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Real time imaging reveals how visual experience rewires the brain

Scientists have long known that the brain's visual system isn't fully hardwired from the start-it becomes refined by what babies see-but the authors of a new MIT study still weren't prepared for the degree of rewiring they observed when they took a first-ever look at the process in mice as it happened in real-time.

4 Jul 2025

Restoring neuron balance in the amygdala reverses anxiety in mice

The Synaptic Physiology laboratory, led by Juan Lerma at the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Miguel Hernández University (UMH) of Elche, has discovered that a specific group of neurons in the amygdala, a brain region involved in emotion regulation, plays a key role in the emergence of conditions such as anxiety, depression, and altered social behavior.

4 Jul 2025

Targeting a key enzyme could reverse early Parkinson's effects

Putting the brakes on an enzyme might rescue neurons that are dying due to a type of Parkinson's disease that's caused by a single genetic mutation, according to a new Stanford Medicine-led study conducted in mice.

2 Jul 2025

Brain cells can burn fat to fuel activity

While glucose, or sugar, is a well-known fuel for the brain, Weill Cornell Medicine researchers have demonstrated that electrical activity in synapses—the junctions between neurons where communication occurs—can lead to the use of lipid or fat droplets as an energy source.

1 Jul 2025

Brain stimulation restores synaptic plasticity in Alzheimer’s mouse model

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a debilitating neurodegenerative condition that affects a significant proportion of older people worldwide. Synapses are points of communication between neural cells that are malleable to change based on our experiences.

30 Jun 2025

Exploring neural responses to mental exhaustion in healthy adults

In experiments with healthy volunteers undergoing functional MRI imaging, scientists have found increased activity in two areas of the brain that work together to react to, and possibly regulate, the brain when it's "feeling" tired and either quits or continues exerting mental effort.

27 Jun 2025

New study reveals how diverse brain cells unite to guide decisions

Every decision begins invisibly. Long before someone acts, the brain is already hard at work gathering evidence, weighing options, and gradually committing to a choice.

27 Jun 2025

New brain study explains why some pain becomes chronic

A new study reveals that when we experience short-term (acute) pain, the brain has a built-in way to dial down pain signals - like pressing the brakes - to keep them from going into overdrive.

20 Jun 2025

Chemical pairing of BPA and retinoic acid disrupts brain development

Synthetic chemicals and plastics are useful and indispensable in our lives. On the other hand, the world is grappling with plastic pollution-clogging oceans, threatening wildlife, and leaching into ecosystems.

19 Jun 2025

Uppsala researchers create 3D-printed human nerve tissue model

With the aid of a 3D printer, researchers at Uppsala University have succeeded in creating a model that resembles human nerve tissue.

18 Jun 2025

Neurons use RNA fragments to fight back against botox damage

Scientists have discovered that neurons exposed to Botox (botulinum toxin A) don't just survive—they fight back.

18 Jun 2025

UQ researchers discover new lipid-based pathway essential for memory formation

A new lipid-based pathway essential for memory formation has been discovered by University of Queensland researchers – a breakthrough that could lead to treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

18 Jun 2025

Healthy glial cell transplants slow Huntington’s disease progression

Huntington's disease has long defied attempts to rescue suffering neurons. A new study in Cell Reports shows that transplanting healthy human glial progenitor cells into the brains of adult animal models of the disease not only slowed motor and cognitive decline but also extended lifespan.

17 Jun 2025

Understanding the role of astrocytes in depression and neuroinflammation

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a mental health condition that negatively affects the mood of a person and causes a loss of interest in activities that were previously associated with happiness.

13 Jun 2025

Italian researcher sheds light on the lasting psychiatric impact of childhood trauma

In a revealing Genomic Press Interview published today in Brain Medicine, Sara Poletti, PhD, senior researcher at IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele Milan, illuminates the profound connections between childhood adversity and lifelong vulnerability to psychiatric disorders through persistent neuroinflammation pathways and alterations in brain structure.

11 Jun 2025