Research on how the brain is built and how it governs body and behavior. Covers neural circuits, sleep, sensory systems, brain structure, and the brain-body connection.
Researchers have solved the long-standing question of what triggers the alarm response in fish by identifying two distinct chemical signals: Daniol sulphate and Ostariopterin. These substances convey separate pieces of information that must be detected simultaneously to trigger a flight-or-freeze response.
A phase 3 trial co-led by a University of Cincinnati researcher found that subcutaneous levodopa delivery through an infusion pump is safe and effective in reducing symptoms for longer periods. The study resulted in almost two hours of additional 'on time' compared to traditional oral medication, paving the way for potential FDA approval.
Researchers found large individual differences in roundworm neural activity despite conserved neural circuits. Computer simulations including noise accurately model whole-brain activity, shedding light on neuronal connectivity and essential role of noise in brain function.
Researchers at the University of Bergen have identified a new gene linked to primary familial brain calcification (PFBC), a rare neurodegenerative condition. The discovery provides new insight into how brain calcifications occur and may help explain the development of dementia.
A study led by the University of Oklahoma's Christian Lemon investigates the role of TRPM8 receptors in oral temperature perception. The research found that these receptors are crucial for distinguishing warm temperatures from cooling sensations. Without TRPM8, the brain tends to blur the lines between warmth and coolness.
Researchers at Aarhus University have found a way to spot Alzheimer's disease before it develops into dementia using an advanced blood test analysis. The study suggests that activating the body's immune system at an early stage of the disease may slow down its progression.
A study published in Science Advances reveals that emotions are represented in the brain through a distributed network encompassing sensory, prefrontal, and temporal areas. The ventromedial prefrontal cortex emerges as a key locus for storing an abstract representation of emotions.
Scientists have developed fUSI technology that enables clinicians to see and map the spinal cord's response to treatments in real-time. This innovation offers improved monitoring of blood flow changes, potentially increasing treatment success rates and optimizing pain relief for patients.
Researchers at the University of Illinois have identified a neural-specific protein, PSD-95, as an early biomarker for Alzheimer's disease. The study found that inhibiting PSD-95 slowed seizure activity in mice with amyloid-beta pathology, suggesting potential therapeutic targets for early-stage Alzheimer's.
Researchers at MIT discovered that daily exposure to light and sound with a frequency of 40 hertz protects brain cells from chemotherapy-induced damage, preventing memory loss and improving cognitive functions. The treatment also helped prevent DNA damage, inflammation, and promoted the growth of oligodendrocytes, the cells responsible...
A neuroimaging study found that brain activity increases early on in sentences while speaking and at the end of phrases during listening. This suggests that the brain builds sentence structure incrementally while speaking, but integrates information more slowly when listening.
A new study led by Cleveland Clinic researchers suggests that sildenafil may help protect brain cells from Alzheimer's disease. The study found that sildenafil can lower levels of neurotoxic tau proteins and improve brain function in patients with Alzheimer's.
A new study suggests that walking through historically Black neighborhoods while reminiscing can improve cognitive function and mood in older Black adults. The program, known as SHARP, combines exercise, social connection, and active reminiscence to make a cumulative impact on health.
A new study found that unconscious reminders can strengthen memory, particularly when recalling associations between words and images. Unlike conscious reminders, which can lead to retrieval-induced forgetting, unconscious prompts facilitate a more nuanced process of memory consolidation.
Researchers at ULiège found that hearing relaxing words during sleep slows down cardiac activity, reflecting deeper sleep. This discovery provides insight into brain-heart interactions during sleep and challenges traditional views of the sleeping body as disconnected from the external world.
Scientists have uncovered a novel form of MRI scan that shows how Long-COVID affects the human brain's delicate network of blood vessels. The study found disruption to the integrity of blood vessels in patients with Long COVID and brain fog, highlighting a potential target for targeted therapies.
Researchers developed a toolkit to translate neuroimaging data into audiovisual representations, enabling scientists to explore brain activity patterns in real time. The tool uses piano sounds for neural activity and violin sounds for blood flow, allowing viewers to discern coupled relationships between the two.
A new blood test uses the biomarker BD-tau to predict functional outcomes in patients after ischemic stroke. Higher levels of BD-tau are associated with more severe outcomes.
A recent study published in PLOS Biology found that the human brain can segregate direct speech from its echo, allowing for reliable recognition of echoic speech. This neural separation is essential for understanding conversations in noisy environments and is supported by magnetoencephalography recordings.
