Newsroom Stories

The brain hosts an extraordinarily complex network of interconnected nerve cells that are constantly exchanging electrical and chemical signals at speeds difficult to comprehend. Now, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report they have been able to achieve — with a custom-built microscope — the closest view yet of living nerve synapses.

The African Film Festival returns to campus March 31-April 2. Screenings are free and will be in Brown Hall. The festival sets time aside Saturday for its special “Eye on Youth” programming.

Filmmaker Ericka Beckman (BFA ’74) and visual artist Ian Weaver (MFA ’08) are recipients of the inaugural Stone & DeGuire Contemporary Art Award.

Scientists at the School of Medicine have implicated a specific molecule in the self-destruction of axons, the wiring of the nervous system. Understanding just how that damage occurs may help researchers find a way to halt it.

A four-year study of one rare and one common lupine growing in coastal dunes showed that a native mouse steals most of the rare lupines seeds while they are still attached to the plant. The mouse is a “subsidized species,” given cover for nocturnal forays by European beachgrass, originally planted to stabilize the dunes.

Doctors who treat back pain are exploring new approaches that help some patients avoid opioid drugs. One option available at the Washington University Pain Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital involves stimulating the spinal cord with very short pulses of electricity.

Opioids, including heroin and prescription drugs, killed more than 33,000 people in 2015, more than any year on record, according to the CDC. President Trump’s proposed budget aims to address the crisis with a $500 million increase in prevention and treatment, but it isn’t enough to address the issue, says an expert on substance use disorder treatment.

An engineer at Washington University in St. Louis is working to create a probiotic that would help protect the host from the negative health effects of adrenaline surges. The new probiotic could easily be mixed into yogurt or taken in pill form.

Chuck Berry, who died March 18, embodied the sound, attitude and mythology that defined the early days of rock and roll, says Patrick Burke, head of musicology in Arts & Sciences.

About 500 seventh-grade girls from across the state visited Washington University in St. Louis to learn about careers in STEM. Barbara Schaal, dean of the faculty of Arts & Sciences, told students that STEM careers are as diverse as they are rewarding: “What STEM education does is give you a cafeteria of options and opportunities.”