Articles tagged with Neurophysiology
Researchers found that waves of cerebrospinal fluid, which clear waste from the brain during sleep, are significantly reduced in older adults. This impairment is linked to decreased slow brain waves during deep sleep and is not solely due to reduced sleep duration.
A new tool, ASAP, rapidly and reversibly turns autophagy on and off, confirming suspected targets, revealing new ones, and suggesting a link between protein building and breakdown. ASAP also targets nuclear pore complexes and protein condensates, shedding light on autophagy's role in maintaining cellular health.
The BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network (BICAN) has published a 3D atlas of the human basal ganglia, a group of nerve cells controlling key functions like learning and movement. This comprehensive database could be used to create personalized therapeutics and treatments for conditions like Parkinson's disease and addiction.
A new study reveals that the CASS4 gene plays a crucial role in Alzheimer's disease by directing brain-cleaning immune cells, which can be disrupted leading to the buildup of toxic plaques. This discovery offers new hope for the development of treatments or prevention strategies by targeting the gene or microglia in the brain.
A new review examines the relationship between tumors and the nervous system, suggesting that psychedelics may be able to 'listen' to the system and provide relief from cancer-related symptoms. The review also explores the potential for psychedelics to modulate the immune system and reduce inflammation in cancer patients.
A randomized controlled trial found that Tai Chi Qigong and an exercise class improved sleep quality in older male cancer survivors, with no significant difference between the two. While the changes were modest, the study suggests that a more diverse range of participants and future studies are needed to confirm the findings.
Scientists find ear muscles respond immediately to emotional stimuli, indicating intensity of emotional response. The discovery could lead to machines that can recognize emotions more accurately than humans, raising questions about their capabilities.
A research team identified a signaling pathway involving AQP4, TRPA1, BEST1, and D-serine that helps maintain neuronal activity and cerebral blood-volume responses during prolonged sensory stimulation. Astrocytes release D-serine, which supports neuronal activity and contributes to dilation of brain blood vessels.
WVU neurobiologist Eric Horstick has received a $1 million NSF CAREER award to investigate how early temperature experiences shape the brain and behavior. The project will also provide students with hands-on neuroscience research experience and develop a zebrafish behavioral recording setup.
University of Missouri researchers are studying how sleep, family structure, and social support affect caregivers and those they care for. The projects aim to improve the health and well-being of families affected by dementia, with a focus on accessible treatments and interventions.
The study reveals that 12 of the 17 visual opsins found in the mantis shrimp's median band detect red light, with three bistable opsins switching reversibly between two stable states when absorbing light. This discovery has potential applications in optogenetics, enabling expand sensitivity to be achieved at 687 nanometres.
A new Cochrane review found insufficient evidence to support the use of medical cannabis for insomnia, with most studies showing little to no improvement in sleep quality and daytime functioning. However, some studies suggested a potential for adverse effects, such as dry mouth and dizziness.
Researchers at NYU Langone Health used fruit flies to study how neurons interact to encode information into working memory. They found that two types of neurons form an attractor network, allowing the fly to track and remember specific odors.
A new study introduces a personalized short sleep framework, considering an individual's long-term sleep distribution. This approach showed larger effect estimates than a fixed six-hour definition on various day-to-day outcomes, including alertness, stress, and motivation.
Georg Nagel, Karl Deisseroth, and Peter Hegemann's research enables switching nerve cell activity in living brains using light, advancing brain research and understanding. This breakthrough method, known as optogenetics, is now used worldwide to investigate psychiatric and neurological disorders.
A study published in Addiction Neuroscience found that music therapy reduces cravings and alters brain activity in people with substance use disorders. The therapy was shown to improve emotional regulation and reduce negative emotions, providing encouraging evidence for its role in addiction treatment.
A recent study published in Sleep Medicine found that adults with elevated risk of dementia who took at least 5,000 IU of vitamin D daily showed better cognitive function compared to those who didn't. The study also highlighted the significance of timing and the form of vitamin D supplementation.
Neuroscientists at Northwestern University discovered that response speed on exhalation is faster than on inhalation by 41 milliseconds. This study is the first to measure response speed during all phases of respiration, including pauses between breaths.
Researchers found that the amygdalostriatal transition zone, a small brain region near the amygdala, is responsible for sustained fear responses. The study provides new insights into the brain's fear circuitry and may lead to the development of more effective therapies for fear and panic disorders.
