All articles tagged: Neuroscience

The main neuropathological feature of Parkinson's disease is the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. Specifically, dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tier of the substantia nigra pars compacta, also known as the nigrosome, are notably affected in Parkinson's disease, whereas those in the dorsal tier and ventral tegmental area demonstrate a much lower degree of dege

Sound stimulation of 75 dB at a frequency of 100 Hz leads to improvement in cervical vestibular-evoked myogenic potential (cVEMP) amplitude in patients with definitive Meniere disease, according to a study published online June 24 in Acta Oto-Laryngologica.

The ability to imagine is one of the key human cognitive functions. In a paper published in the Scientific Reports journal, researchers from Skoltech and Moscow State University investigated the effect of imagining tactile sensations (tactile imagery) on the excitability of the corticospinal tract using the transcranial magnetic stimulation method.

Scientists have identified a gene which, when missing or impaired, can cause obesity, behavioral problems and, in mothers, postnatal depression. The discovery, reported in Cell, may have wider implications for the treatment of postnatal depression, with a study in mice suggesting that oxytocin may alleviate symptoms.

Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have uncovered a brain circuit in primates that rapidly detects faces. The findings help not only explain how primates sense and recognize faces, but could also have implications for understanding conditions such as autism, where face detection and recognition are often impaired from early childhood.

A large team of doctors and medical researchers with diverse backgrounds, affiliated with several institutions across the U.S., and led by a group at the University of California, San Francisco, has found what might be a previously unknown kind of autoimmune disease—one that negatively impacts the central nervous system.

Shhhooo. Wee-uuu. Chick, chick, chick. That's the sound of three different cicada species. For some people, those sounds are the song of the summer. Others wish the insects would turn it down. The cacophony can be especially irritating for people on the autism spectrum who have hearing sensitivity.

Our sense of touch is generally thought to decline with age, just like the other senses. However, a study has shown that age-related decline in sensitivity only happens in hairless skin like the tip of the index finger, but not in the hairy cheeks and forearms. The authors speculate that the exceptional sensitivity of the cheeks throughout life is due to our evolutionary history as social primates

Eating a high-quality diet in youth and middle age could help keep your brain functioning well in your senior years, according to new preliminary findings from a study that used data collected from over 3,000 people followed for nearly seven decades.

A treatment to move blood from the umbilical cord into the body of newborns who are limp, pale and with minimal breathing, known as non-vigorous, does not appear to increase the risk of neurodevelopmental impairment, according to a new study. The findings are published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

University of Cincinnati researchers have pioneered an animal model that sheds light on the role an understudied organ in the brain has in repairing damage caused by stroke.

State-of-the-art prosthetic limbs can help people with amputations achieve a natural walking gait, but they don't give the user full neural control over the limb. Instead, they rely on robotic sensors and controllers that move the limb using predefined gait algorithms.

Chinese researchers have developed a high-density, 1,024-channel neural probe, achieving a full-depth recording of neuronal activities in the brain of a macaque monkey for the first time in the world.

Not everything in the brain is meant to last. As our brains assemble, trillions of neural connections have to be built or torn down at the right time and place. Otherwise, the seeds of disorders like autism can take root.

A new study has uncovered the pivotal role of a brain structure called the claustrum in regulating engagement, from deep sleep to waking behavior.

Researchers at the Perron Institute and The University of Western Australia have discovered a new set of cells that can protect blood vessel structure in the central nervous system (CNS) known as the blood-brain barrier. Their findings have been published in the journal Science Advances.

A pair of recent studies led by Joseph Mazzulli, Ph.D., associate professor in The Ken & Ruth Davee Department of Neurology's Division of Movement Disorders, have uncovered previously unknown cellular mechanisms involved in neuronal protein aggregation and misfolding, key characteristics of Parkinson's disease.

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Cambridge in the U.K. and collaborating institutions have shown that serotonin 2C receptor in the brain regulates memory in people and animal models. The findings, published in the journal Science Advances, not only provide new insights into the factors involved in healthy memory but also in conditions associated with memory loss, like A

Although you may not always realize it, many of the jobs you do can put strain on, and even cause damage to, your nerves.

In countries with an aging population, neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) are becoming more prevalent. These conditions, for which no definitive cure currently exists, are extremely difficult to diagnose accurately while the affected person is still alive. This has proved to be a major roadblock for researchers seeking to assess potenti

A pilot study shows promise for a new treatment option for individuals with memory impairments caused by multiple sclerosis (MS). The article, "Exploring the efficacy of a remote strategy-based intervention for people with multiple sclerosis with everyday memory impairments: A pilot study," was published online on May 27, 2024, in the American Journal of Occupational Therapy.

A large team of neuroscientists, biochemists and Alzheimer's specialists affiliated with institutions in the U.S. and Iceland has created a protein map to look for patterns in cerebrospinal fluid that may serve as markers for the onset of Alzheimer's disease decades before diagnosis.

Johns Hopkins research sheds new light on how mammals track their position and orientation while moving, revealing that visual motion cues alone allow the brain to adjust and recalibrate its internal map even in the absence of stable visual landmarks.

Work by the team of Dr. Frédéric Charron recently published in The Journal of Neuroscience, identifies the fundamental role of a family of proteins, the β-arrestins, in the development of the nervous system at the embryonic stage.

Results of the longitudinal study, "Prognostic value of tissue bridges in cervical spinal cord injury," have the potential to change clinical practice. They have been published in The Lancet Neurology.

