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Oligodendrocytes play key role in determining individual’s resilience to stress

Exposure to violence, social conflict, and other stressors increase risk for psychiatric conditions such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

13 Aug 2019

Psychiatric symptoms may indicate the beginning of Alzheimer’s disease

Researchers at UC San Francisco (UCSF) and the University of São Paulo have shown that the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s brain pathology are tightly linked to neuropsychiatric symptoms such as anxiety, depression and sleep disturbances.

12 Aug 2019

Rhythms in gene expression are highly disrupted in the brains of people with schizophrenia

Rhythms in gene expression in the brain are highly disrupted in people with schizophrenia, according to a new University of Pittsburgh-led study.

10 Aug 2019

Motor learning can be improved with brain stimulation

The ability to learn new motor skills is a lifelong prerequisite for mastering everyday tasks independently and flexibly.

9 Aug 2019

Researchers investigate how deep space travel could affect the brain

Exposure to chronic, low dose radiation — the conditions present in deep space — causes neural and behavioral impairments in mice, researchers report in eNeuro.

From Society for Neuroscience 8 Aug 2019

New study explores the effects of cannabis on brain neurochemistry

A new Addiction Biology study provides the first evidence of a blunted response to stress-induced dopamine signaling in the brain's prefrontal cortex in individuals at high risk for psychosis who regularly used cannabis.

7 Aug 2019

New theory demystifies evolution of human imagination

A genetic mutation may have triggered a cascade of events that enabled the acquisition of recursive language and imagination in homo sapiens.

5 Aug 2019

Johns Hopkins researchers use nanotechnology to repair faulty brain circuits

Working with mouse and human tissue, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report new evidence that a protein pumped out of some — but not all — populations of “helper” cells in the brain, called astrocytes, plays a specific role in directing the formation of connections among neurons needed for learning and forming new memories.

31 Jul 2019

Study discovers paradoxical proinflammatory effect of endocannabinoids in the brain

A new study led by the Neuropharmacology Laboratory -NeuroPhar at UPF shows that increasing endocannabinoids in the brain may cause inflammation in specific brain areas such as the cerebellum, which is associated with problems of fine motor coordination.

30 Jul 2019

Deep brain stimulation impairs memory recall

Deep brain stimulation of the cingulate cortex worsens memory recall, according to research in epilepsy patients published in JNeurosci. The technique could be a way to target specific brain areas in the treatment of memory disorders.

From Society for Neuroscience 30 Jul 2019

Neural activity is blunted in rats with family history of alcohol abuse

Neural activity that reflects the intention to drink alcohol is observed in the prefrontal cortex and is blunted in rats with a family history of excessive drinking, according to research from eNeuro. This insight could lead to novel treatments for alcohol use disorders.

From Society for Neuroscience 30 Jul 2019

Speech discrimination begins in the womb

New parents are always thrilled when their offspring finally speaks its first words - usually at the age of 12 to 18 months.

30 Jul 2019

Resveratrol shows promise for anxiety and depression

A new study has shown that the compound resveratrol found in red wine demonstrates stress relieving effects in anxiety and depression. This could be due to resveratrol’s ability to control an enzyme in the brain that is liked to stress say the researchers from the University at Buffalo in collaboration with Xuzhou Medical University in China.

29 Jul 2019

Scientists reverse social traits associated with autism in mouse model

Research has been ongoing in the field of genetic mutations and changes and brain and other neural disorders including Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and a new study in mice models of autism has shown a possible link between mutations or deletions of the SHANK3 gene and a rare disorder called Phelan-McDermid syndrome and ASD.

29 Jul 2019

New study to examine neuroimaging neurofeedback for pain after spinal cord injury

Jeanne Zanca, PhD, MPT, of Kessler Foundation received a $299,000 grant from the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation for a pilot study to develop new strategies for the management of neuropathic pain in individuals with spinal cord injury.

27 Jul 2019

Study provides clues to neural circuits underlying social deficits linked to ASD

Although psychiatric disorders can be linked to particular genes, the brain regions and mechanisms underlying particular disorders are not well-understood.

26 Jul 2019

Bigger waists and higher BMI in 60s may be linked to greater brain aging years later

Having a bigger waistline and a high body mass index in your 60s may be linked with greater signs of brain aging years later, according to a study published in the July 24, 2019, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

25 Jul 2019

Research reveals how mirror therapy relieves phantom limb pain

Easing phantom limb pain can be as simple as looking in the mirror. Scientists who have mapped how mirror therapy changes the brain may now be able to predict just how much treatment will ease a particular patient’s pain.

19 Jul 2019

Researchers identify previously unknown pathways for sensory learning in the brain

We've all heard the saying that individuals learn at their own pace. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have developed an automated, robotic training device that allows mice to learn at their leisure.

19 Jul 2019

Using mathematical model to trace brain transitions

Unique in its application of a mathematical model to understand how the brain transitions from consciousness to unconscious behavior, a study at The City College of New York's Benjamin Levich Institute for Physico-Chemical Hydrodynamics may have just advanced neuroscience appreciably.

18 Jul 2019