Brain News and Research

RSS

The human brain is the center of the human nervous system and is a highly complex organ. Enclosed in the cranium, it has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times as large as the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size.

Cognitive reappraisal strategy alters sensory brain activity in autistic children

For many autistic children, everyday sensations such as the feel of scratchy fabric or a loud car alarm can be intensely distressing.

21 Sep 2026

New roadmap integrates arts into global health and wellbeing

Researchers have developed a roadmap for integrating the arts across health and wellbeing systems globally, from population health and prevention to community pathways and clinical care.

21 Sep 2026

Core muscle activity rapidly regulates blood flow in the brain

Engaging core muscles - through movement, exercise, or even coughing - may be a key regulator of blood flow in the brain.

21 Sep 2026

High cognitive impairment rates among homeless people demand radical policy change

Cognitive impairment is a prevalent but often unaddressed factor in chronic homelessness, and it must be addressed to help reduce homelessness, argues the author of a commentary published in CMAJ

21 Sep 2026

Researchers identify a rare genetic change linked to neurodevelopmental disorder

Research led by Texas Children's Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI) and Baylor College of Medicine identified a rare genetic change that appears to cause a newly recognized neurodevelopmental disorder.

21 Sep 2026

Brain activity patterns predict math problem solving struggles in children

Some children have a condition that makes them persistently struggle with math problem solving (developmental dyscalculia), yet behavioral and mechanistic details about this condition are lacking.

21 Sep 2026

New brain circuit discovery offers hope for panic disorder treatments

Our survival depends on brains that constantly search for danger and, if found, stay alert until it has passed.

21 Sep 2026

Early life sugar exposure linked to higher adult anxiety risk

Exposure to sugar in the first 1,000 days of a child's life increases the risk of developing anxiety in adulthood, a new study from the University of Surrey reports.

21 Sep 2026

Flatworm genes reveal secrets to regrowing damaged brain cells

The human brain is terrible at healing itself from injury or disease. But some animals can harness their own cellular abilities to not only repair injuries but also to regrow their brains entirely.

21 Sep 2026

Sex differences in infant attention are present hours after birth

Cambridge scientists have shown that girls and boys show differences in what they pay attention to, even at birth.

21 Sep 2026

Active form of meprin-β protein increases in people with Alzheimer’s disease

A team from the Altered Molecular Mechanism in Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia laboratory, led by Javier Sáez Valero, a researcher at the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint centre of the Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), has identified increased levels of the protein meprin-β in the brain and cerebrospinal fluid of people with Alzheimer's disease.

21 Sep 2026

Older adults with higher polyphenol intake were less likely to have mild cognitive impairment

In a cross-sectional study of 92 older Italian memory-clinic patients, higher habitual intake of total dietary (poly)phenols and several specific subclasses was associated with a lower likelihood of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Total (poly)phenol intake was not associated with cognitive test performance or circulating inflammatory biomarkers, and the authors cautioned that the small observational study cannot establish causality.

20 Sep 2026

Study reveals how CaMKIIα proteins organize during memory formation

Researchers at the Nano Life Science Institute (WPI-NanoLSI) at Kanazawa University, Kyoto University, SOKENDAI, and the National Institute for Physiological Sciences have revealed how CaMKIIα-a key brain protein involved in learning and memory-organizes itself into chain-like structures.

20 Sep 2026

Salivary cortisol patterns predict cognitive decline in older adults

An irregular pattern and consistently higher levels of a stress hormone called cortisol found in the saliva were associated with cognitive decline later in life - Blacks specifically had lower overall cortisol levels and less change in their levels during the day than whites - according to newly published research.

18 Sep 2026

Study identifies brain mechanism behind pregnancy-related food cravings

Why do food cravings become so strong during pregnancy? Researchers at LSU's Pennington Biomedical Research Center, in collaboration with colleagues, have identified a brain mechanism that may help explain how pregnancy changes the motivation to seek certain highly palatable foods.

18 Sep 2026

Intracortical microstimulation: Evoking artificial perception and engaging plasticity-based modulation

But creating a long-lasting electronic connection with the brain is complicated. Conventional microwire and silicon electrodes are much stiffer than soft brain tissue.

18 Sep 2026

Largest neuroimaging study of bulimia nervosa finds structural brain differences linked to diagnosis and binge-eating severity

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai found that individuals with bulimia nervosa have structural differences in brain regions involved in reward and motivation, as well as social and sensory processing, and that more frequent binge eating is associated with more widespread differences in brain structure, according to research published today in JAMA Psychiatry.

18 Sep 2026

New study defines rare TCF7L2-related neurodevelopmental disorder

Researchers have completed the largest study to date of TCF7L2-related neurodevelopmental disorder (TRND), a rare genetic condition caused by changes in the TCF7L2 gene, which plays an important role in brain development.

18 Sep 2026

Otolaryngologists gather to present latest advances in ear, nose, and throat care

The latest treatments and research advances in ear, nose, and throat care will take center stage in Los Angeles October 17-20, when more than 5,000 of the world's leading otolaryngologists gather for the 2026 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO of the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Foundation.

18 Sep 2026

New discovery overturns a prevailing model of brain development

For centuries, scientists have thought of the brain as a single, unified organ. But new research led by Stanford Medicine reveals that what we call the brain is two distinct organs that evolved independently over hundreds of millions of years.

18 Sep 2026