The loss of social memories caused by sleep deprivation could potentially be reversed using currently available drugs, according to a study in mice presented at the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) Forum 2024.

A new study in the Journal of Neuroscience has discovered underlying sex differences in the molecular pathways that drive reward-related behaviors. In particular, the study found differences and similarities in the ways males and females strengthened connections between two brain regions—the hippocampus and the nucleus accumbens—involved in reward signaling.

The hypothalamus is a small region of the human brain typically associated with regulating body temperature, hunger, thirst, fatigue, and sleep. But it also has another important role: helping the brain and body switch between different and opposing survival behaviors such as hunting prey and escaping predators.

Newly published research from Colorado State University answers fundamental questions about cellular connectivity in the brain that could be useful in the development of treatments for neurological diseases like autism, epilepsy or schizophrenia.

The Julich Brain Atlas contains cytoarchitectonic maps of 227 areas of the human brain including cortical areas and subcortical nuclei. Based on differences in distribution, density and morphology of cells in a three-dimensional space it contains probabilistic maps that reflect the variability between individual brains. It represents the most comprehensive and complete microstructural map of the h

A pilot study conducted by Kessler Foundation researchers has shown promising results in the use of methylphenidate to enhance oculomotor function in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). The article, "Effect of methylphenidate on oculomotor function in individuals with multiple sclerosis: a pilot randomized placebo-controlled trial," was published open access on May 23, 2024, by Frontiers in

An article recently published in The Journal of Rheumatology by UK Health care's Jagannadha (Jay) Avasarala, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurology, outlines the promise of point of care ultrasound (POCUS) in the diagnosis of Giant Cell Arteritis (GCA).

Neuroscientists have discovered how the brain bidirectionally controls sensitivity to threats to initiate and complete escape behavior in mice. These findings could help unlock new directions for discovering therapies for anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Aicardi-Goutieres syndrome is a rare disease that can trigger dementia in children. Associate Professor Markus Hofer and colleagues in the U.K. are focusing on treatments in the blood vessels in the brain to combat AGS.

The blood-brain barrier—a network of blood vessels and tissues that nurtures and protects the brain from harmful substances circulating in the blood—is disrupted in Alzheimer's disease. Now, researchers at Mayo Clinic and collaborators have uncovered unique molecular signatures of blood-brain barrier dysfunction that could point to new ways to diagnose and treat the disease.

A new method developed by a research team led by Rice University's Jerzy Szablowski offers hope for treating brain disorders through gene therapy. The innovative approach could transform treatments for inherited conditions and mental health issues by targeting specific regions of the brain with newfound precision. The researchers' work was published in Nature Communications.

In new research, people with severe alcohol use disorder tended to have greater difficulty forming new social memories. And, while they had better immediate recall of positive than negative social cues, for longer-term memories, they tended to remember more negative experiences than positive ones.

Ever heard just a snippet of a song and instantly known what comes next? Or picked up the rhythm of a chorus after just a few notes? New research from the Center for Music in the Brain at Aarhus University and the Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing at the University of Oxford has uncovered what happens in our brain when we recognize and predict musical sequences.

The brain is the most complex organ ever created. Its functions are supported by a network of tens of billions of densely packed neurons, with trillions of connections exchanging information and performing calculations. Trying to understand the complexity of the brain can be dizzying. Nevertheless, if we hope to understand how the brain works, we need to be able to map neurons and study how they a

In a landmark study, researchers from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) found that two separate objective assessment tools and nonverbal measurements of IQ can help assess cognitive function in children with Aicardi Goutières syndrome (AGS), allowing treatment teams to provide appropriate support and interventions.

Getting more than six hours of quality sleep a night may help prevent, or slow the progression of Alzheimer's disease, according to new research from Murdoch University. The study, "Suboptimal self-reported sleep efficiency and duration are associated with faster accumulation of brain amyloid beta in cognitively unimpaired older adults," is published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessmen

Cannabidiol (CBD), one of the active ingredients in cannabis, is thought to be safe as it does not cause a "high." Increasing numbers of pregnant women take CBD, believing that it can help alleviate symptoms such as morning sickness, insomnia, anxiety and pain.

People are not very good at distinguishing between human voices and voices generated by artificial intelligence (AI), but our brains do respond differently to human and AI voices, according to research presented today (Tuesday) at the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) Forum 2024.

One of the first studies to examine patient acceptability of teleneurology and determine factors influencing acceptability across neurological conditions, has found teleneurology was highly acceptable across the full range of patients with different neurological diagnoses, including headache, movement disorders and other neurological symptoms and diagnoses.

A teenager who is the first patient to take part in a UCL-sponsored clinical trial to use deep brain stimulation (DBS) to treat epilepsy has seen his daytime seizures reduce by 80%.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS for short, is a mysterious neurodegenerative disease that is almost always fatal. A consortium of researchers led by the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has systematically investigated the underlying molecular mechanisms of ALS.

The transition to menopause is marked by a progressively higher density of estrogen receptors (ER) on brain cells, a measure that remains elevated in women up to their mid-sixties, according to a new brain imaging study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine. In addition to revealing new evidence of the brain's response to this major life change, the study pioneers the use of positron emissi

Conducting biohybrid experiments between living and artificial cells is necessary to develop the next generation of neuromorphic-based neuroprostheses. Toward this goal, teams from France, Japan, and Italy have developed a new tool to study closed-loop interactions in neuroscience.

New research shows that the brains of sighted and blind people adapt in a similar way when they learn to use sound echoes to understand the world without vision.

