of Alzheimer's patients, a protein called tau can no longer stabilize the microtubules properly. As a result, they disintegrate, which contributes significantly to the development of dementia.
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- Glossary
Facial expressions
Five muscle groups control the visible movements on the surface of our faces – and this applies to everyone in the world. Neuroscientists emphasize universal, evolutionarily anchored reactions as the reason for this. For this reason, the basic emotions of fear, anger, disgust, sadness, surprise, and joy leave similar traces on the face everywhere, which we can usually identify reliably even in strangers.
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- Glossary
Mitochondria
Mitochondria are organelles inside a cell. They are also referred to as the "powerhouse" of cells because they supply them with energy. They have their own DNA, which is only inherited from the mother.
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- Glossary
Middle ear
The eardrum forms the boundary between the outer ear and the middle ear. The ossicles – the malleus, incus, and stapes – transmit the vibration of the eardrum to the inner ear via the oval window. The middle ear is filled with air.
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- Glossary
Mnemonics
Mnemonics is a collective term for methods that facilitate the learning of new content. The simplest mnemonic device is the memory aid.
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- Glossary
Mossy fiber
Mossy fibers are nerve fibers that conduct impulses from the spinal cord and the pontine nuclei to the cerebellum. There they terminate in the granule cell layer. The axons of the granule cells of the dentate gyrus in the hippocampus, which extend to CA3, are also referred to as mossy fibers.
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- Glossary
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cortical atrophy, nerve cell loss, synapse loss, and deposits of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, leading to dementia and loss of function. Early symptoms include memory problems, speech disorders, executive deficits, depressive moods, and subtle personality changes. As the disease progresses, global cognitive impairment, aphasia, agnosia, apraxia, and behavioral abnormalities such as apathy, restlessness, and sleep disorders occur. The disease was first described in 1907 by Alois Alzheimer.