Researchers at ISTA developed a novel 'Flash and Freeze-fracture' technique to analyze brain region communication. The method reveals that neurons in the medial habenula exhibit unusual behavior, contradicting general understanding, and provides insights into protein localization and synapse strengthening.
Researchers developed a new machine learning method to analyze brain data, separating intrinsic neural patterns from sensory inputs. The method revealed surprisingly consistent hidden patterns in three subjects' neural activity despite different tasks.
A systematic review of 24 studies across seven countries found Indigenous people were more likely to have a stroke than non-Indigenous populations. The disparities are particularly evident in countries with high average quality of life and long life expectancies, suggesting inequitable access to resources to prevent and manage stroke.
Research reveals oxytocin neurons in mouse brain modulate object recognition memory, with activation boosting long-term memory and implicating Alzheimer's disease. Oxytocin's role in social memory also highlighted, suggesting a potential link to loneliness or limited social engagement.
Researchers found that bariatric surgery led to improved cognition and overall well-being two years after the procedure. The study revealed changes in blood vessel efficiency and cortical thickness of the temporal cortex, offering new treatment options for patients with obesity and dementia.
Researchers found that APOE4 accumulates on fat droplets in astrocytes, damaging brain cells and preventing them from cleaning up toxic lipids. This mechanism could explain why APOE4 increases Alzheimer's disease risk.
Researchers have found a connection between the brain and its tough protective covering, the dura mater, allowing waste fluid to leave the brain while exposing it to immune cells. This discovery has implications for neural-immune system responses and aging, potentially leading to new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.
Researchers connected cognitive and behavioral symptoms to protein buildup in the brain marking the disease. The study showed a clear relationship between CTE pathology and severity of cognitive and functional symptoms during life.
Researchers have identified the molecular mechanism behind memory creation and found that saturated fatty acids interact with a protein called STXBP1. This interaction coordinates the release of fatty acids and directs communication at synapses in the brain.
A team of scientists from the Beckman Institute has received a $3 million grant to develop diagnostic tools and imaging agents for the early detection of Alzheimer's disease. They will use a combination of PET and MRI scans to target smaller beta-amyloid peptides and other signs of neuroinflammation and oxidative stress.
Researchers have uncovered the molecular and ultrastructural features of BCAS1+ cells in diffuse gliomas, highlighting their proliferative capacity and distribution. The study provides a comprehensive characterization of the BCAS1+ cell population within diffuse gliomas, shedding light on its role in tumor malignancy.
A team of neuroscientists has discovered that oligodendrocytes, myelin-forming cells, accelerate glucose consumption to deliver energy-rich molecules to rapidly firing axons. This communication is mediated by potassium signals and maintains axonal health.
Indiana University researchers have found that nicotinamide nucleotide adenylyl transferase 2 (NMNAT2) plays a critical role in protecting the brain from aging and neurodegenerative diseases. The enzyme provides energy to axons, enabling them to carry out nerve impulses and maintain healthy function.
A new study suggests that early conversations about brain health between clinicians and patients are rare due to stigma around Alzheimer's diagnoses. Tailored approaches, such as culturally relevant messaging and the Agile Diffusion Process, can facilitate these conversations.
A new study published by experts at the University of Exeter found that playing a musical instrument is associated with improved memory and executive function in older adults. Continuing to play into later life provides even greater benefit, suggesting that music could be a way to harness cognitive reserve.
A team of researchers from Harvard and Texas developed a soft implantable device with dozens of sensors to record single-neuron activity stably for months. The device uses fluorinated elastomers and is 10,000 times softer than conventional flexible probes.
Researchers at UTA developed a novel learning-based framework to predict Alzheimer’s disease progression. The DETree strategy can pinpoint clinical status within the disease spectrum, allowing for more accurate planning and potential applications in other diseases with multiple stages of development.
A new brain pathway has been discovered linking motivation, addiction, and disease, with the cerebellum playing a crucial role. The basal ganglia and cerebellum are traditionally thought to function independently, but this connection may change our understanding of voluntary movements and conditioned learning.
A new UC Davis study found that adolescent girls who internalize rejection experience increased brain activity in areas related to self-definition, leading to a tendency to ruminate. This knowledge can inform targeted interventions to treat rumination and prevent long-term mental health issues.
Researchers have designed a new, affordable system to study neural interactions and compute using living neurons. The open-source MiV system boasts over 500 electrodes, offering improved control and precision in measuring neural processes.
Researchers developed a new technology to track when brain cells shut off, providing insights into normal brain function and diseases like depression and Alzheimer's. The technique identifies a protein called pyruvate dehydrogenase that is rapidly changed immediately after brain cells are inhibited.