For the first time, scientists at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) used advanced imaging technology at the SickKids Nanoscale Biomedical Imaging Facility to reveal the atomic structure of an enzyme that neurons use to communicate.

Nine researchers from around the world have published a summary of the most recent progress in diagnosing and treating cluster headaches, as well as understanding the development of the disease. The review article was recently published in The Lancet Neurology.

A new UCLA Health study has found that resilient people exhibit neural activity in the brain regions associated with improved cognition and regulating of emotions, and were more mindful and better at describing their feelings. The same group also exhibited gut microbiome activity linked to a healthy gut, with reduced inflammation and gut barrier.

In a new study, neuroscience researchers at The Ohio State University have discovered a special type of human white blood cell that has the potential to regrow nerve fibers.

Alzheimer's disease is a progressive, neurodegenerative disorder that is the leading cause of dementia, and it involves cognitive decline, memory loss, and ultimately the inability to perform daily tasks.

As a mouse explores its environment, millions of neurons across the brain fire in sync. To study only a small subsection at a time would be to miss the forest for the trees, but powerful microscopes capable of capturing the entire mouse brain simultaneously are too heavy to mount on a moving mouse.

The Federal Drug Administration has approved a clinical trial to test the effectiveness of an electronic grid that records brain activity during surgery. The device was developed by engineers at the University of California San Diego.

A sense of time is fundamental to how we understand, recall, and interact with the world. Tasks ranging from holding a conversation to driving a car require us to remember and perceive how long things take—a complex but largely unconscious calculation running constantly beneath the surface of our thoughts.

In a new study, investigators from McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the National Institute on Drug Abuse—Intramural Research Program (NIDA-IRP) have discovered that the tendency of people's arousal to wane over the course of brain scans has been distorting the brain connection maps produced by functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Using sound to stimulate certain brain waves has the potential to help those with dementia or cognitive decline sleep better, reveals a new study. Sleep disturbances are a common feature in dementia and may affect up to half of people living with the condition.

Biomedical engineers at Duke University have developed a method to deliver drugs to specific types of neurons throughout the brain. This new approach, which was tested in mice, was 100 times more precise than existing methods and enables researchers to more effectively study neurological diseases and explore efficient, targeted drug treatments.

In a study of 991 adults, scientists at DZNE have shown that the most common forms of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) as well as the neurological diseases amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) can be recognized by blood testing. Their procedure is not yet ready for routine medical use, but in the long term it could facilitate disease diagnosis and advance the d

A group of neuroscientists based at University of California San Diego School of Medicine has applied an approach to neuroimaging that they believe will reinvigorate the work of many of their fellow brain researchers.

Patients with neuroglial tumors are ideal epilepsy surgical candidates, with good long-term outcomes observed, according to a study published in Frontiers in Neurology.

Human brain diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, involve damage in more than one region of the brain, requiring technology that could precisely and flexibly address all affected regions simultaneously.

A pioneering study published in the journal Nature Aging has unveiled significant heterogeneity in the risk factors affecting healthy aging in Latin America and emphasized the limitations of current models of brain health, which are primarily based on data from high-income countries.

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are two devastating neurodegenerative diseases. Scientists have long suspected a protein called FUS might play a role, but the exact mechanism remained a mystery.

Amid concerns about the mental fitness of the U.S. presidential candidates—Joe Biden is 81 and Donald Trump is 77—some have called for mandatory cognitive tests for aging politicians. A recent poll showed 75% of voters favor such measures with support highest among the oldest cohort of Americans surveyed.

Observing anything and everything within the human brain, no matter how large or small while it is fully intact, has been an out-of-reach dream of neuroscience for decades, but in a new study in Science, an MIT-based team describes a technology pipeline that enabled them to finely process, richly label and sharply image full hemispheres of the brains of two donors—one with Alzheimer's and one with

A link between the neurotransmitter dopamine and the mentalizing abilities of healthy people has been identified for the first time in a new study.

The ability to distinguish between different individuals is crucial for social interactions. Previous research has shown the pivotal role of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) in social processes, as evidenced by enhanced firing activity and distinct neural patterns in response to social-related stimuli. However, it remains unclear how mPFC neurons encode different social stimuli and which neural

In a world where external and internal stimuli can throw our entire body system off balance, how does our brain prevent itself from becoming overly stimulated?

Brain-computer interfaces, or BCIs, hold immense potential for individuals with a wide range of neurological conditions, but the road to implementation is long and nuanced for both the invasive and noninvasive versions of the technology.

Tau positron emission tomography (PET) has the best performance as a standalone marker for prediction of progression of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to dementia, according to a study published online June 10 in JAMA Neurology.

People who give birth to infants less than 5.5 pounds may be more likely to have memory and thinking problems later in life than people who give birth to infants who do not have a low birth weight, according to a study published in the June 12, 2024, online issue of Neurology. The effect on memory and thinking skills was equivalent to one to two years of aging for those with low-birth-weight deliv

Even before we are born and begin experiencing the sensations of daily life—a soft shirt on our arms, for example, or a hard tabletop under our fingertips—humans begin to form the senses needed to survive.

Imagine a future where the smell of menthol could alleviate some of the worst symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. This might sound like science fiction, but innovative new research is making it a potential reality.

Babies blink, cry, and yawn—and a few weeks into their lives, they might smile. But do these movements mean that newborns have conscious experiences of perceiving the world around them? Or are these processes happening unconsciously?

