The California Institute of Technology has been recognized as the No. 1 institution in the nation for the impact of its neuroscience research. The results are reported in the September/October issue of Science Watch.

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute has awarded $2 million to the California Institute of Technology for support of undergraduate programs in the biological sciences.

Like a commuter trying to get to work during rush hour, a growing axon must thread its way through a throng of other axons that are headed in many different directions in the developing brain. Axons are the wire-like extensions of nerve cells that carry electrical signals from one place to another in the brain, and during development they must navigate across long distances (many centimeters) to reach their correct address within the brain. If the axon gets lost, brain circuits cannot form normally and, like the commuter showing up at the wrong office, the axon may not be able to do its job. So how do axons find their way? A report published in the July 24th issue of the journal Science by Drs. Susan Catalano and Carla Shatz of the University of California at Berkeley sheds light on how axons home in on their correct targets. New Study Shows How Axons Find Their Way Home July 1998 98

In the July 24 issue of Science, Caltech biology professor John Allman and his colleagues write that brain cells involved in vision tend to be apportioned to picking up farness or nearness. In working with rhesus monkeys trained to follow dots of varying size on a moving TV monitor, the researchers have found that the monkeys use their nearness and farness cells in tandem. Brain cells attuned to visual nearness and farnessinteract to allow judgments of size, research shows July 1998 98

PASADENA–The California Institute of Technology is pleased to announce that José Alberola-Ila, assistant professor of biology, has been named a 1998 Pew Scholar as part of the Pew Scholars Program in Biomedical Sciences. The $200,000 award will support Alberola-Ila's research over the next four years.

he California Institute of Technology is pleased to announce that Bruce Hay, assistant professor of biology, has been named a 1998 Ellison Medical Scholar as part of the Ellison Medical Foundation New Scholars in Aging Program. The $200,000 award will support Hay's research over the next four years.

The parent who stays home to take care of the kids may be getting a good deal healthwise. New primate research from the California Institute of Technology shows that a primary caregiver tends to live longer than the other parent.