A new study found that greater amounts of REM and deep sleep were associated with lower risks of dozens of diseases, while less than 5 hours of total sleep was linked to high risks of disease. The study analyzed data from 95,559 UK Biobank participants and identified significant associations between sleep patterns and incident diseases.
A team of researchers at Brown University's Carney Institute for Brain Science has discovered a genetic atlas of neuronal development, which could provide a potential step forward for understanding how to repair broken neural connections. The study found that neurons use a genetic switch in the cell body to control axon growth, allowin...
Researchers used social media data to analyze US sleep trends during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding widespread sleeplessness across the country. The study, published in PLOS One, suggests that nighttime social media posts can be used to track sleep patterns and identify areas of high sleep distress.
A study found that just 10 minutes of very slow running improves mood and executive function, activating the prefrontal cortex. This suggests that even low-intensity exercise can have cognitive benefits.
A new study reveals that psychedelics and anesthetics create 'mirror image' patterns in brain organization, with opposite network features. Researchers found that psychedelics increase functional connectivity, while sleep and anesthesia reduce it.
Researchers found that psilocybin durably prevented chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in mice, preserving nerve function and tumor-killing effects. The study's findings have potential disease-modifying approaches to chronic pain and may reframe CIPN as a failure of resilience that can be addressed with early intervention.
A clinical observational study found that individuals with severe sleep apnea have lower levels of the antimicrobial peptide LL-37 in their blood. This suggests that LL-37 could serve as a potential biomarker for poor sleep quality.
Researchers propose an AI framework, called interoceptive AI, that uses internal states to inform learning and decision-making in dynamic environments. This approach treats internal conditions as a continuous source of context, influencing what an agent learns, prioritizes, and does.
University of Connecticut researchers found that Rett syndrome symptoms are caused by a lack of dopamine in the carotid body, leading to unstable breathing. This discovery may lead to new treatments for Rett syndrome and other diseases involving dopamine imbalance.
Researchers have developed a genetic toolkit to isolate individual neuron types in a fruit fly brain, revealing distinct neuronal subgroups that produce different effects, including suppressing aggression. The study identifies a universal control of aggression across sexes and highlights the complex roles of neurons within the same neu...
A review in Brain Medicine argues that industrialization changed sleep timing and regularity, not duration, with hunter-gatherers sleeping between 6.4 and 7.1 hours a night, less than the industrialized average. The distinction matters, as it highlights the importance of timing and regularity in sleep patterns.
A study published in Nature Neuroscience found that social isolation increases alcohol consumption in male mice by activating a specific brain circuit, while decreasing it in female mice. The researchers identified a neural pathway connecting the basolateral amygdala and medial prefrontal cortex, which may hold key to understanding alc...
Researchers at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center found that BRAF plays a key role in developing and maintaining chronic nerve pain caused by nerve damage. Using BRAF inhibitors reduced pain sensitivity in preclinical models, suggesting therapeutic potential for treating chronic nerve pain.
A study by University of Basel researchers found specific brainstem neurons that become activated during prolonged wakefulness and promote sleep drive. These neurons, including GABAergic and serotonergic neurons, increase sleep pressure and ensure prolonged wakefulness is followed by deeper and longer recovery sleep.
A study published in Nature Communications identified a language-specific brain network that can be detected even when the person is at rest or performing a task unrelated to language. The researchers used data from over 1,900 fMRI scans and found that this network spans the left hemisphere frontal and temporal regions of the brain.
Researchers used a mouse model of artificial hibernation to examine the structural mechanisms underlying memory retention. They found that even after hippocampal activity dropped by 70% and more than half of synapses were eliminated, animals retained memories and recovered their original neural organization upon waking.
A novel AI model can use information collected during routine sleep studies to identify patients' long-term health risks, including heart disease and cognitive decline. The findings also suggest that routine medical tests may contain substantially more physiologic information than current clinical practice extracts.
During REM sleep, the brain processes internal bodily signals more strongly than external auditory stimuli. By calculating an audio-cardio index, researchers found that the brain turns its listening inward, reorganizing sensory information processing as it shifts from wakefulness to sleep.
Researchers at Kyoto University developed a new training method to study habit formation in mice, revealing two distinct brain circuits managing different aspects of habits. The first circuit determines whether behavior becomes a habit, while the second controls execution levels.
Researchers developed a new methodology using artificial intelligence to analyze brain electrical activity during sleep, identifying early neural alterations and classifying patients into distinct biological subgroups. This non-invasive approach may facilitate earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.
A new review article synthesizes information on neural traveling waves, concluding they are a computational engine in the visual cortex. These waves allow the brain to build internal representations of the external world, enabling prediction and perception.