As you travel your usual route to work or the grocery store, your brain engages cognitive maps stored in your hippocampus and entorhinal cortex. These maps store information about paths you have taken and locations you have been to before, so you can navigate whenever you go there.

Brain scans of more than 2,000 preadolescents suggest that early life exposure to heat and cold may have lasting effects on the microstructure of white matter in the brain, especially when living in poorer neighborhoods. The study, published in Nature Climate Change, highlights the vulnerability of fetuses and children to extreme temperatures. This research was led by the Barcelona Institute for G

An awkward beat doesn't help on the dance floor, but it could help people who are recovering from mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).

When college athletes are evaluated for a possible concussion, the diagnosis is based on an athletic trainer or team physician's assessment of three things: the player's symptoms, physical balance and cognitive skills.

Researchers from Kyushu University have uncovered new variations to a traditional illusion, based on how we perceive the motion of flashing lights. Published on May 21 in i-Perception, the findings show that when three light flashes are presented in rapid succession in our side vision, our brain tends to perceive them in a straight line, with the second flash around the midpoint, no matter the act

A team of researchers has revealed how the brain processes emotional information of sustained pain and pleasure. Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), the team recorded brain activity while participants experienced sustained pain and pleasure induced by capsaicin and chocolate fluids. The study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Researchers at UZH have found that the maturation of the senses for smell and touch is closely linked in mice and that this strong interaction takes place within a narrow developmental time window.

Spatial navigation—the ability to select and follow a route from one place to another—is a skill we use every day. Depending on practice, general cognitive ability, and childhood environment, some people are naturally better at this than others. But research has also shown that people's skill in spatial navigation tends to decrease with increasing age.

Researchers worldwide can now create highly realistic brain cortical organoids—essentially miniature artificial brains with functioning neural networks—thanks to a proprietary protocol released this month by researchers at the University of California San Diego.

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has developed a field-ready screening tool for traumatic brain injury (TBI). The Advanced Military Measure of Olfaction (AMMO) kit includes an array of scents, deployable anywhere from the battlefield to the football field, to help screen for TBIs in minutes.

A new ultra-high-performance brain PET system allows for the direct measurement of brain nuclei as never before seen or quantified. With its ultra-high sensitivity and resolution, the NeuroEXPLORER provides exceptional brain PET images and has the potential to spur advances in the treatment of many brain diseases. This research was presented at the 2024 Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Im

MRI has transformed neuroscience research over the past 50 years, but research participants have had to travel to the scanner. With the advent of highly portable magnetic resonance imaging (pMRI), the scanner will now come to them. This portable technology will allow for more inclusive research with new communities and will enable researchers without access to conventional MRI to study the brain.

Murdoch University's Center for Healthy Aging is identifying new interventions to treat resting tremor in people with Parkinson's disease.

Losing the ability to smell properly—a common sensory deficit as people age—may help predict or even contribute to the development of heart failure, new research suggests.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients received better care if they were treated by a neurologist, a new study published in PLOS One has found.

A University of Queensland-led study has found multiple doses of anesthetics do not compromise brain function in young children. The research paper was published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

The genetic disease Huntington's not only affects nerve cells in the brain but also has widespread effects on microscopic blood vessels according to research.

Scientists at the University of Dundee have uncovered the inner relay of a molecular switch that protects the brain against the development of Parkinson's disease.

"I'm not gonna do this again," we often say when faced with negative feedback, adverse effects, or disappointing outcomes. Thus, we attempt to learn from such negative experiences. This principle is also a cornerstone of our education system: failing an exam ought to encourage students to do better next time.

Neurons communicate electrically, so to understand how they produce brain functions such as memory, neuroscientists must track how their voltage changes—sometimes subtly—on the timescale of milliseconds. In a new paper in Nature Communications, MIT researchers describe a novel image sensor with the capability to substantially increase that ability.

By studying the brain anatomy of newborn baby baboons, a research group including several CNRS scientists was able to predict what hand they would use to communicate after they had been weaned.

When we learn something new, our brain cells (neurons) communicate with each other through electrical and chemical signals. If the same group of neurons communicate together often, the connections between them get stronger. This process helps our brains learn and remember things and is known as long-term potentiation or LTP.

How does your gait—or how you walk—relate to your brain health? Considerably, says Dr. Farwa Ali, a Mayo Clinic neurologist who specializes in movement disorders. Assessing a person's gait can offer insight into various brain health conditions. The hope is that early diagnosis of gait and balance problems will lead to better treatment and outcomes for patients with degenerative brain disorders. Dr

In pausing to think before making an important decision, we may imagine the potential outcomes of different choices we could make. While this "mental simulation" is central to how we plan and make decisions in everyday life, how the brain works to accomplish this is not well understood.

The role that Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) plays in the development of multiple sclerosis (MS) may be caused by a higher level of cross-reactivity, where the body's immune system binds to the wrong target, than previously thought.

An injectable emulsion containing two omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil markedly reduced brain damage in newborn rodents after a disruption in the flow of oxygen to the brain near birth, a study by researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons has found. The findings are published in the journal Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy.

In a busy hospital waiting room, a young man's muscles began contracting in a harsh, unyielding spasm as a quick-acting student rushed to his aid.

Some say the next step in human evolution will be the integration of technology with flesh. Now, researchers have used virtual reality to test whether humans can feel embodiment—the sense that something is part of one's body—toward prosthetic "hands" that resemble a pair of tweezers.