A NTU Singapore study found that ageing alters brain cells' communication, leading to weakening connections and poorer memory in middle-aged mice. The research suggests strengthening these connections through memory training may delay age-related working memory decline.
Researchers at Northwestern University have discovered that toxic short RNAs contribute to neuron death and DNA damage in Alzheimer's disease. Studies found that older individuals with superior memories have higher amounts of protective short RNA strands in their brains.
Researchers found that traumatic memories immediately following a distressing event are more memorable than the moments leading up to it. This discovery has implications for eyewitness testimonies, therapies for PTSD, and understanding memory decline in brain disorders like Alzheimer's disease.
A new transparent brain implant has been developed to read deep neural activity from the surface, providing a step closer to building a minimally invasive brain-computer interface. The technology enables high-resolution data about deep neural activity by using recordings from the brain surface and correlating them with calcium spikes i...
A study by Fujita Health University researchers unveiled novel insights into the brain's processing of movement and sensation. The findings suggest that signals from motor cortices do not primarily modulate sensory responses in primary sensory cortices, but rather pathways from secondary somatosensory cortex (S2) and sensory thalamus (...
Researchers from Bar-Ilan University discover a possible mechanism underlying the brain's efficient shallow learning, enabling it to perform complex classification tasks with similar accuracy as deep learning. The study proposes a wider and higher architecture as a complementary mechanism to deep architectures.
Rice bioengineer Jerzy Szablowski and colleagues have engineered a synthetic serum marker that enables non-invasive neural monitoring by tracking gene expression dynamics in the brain. This breakthrough allows researchers to investigate brain development, cognitive function and neurological diseases more effectively.
A recent study published in Neurology found that black people consistently had a higher rate of stroke than white people over a 22-year period. The average age of black people experiencing stroke was nearly 10 years younger than that of white people, highlighting an existing disparity.
A team of researchers led by Keith Hengen proposes a theory that explains both the meaning of sleep and the complexity of the brain. By tracking brain activity in sleeping rats, they found that sleep restores criticality, a state that maximizes thinking and processing.
Researchers established a molecular link between specific B12-producing gut bacteria and acetylcholine production in C. elegans, a neurotransmitter important to memory and cognitive function. A diet rich in these bacteria reduced seizure-like behavior in mutant worms by restoring excitatory/inhibitory balance.
A new framework has been established for standardized imaging of diffuse gliomas using amino acid PET, enabling the evaluation of treatment success and improving therapies. The RANO group has developed criteria that enable reliable imaging of tumor activity and extent.
Researchers examine the dynamic nature of fear responses in varied environments, shedding light on physical manifestation of memory in the brain. The study reveals that fear memories are linked to pathological states like PTSD and generalized anxiety, with direct translational relevance for disorders involving dysregulated fear responses.
A study of 345 participants found COVID-19 linked to impaired brain health, with no greater impact than other serious illnesses. Long-term associations suggest brain health tied to overall disease severity and hospitalization.
A new study found that COVID-19 infection can lead to persistent brain injury markers in the blood even months after recovery from hospitalization. Patients with neurological complications during the acute phase of the illness showed robust biomarker evidence of ongoing neuroglial injury.
A recent study published in Cerebral Cortex found that participants exposed to 18-Hz beta binaural beats had significantly higher accuracy and faster response times during comprehension tasks. This suggests that binaural beat stimulation at this frequency may be a potential tool for improving language skills.
Recent studies suggest that gamma brain wave stimulation can yield beneficial effects on brain function, disease pathology, and cognitive function in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Various cells beyond neurons are involved in mediating these effects.
Researchers at Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute have discovered a gut-brain-immune network controlling inflammation across the body. GLP-1 agonists reduce inflammation by interacting with brain receptors, offering new insights into metabolic disease treatment.
A study by Waseda University explores the effects of different vascularization strategies on brain organoids, improving cell differentiation and transcriptome profiles. Vascularized cerebral organoids exhibit a gene expression profile closer to fetal human brains than non-vascularized ones.
Cancer-associated fibroblasts in the brain secrete fucosylated poliovirus receptor that stimulates breast cancer migration and invasion. The researchers hope these findings will help develop better diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for breast cancer brain metastasis patients.
Researchers created a comprehensive map of the mouse brain using artificial intelligence and analyzed over 2.3 million individual brain cells. The findings help understand how genes are switched on and off to form different cell types, shedding light on human diseases like multiple sclerosis and neuropsychiatric disorders.