Researchers discovered that brain regions switch between shared and independent timing, allowing for flexibility in coordination. This finding provides a new framework for understanding how brain regions communicate and enables the development of brain-inspired artificial intelligence and robotic control systems.
A study from Binghamton University found that poor sleep quality is connected to hyperarousal in young people and neurodegenerative patterns among older women. Research analyzed brain scans from over 1,300 participants to see how brain networks connect at rest in those with poor sleep.
The Neuroscape Technology for Aging Health - Digital Approaches (TAH-DA) longitudinal study aims to identify biometric predictors of cognitive decline over a year. Participants will use Samsung wearable technology and digital interventions to assess brain health.
Researchers discovered astrocytes actively preserve long-term memories by regulating Ank2 and BDNF signaling. This finding expands the understanding of how memories are stored in the brain.
Researchers found that only back stroking calmed infant movements, while in mouse pups, it slowed heart rate and blunted stress hormone surge. In mice raised without mothers, the response didn't develop, suggesting a need for contact with the mother to build this calming effect.
A new study by Thales Papagiannakopoulos and colleagues found that lung cancer tumors talk directly to the nervous system through sensory neurons in the lungs, promoting cachexia. Silencing these nerves or blocking the production of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) reduced cachexia, suggesting a potential therapeutic strategy.
A study analyzed daily sleep records from Fitbit devices worn by 76 undergraduates to examine longitudinal sleep patterns. The researchers found that average sleep duration increased by 8 minutes from freshman to senior year, and students with higher grades slept longer on average.
Researchers at New York University have developed a way to measure and visualize brainwaves of thousands of people during live face-to-face communication, finding that synchrony can be used to guide and improve social interactions. This phenomenon, known as social synchrony, is linked to healthy relationships and learning.
A new study has found that changes in a senior dog's gait can be an early warning sign of dementia. The research tracked the stride length of 88 geriatric dogs over time, revealing a significant decrease in front leg stride length with worsening cognitive decline. This change was found to be more pronounced than age-related decline alone.
A recent study published in Metabolism found that our internal clock independently affects the energy we burn after eating, peaking in the morning and decreasing at night. This discovery sheds light on why late eating may contribute to weight gain or struggles with weight loss.
A virtual reality study with zebrafish shows that the environment experienced by young fish influences the shape and electrical activity of neurons in the eye. Fish growing up surrounded by horizontal stripes develop differently shaped neurons compared to those exposed to vertical stripes, which affects their behavior.
The study found that during surprising events, the brain allocates more energy to sensory information, leading to better memory recall. In contrast, predictable situations stimulate faster responses but less detailed encoding.
A survey of over 5,700 Chinese adolescents found significant associations between screen time, body weight, and mental health with sleep quality. Rural adolescents and girls fared worse overall, highlighting the need to address these factors to improve sleep.
A new study reveals that smell loss can have a devastating impact on quality of life, comparable to conditions like Parkinson’s, stroke, and diabetes. Patients with smell disorders experience significant emotional, social, and psychological suffering, often rivaling those with chronic illnesses.
A new study suggests that moderate sitting may be beneficial for highly active adults, contradicting previous guidelines. The research found a J-shaped association between daily sitting time and health outcomes, with the lowest risk at approximately 4 hours of sitting per day.
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis discovered that the mesencephalic command-associated nucleus (MCA) acts as a central timing hub, coordinating changes to sensory inputs across species. This finding highlights the importance of studying unusual sensory abilities in animals like weakly electric fish.
Researchers discovered that intestinal obstruction affects feeding and sleeping behavior in fruit flies, causing lethargy and death. The study found a genetic defect responsible for intestinal blockage, leading to the formation of a 'Reinger's knot' that blocks the intestine.
Researchers at the University of Groningen found that a clinically approved asthma drug can restore access to social memories disrupted by sleep deprivation. In a study, mice who were sleep deprived after meeting other mice couldn't recognize them later, but the drug roflumilast allowed them to recall their social encounters.
By inducing rhythmic on-and-off activity in small portions of the brain, researchers triggered a recalibration of neural connections that normally only occurs during sleep. This approach offset the effects of sleep deprivation and revealed features of sleep key to its restorative effect, including improved tactile memory tasks.
Researchers discovered a key mechanism controlling brain plasticity and maturation in early life, with cortisol playing a central role in closing critical learning periods. The study found that cortisol triggers a cascade of brain changes that contribute to critical period closure in mice, mirroring the human brain.