Researchers at the Abimael Laboratory of Neurometabolism and the Neurometabolomics & Neuroinformatics core at Mount Sinai have discovered a potential new therapy, improved an existing treatment, and identified a disease biomarker in a mouse model of a lethal neurometabolic disease in humans.

Access to thrombectomy should be expanded to include patients who experience basilar artery occlusion (BAO), a deadly type of emergent large vessel occlusion stroke, urges the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery (SNIS).

When the myelin sheath that surrounds nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord becomes damaged, a number of debilitating conditions can result that limit mobility, inhibit independence and reduce life expectancy. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common demyelinating disease, affecting more than 2.5 million individuals globally every year.

A team of medical researchers at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, in China, working with a colleague from Nanyang Technological University, in Singapore, has developed a noninvasive way to monitor biomarkers implanted in the skull over a period of several weeks.

The concentration of glucose in the blood of humans continuously changes in response to what they eat and the activities they engage in. While many studies have investigated changes in blood glucose, the role of different neurons in tracking and predicting these changes remains poorly understood.

Ray Hart's vocabulary consisted of just one word after his August 2022 stroke.

A new research paper titled "Serine racemase expression profile in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampal subregions during aging in male and female rats" has been published in Aging.

More than 3.4 million people in the US and 65 million people worldwide have epilepsy, a neurological disorder that affects the nervous system and causes seizures. One in 26 people will develop epilepsy at some point in their lives, and one out of 1,000 people with epilepsy die from unexpected deaths each year.

Triple semicircular canal occlusion combined with endolymphatic sac decompression (ESD) may be an effective treatment option for managing frequent vertigo attacks in patients with Meniere disease, according to a study published online April 16 in Frontiers in Neurology.

Training exercises designed to improve cognitive control in children do not make a significant difference to their ability to delay gratification or to their academic achievement, nor do they lead to any brain changes, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.

Babies' brains are not as immature as previously thought, rather they are using the period of postnatal "helplessness" to learn powerful foundation models similar to those underpinning generative AI, according to a new study.

Understanding how animals, including humans, transform brain signals into coordinated movements is a fundamental question in neuroscience. In general, the brain sends movement instructions to the body through "descending neurons" (DNs) to drive both simple reflexes and complex behaviors.

Our brains, even in adulthood, continually adapt to what we do, strengthening or weakening neural pathways as we practice new skills or abandon old habits. Now, research by Stanford Medicine scientists has found that a particular type of neuroplasticity, known as adaptive myelination, can also contribute to drug addiction.

Participants reacted quicker and made fewer errors during menstruation, despite believing their performance would be worse, according to new research from UCL and the Institute of Sport, Exercise & Health (ISEH).

The rate of stroke in individuals with no history of prior stroke was 34% higher in individuals who experienced at least one head injury than in their peers with no head injury. The rate is even higher in those who had multiple head injuries, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine published recently in Stroke.

New research by scientists at the Allen Institute's Brain and Consciousness group and Cedars-Sinai offers an unprecedented look at how neurons respond to electric stimulation (ES). Far from being uniform, different types of neurons showed distinct patterns of 'syncing up' with electrical fields. These patterns varied depending on the rate at which the ES was delivered.

Deep brain stimulation, by implanted electrodes that deliver electrical pulses to the brain, is often used to treat Parkinson's disease and other neurological disorders. However, the electrodes used for this treatment can eventually corrode and accumulate scar tissue, requiring them to be removed.

Ever wondered how your brain decides when to act? Initiating actions with a specific goal in mind is a complex process. Previous research has identified certain parts of the brain and chemical signals involved. However, it remains unclear what information these signals convey and how they spark initiative.

In 2018, a New York surgeon-scientist and his team demonstrated in a proof-of-concept study that a minimally invasive procedure could effectively treat one of the world's most common conditions requiring neurosurgical intervention.

A 3-year-old Sewickley, Pennsylvania, biotech firm is partnering with a Boston hospital to test a new drug combination, which has the promise of helping people debilitated by stroke.

Migraine is not a risk factor for Meniere disease (MD), nor is MD a risk factor for migraine, according to a study published online May 8 in Frontiers in Neurology.

New research has given a precise picture of young children's developing brains, using a wearable brain scanner to map electrical brain activity. The work opens up new possibilities for tracking how critical developmental milestones, like walking and talking, are underpinned by changing brain function, and how neurodevelopmental conditions like autism emerge.

Emiliano Bruner and Tim Schuurman, of the Paleoneurobiology of Hominins Group at the Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), have just published a paper in the Journal of Anatomy in which they study the spatial relationships between the human brain and skull using network analysis.

A study from Tsinghua University in collaboration with Imperial College London has unveiled a novel technique that significantly enhances brain-computer interface (BCI) systems by integrating brain-to-brain interactions among users.

Fraunhofer researchers have developed a technology that uses ultrasound signals for targeted stimulation of certain areas of the brain. A special ultra-sound system with 256 individually controllable transducers makes it possible to target and stimulate individual points deep inside the brain with sound signals.

The timing of our brain waves shapes how we perceive our environment. We are more likely to perceive events when their timing coincides with the timing of relevant brain waves. Lead scientist Sanne ten Oever and her co-authors set out to determine whether neural timing also shapes speech perception. Is the probability of speech sounds or words encoded in our brain waves and is this information use

Cerebral aneurysms: For most people, the word signals a sudden, fatal brain bleed that seemingly comes out of nowhere.

The protein sTREM2 plays a crucial role in Alzheimer's disease, but the role is complex and poorly understood. In the early stages of the disease, sTREM2 levels in the cerebrospinal fluid fall relative to healthy people's, but then the levels rise far above normal as the disease progresses. Why the levels fluctuate and whether the fluctuations reflect or cause disease progression is unknown.

Researchers at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester have identified mechanisms in the brain's hippocampal network that are rescued by ketones. These findings build on previous research showing that ketones can alleviate neurological and cognitive affects.

For patients with chronic migraine, nerve decompression surgery effectively reduces the number of headache days—the outcome measure preferred by neurologists—along with other measures including the frequency and intensity of migraine attacks, reports a study in the June issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. The paper is titled "Comparing Migraine Headache Index vs. Monthly Migraine Days Fol

Researchers have reported that patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) exhibiting sympathetic denervation in the major salivary glands and the heart tend to have more advanced non-motor symptoms as they age, suggesting that age plays an important role in disease progression.

A novel medical advancement termed the "sticky and strain-gradient artificial epineurium" (SSGAE) has been developed, demonstrating remarkable efficacy in rapidly healing severed nerves without traditional microsurgical suturing techniques.

A new study to be presented at the SLEEP 2024 annual meeting found a distinct relationship between sleep duration, social media usage, and brain activation across brain regions that are key for executive control and reward processing.

Cerebellar ataxia is a neurological disorder of the cerebellum. This important area at the back of the brain acts as a conductor, so to speak, coordinating our movements and keeping us in balance.

Some dreams may, in fact, predict the future: New research has found that during sleep, some neurons not only replay the recent past but also anticipate future experience.

Weill Cornell Medicine scientists have uncovered the first evidence that astrocyte receptors can trigger opposite effects on cognitive function in male and female preclinical models. The findings point to astrocytes, brain cells that support and regulate neurons, as key contributors to sex-specific brain mechanisms.

When a patient is admitted to intensive care due to a disorder of consciousness—such as a coma—establishing their neurological prognosis is a crucial yet challenging task.

The brain's flexibility and ability to cope with loss of neurons or other lesions in the brain is called cognitive reserve. In a 15-year follow-up study, researchers at the division of Aging Research Center (ARC), Karolinska Institutet, suggest that lifelong cognitive reserve helps maintain late-life cognitive health by delaying cognitive transition in the preclinical stages of dementia. The resul

A new study adds further evidence that when a patient or family member notices signs of persistent memory loss, it's important to speak with a doctor. While there are many reasons why someone's memory may change, researchers from Mass General Brigham who are studying patients prior to diagnosis with Alzheimer's disease found changes in the brain when patients and their study partners—those who cou

In the first study of its kind, researchers from the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) designed and implanted a transparent window in the skull of a patient, then used functional ultrasound imaging (fUSI) to collect high-resolution brain imaging data through the window.

Researchers at Duke University have developed an assistive machine learning model that greatly improves the ability of medical professionals to read the electroencephalography (EEG) charts of intensive care patients.

A new study by EPFL scientists shows that age-related decline in motor ability can be countered in fruit flies by enhancing the expression of the protein Trio, suggesting potential treatments for age-related movement decline.

Parkinson's disease is most well-known and well-studied for its motor impairments—tremors, stiffness and slowness of movement. But less visible symptoms such as trouble with memory, attention and language, which can also profoundly impact a person's quality of life, are less understood.

Neurological disorders, such as addiction, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), affect millions of people worldwide and are often characterized by complex pathologies involving multiple brain regions and circuits. These conditions are notoriously difficult to treat due to the intricate and poorly understood nature of brain functions and the challenge of delivering therapies to deep

A research team at Stanford's Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute has made a major stride in using AI to replicate how the brain organizes sensory information to make sense of the world, opening up new frontiers for virtual neuroscience.

A study in the Journal of Neurotrauma shows that in patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) that need an external ventricular drain (EVD) insertion to control intracranial hypertension, early (

A 3D model developed by West Virginia University neuroscientists shows how implantable stimulators—the kind used to treat chronic pain—can target neurons that control specific muscles to provide rehabilitation for people with neurological disorders such as stroke and spinal cord injuries.

By exploring the effects of sport on memory, scientists at UNIGE have discovered compensatory mechanisms in the brains of young individuals at genetic risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Picture this test: You stand with your eyes closed and arms stretched in front of you while a voice from a stationary loudspeaker located two meters away narrates a series of sentences. Then you're asked to walk on the spot for 60 seconds, making an effort to stay in the same place by using the continued auditory cues to orient you.

Low-level light therapy appears to affect healing in the brains of people who suffered significant brain injuries, according to a study published in Radiology.

Music and speech are among the most frequent types of sounds we hear. But how do we identify what we think are differences between the two?

It's a Saturday afternoon at a kids' birthday party. Hordes of children are swarming between the spread of birthday treats and party games. Half-eaten cupcakes, biscuits and lollies litter the floor, and the kids seem to have gained superhuman speed and bounce-off-the-wall energy. But is sugar to blame?

Regular high caffeine consumption affects dopamine function in patients with Parkinson's disease, shows a new international study led by the University of Turku and Turku University Hospital in Finland. Caffeine consumption before undergoing diagnostic brain dopamine imaging may also affect the imaging results. The research results were published in the Annals of Neurology on 20 May 2024.

A new study published in the journal Brain has identified a specific brain network hub that plays a key role in stuttering.

When it comes to responding to a stroke, speed is a crucial factor; the longer it takes for someone experiencing a stroke to get to a hospital, the worse the outcome will be. Yet across the United States, delays to treatment can be significant.

As gene sequencing technologies become more powerful, our understanding of cellular diversity has grown in parallel. This led scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital to create a tool to improve the ease and accuracy with which investigators can study specific subpopulations of cells.

Clinics specializing in first seizures reduce the need for patients to present at emergency departments or be admitted to hospital later, Monash University-led research has found.

An international team of clinicians and neuroscientists have published a new perspective on the process of neurodegeneration. Their findings review evidence for a mechanism upstream of amyloid including the key neurochemical driving this process.

With generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) transforming the social interaction landscape in recent years, large language models (LLMs), which use deep-learning algorithms to train GenAI platforms to process language, have been put in the spotlight.

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have made a significant breakthrough in Alzheimer's disease research by identifying a novel way to potentially slow down or even halt disease progression. The study, which focuses on the role of reactive astrocytes and the plexin-B1 protein in Alzheimer's pathophysiology, provides crucial insights into brain cell communication and opens th

One in four people has a mental disorder, according to the World Health Organization. If you're lucky enough to live in a wealthy country, treatment will usually involve some form of medication—which can cause more issues than it fixes.

Our brains are made of tens of billions of nerve cells called neurons. These cells communicate with each other through biomolecules called neurotransmitters. Serotonin, a type of neurotransmitter, is produced by serotonin neurons in our brains and influences many of our behavioral and cognitive functions such as memory, sleep, and mood.

The rate at which Americans under the age of 65 suffered a stroke rose by about 15% between 2011 and 2022, new government data shows. The study is published in the journal MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Researchers from Duke-NUS Medical School have found that a new class of light-sensitive proteins are capable of turning off brain cells with light, offering scientists an unprecedentedly effective tool to investigate brain function. The study, published in Nature Communications, opens exciting new opportunities to apply optogenetics to investigate the brain activity underlying neurodegenerative an

A study led by UCLA Health has unveiled the most detailed view of the complex biological mechanisms underlying autism, showing the first link between genetic risk of the disorder to observed cellular and genetic activity across different layers of the brain.

Scientists have known for years that a lattice of blood vessels nourishes cells in the retina that allow us to see—but it's been a mystery how the intricate structure is created.

With each flip you make through a deck of vocabulary word flashcards, their definitions come more quickly, more easily. This process of learning and remembering new information strengthens important connections in your brain. Recalling those new words and definitions more easily with practice is evidence that those neural connections, called synapses, can grow stronger or weaker over time—a featur

Adenosine A2A receptors (A2AR) in the nucleus accumbens of the brain play an important role in regulating sleep and motivation, but until now, no drugs have been able to selectively modulate their function without affecting other organs or brain areas. In a recent study, a light-activated allosteric modulator of A2AR was developed and successfully used to remotely induce sleep by selective light i

Even though the human visual system has sophisticated machinery for processing color, the brain has no problem recognizing objects in black-and-white images. A new study from MIT offers a possible explanation for how the brain comes to be so adept at identifying both color and color-degraded images.

A team of neuroscientists at the University of Geneva, working with a colleague from the University of Strasbourg, Institute for Advanced Study, and another from Université de Montpellier CNRS, reports that there are two neural pathways involved when people become addicted to fentanyl.

A new study led by UC Davis researchers finds widespread differences in brain development between autistic boys and girls ages 2–13. The study, published recently in Molecular Psychiatry, found sex-specific changes in the thickness of the outer layer of the brain, called the cortex.

A recent study published in Health Data Science reveals the significant impact of high cumulative body mass index (BMI) on brain health. The research, led by Associate Professor Han Lv from Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, found that high BMI is associated with smaller brain volume, larger white matter lesions, and abnormal microstructural integrity.

Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a wearable ultrasound patch that can offer continuous, non-invasive monitoring of blood flow in the brain. The soft and stretchy patch can be comfortably worn on the temple to provide three-dimensional data on cerebral blood flow—a first in wearable technology.

A study co-led by researchers at UCLA Health has found distinct brain connectivity patterns in six-week-old infants at risk for developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The authors say their findings suggest that differences in brain responses likely emerge much earlier than ASD-related behaviors can be identified, and also indicate that these brain patterns themselves may lead to the emergence

What factors lead older adults to stop driving? A new study followed older adults who had no memory or thinking problems to examine this question. The study is published in the May 22 online issue of Neurology.

A team of neurosurgeons and AI specialists at the University of California, San Francisco, has found some success in restoring speech to a patient who lost the ability after a stroke.

No parent wants to risk their child having a serious infection, least of all while still in the womb. However, the immune response to a viral infection during pregnancy could also affect the development of the unborn offspring.

It's well established that babies in the womb hear and learn about speech, at least in the third trimester. For example, newborns have been shown to already prefer the voice of their mother, recognize a story that had been repeatedly told to them while in the womb, and tell apart their mother's native language.

A new study in the Journal of Neurotrauma contends that a significant fraction of traumatic intracranial aneurysms (TICAs) is missed on initial contrasted scans of patients suffering a civilian gunshot wound to the head (cGSWH). The study was designed to characterize acute TICAs using admission CT angiography (aCTA).

Published in Nature Communications, an international collaboration between researchers at the University of Minnesota and the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies investigated how highly organized patterns of neural activity emerge during development. They found the cortex of the brain can transform unorganized inputs into highly organized patterns of activity—demonstrating self-organization.

Social interactions are multi-faceted experiences that entail understanding the emotional states of others and responding appropriately. Neuroscientists and psychologists have been studying social interactions for decades, in the hope of understanding their neural and behavioral underpinnings.

A sensory process such as pain is no ordinary phenomenon—it's a symphony of neural and vascular interactions orchestrated by the brain and spinal cord. Attempting to dissect this symphony by focusing on a single region is like trying to understand a complex melody by listening to just one instrument. It's incomplete, potentially misleading, and may result in erroneous conclusions.

The brain is often referred to as a "black box"—one that's difficult to peer inside and determine what's happening at any given moment. This is part of the reason why it's difficult to understand the complex interplay of molecules, cells and genes that underlie neurological disorders. But a new CRISPR screening method developed at Scripps Research has the potential to uncover new therapeutic targe

For most of us, creating mental images based on speech or memory is very easy.

Nearly three-quarters of the United States population receives drinking water that contains fluoride, a practice that began in 1945 to help prevent tooth decay. But recent studies suggest that fluoride exposure can cause harm to a fetus if consumed during pregnancy, a critical period for brain development.

A research team has successfully induced self-location illusions with multi-sensory virtual reality (VR) in an MRI scanner and observed corresponding changes in the human brain's grid cell activity.

Over 350 million surgeries are performed globally each year. For most of us, it's likely at some point in our lives we'll have to undergo a procedure that needs general anesthesia.

Climate change is making the symptoms of certain brain conditions worse, our new review published in The Lancet Neurology has found. Conditions that can worsen as temperature and humidity rise include stroke, migraines, meningitis, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's.

Many people associate aging with a decline in cognitive function, health issues, and reduced activity. Uncovering mental processes that can boost the well-being of the older adults could be highly beneficial, as it could help to devise more effective activities aimed at improving their quality of life.

Results from a new study suggest that long-term exposure to air pollution leads to increased risk in dementia in Denmark.

As an ideal model for studying human cognitive function and brain diseases, macaques are highly similar to humans in genetics, physiology, and brain structure. Currently, non-human primates are considered as a core source for exploring cognitive neural mechanisms and promoting translational medicine. Therefore, a multifaced brain atlas elucidating the architecture of the macaque brain is of great

What we see is not simply just a neural representation of the pattern of light in the eye, but an interpretation of this image, to which our needs and expectations contribute. These factors are shaped by earlier experiences and also depend on inner states like our behavioral activity and our vigilance or attentiveness—often collectively known as "arousal."

A team of medical researchers at the National Children's Medical Center, Children's Hospital, Fudan University, in China, has developed a technique to freeze and thaw brain tissue without causing damage.

The COVID-19 pandemic was challenging for many adolescents, disrupting their schooling and social/emotional development. Drawing on national data, a large study finds that how adolescents' brains were wired before the pandemic predicted their stress, negative emotions, and overall mental health during its height— making them more vulnerable or more resilient.

In an important step toward more effective gene therapies for brain diseases, researchers from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard have engineered a gene-delivery vehicle that uses a human protein to efficiently cross the blood-brain barrier and deliver a disease-relevant gene to the brain in mice expressing the human protein. Because the vehicle binds to a well-studied protein in the blood-bra

Why can some people easily stop eating when they are full and others can't, which can lead to obesity? A Northwestern Medicine study has found one reason may be a newly discovered structural connection between two regions in the brain that appears to be involved in regulating feeding behavior. These regions involve the sense of smell and behavior motivation.

For the first time, researchers led by Professor Dr. Petra Ritter's team have succeeded in explaining the propagation of traveling waves of activity in the human brain using a computer simulation. Previous studies indicate that these waves are important for various cognitive functions such as memory.

Early identification of stroke type could be key to harnessing the benefits of very early in-ambulance blood pressure lowering treatment in patients with suspected acute stroke, according to new research.

Cerebrovascular accidents, or strokes, are the most common cause of aphasia, a speech disorder of cerebral origin. People with aphasia have a reduced ability to understand or produce speech or written language. An estimated 40% of people who have had a stroke have aphasia. As many as half of them experience aphasia symptoms even a year after the original attack.

Perceiving something—anything—in your surroundings is to become aware of what your senses are detecting. Now, Columbia University neuroscientists have identified, for the first time, brain-cell circuitry in fruit flies that converts raw sensory signals into color perceptions that can guide behavior.

Motor impairment following brain injury has long been thought to be purely anatomical, and that traumatic brain injury, stroke or other neurological injury results in abnormal muscle tightness and rigidity. Evidence of this belief is based on studies of people recovering from stroke and multiple animal brain injury models. However, a recent research article challenges this belief with compelling e

Everyone experiences aging in their own way, and factors such as genetics, lifestyle and environment play a role in this process. Some individuals reach the age of 90 or even 100 in good health, without medications or brain disease. But how do these individuals maintain their health as they age?

A new guideline has been issued to help neurologists and other clinicians determine the best antiseizure medications for people with epilepsy who may become pregnant.

A new study led by UCLA Health has shown that repetitive practice not only is helpful in improving skills but also leads to profound changes in the brain's memory pathways.

Taking pro- and prebiotics could make people more sensitive to fairness, even at the cost of earning less money, according to a study published in the journal PNAS Nexus.

New research has shed light in the complex interplay between cell proteins, and how they impact on neurons in neurodevelopmental disorders and Alzheimer's disease.