Neuroscience News and Research

RSS

Researchers find the potential of opioid drug to help mask fear memory

Anxiety disorders such as phobias and PTSD are fairly common problems in society. One of the prime causes of anxiety disorders is the inability to overcome the fear for certain contexts when they no longer apply.

19 Feb 2020

Brain activity can reveal empathy

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of other people. Is it possible to detect a person's empathy through brain activity?

19 Feb 2020

Researchers uncover why Zika virus caused most harmful brain damage to Brazilian newborns

Due to Zika virus, more than 1,600 babies were born in Brazil with microcephaly, or abnormally small heads, from September 2015 through April 2016.

18 Feb 2020

Drugs targeting T cells may be effective in treating cerebral malaria

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health found evidence that specific immune cells may play a key role in the devastating effects of cerebral malaria, a severe form of malaria that mainly affects young children.

18 Feb 2020

Researchers uncover genetic mechanisms that govern brain plasticity

Genetic mechanisms that govern brain plasticity - the brain's ability to change and adapt - have been uncovered by researchers at the University of Birmingham.

18 Feb 2020

VTC scientists study new approach to help people with alcohol use disorder

People with alcohol use disorder know that when it comes to immediate satisfaction, nothing works quicker than liquor.

18 Feb 2020

Neuroscientist breaks the communication code of mice

You can't call it a dictionary just yet, but University of Delaware neuroscientist Joshua Neunuebel is starting to break the code mice use to communicate with each other.

17 Feb 2020

Fragile X syndrome-causing repeats help human neurons function, study finds

Over half of our genomes are made of repeating elements within DNA. In rare cases, these repeats can become unstable and grow in size. These repeat "expansions" cause neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS and dementia as well as learning disorders and autism in Fragile X syndrome.

17 Feb 2020

Microscopy in Neuroscience Research

An interview with ZEISS, to discuss the challenges faced in neuroscience research microscopy techniques and their latest microscope.

From ZEISS Microscopy GmbH 17 Feb 2020

Study suggests potential treatment to alleviate disorders of consciousness

A small amount of electricity delivered at a specific frequency to a particular point in the brain will snap a monkey out of even deep anesthesia, pointing to a circuit of brain activity key to consciousness and suggesting potential treatments for debilitating brain disorders.

16 Feb 2020

Early PTSD treatment for children after a disaster provides lasting health benefits

In 1988, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck near the northern Armenian city of Spitak. The temblor destroyed cities and is estimated to have killed between 25,000 and 35,000 people, many of whom were schoolchildren.

14 Feb 2020

New study describes inflammatory reaction in lab-developed human astrocytes

Astrocytes are neural cells with many important functions in the nervous system. The inflammation of these cells occurs in brain infections and neurodegenerative disorders, a process called astrogliosis.

14 Feb 2020

New method to measure mutations in father's sperm may reveal ASD risk in future children

While the causes of autism spectrum disorder are not fully understood, researchers believe both genetics and environment play a role.

13 Feb 2020

Common human gene variant linked to THC reward in adolescent females

A common variation in a human gene that affects the brain's reward processing circuit increases vulnerability to the rewarding effects of the main psychoactive ingredient of cannabis in adolescent females, but not males, according to preclinical research by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.

12 Feb 2020

AAN issues new guideline for sleep problems in children and teens with autism

It is not uncommon for children and teens with autism spectrum disorder to struggle with sleep. Trouble falling asleep and staying asleep or refusing to go to bed are just some of the sleep problems they can experience.

12 Feb 2020

New research highlights the extent of digital dating abuse among teens

With February being Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, new research is illuminating how this problem is manifesting online. "Digital dating abuse" as it has been termed, uses technology to repetitively harass a romantic partner with the intent to control, coerce, intimidate, annoy or threaten them.

12 Feb 2020

New therapeutic compounds could fight against brain-eating amoebae

Brain-eating amoebae can cause particularly harmful forms of encephalitis, and more than 95% of people who develop these rare but devastating infections die.

12 Feb 2020

Study reveals new role for gene associated with autism spectrum disorder

A UCLA-led study reveals a new role for a gene that's associated with autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability and language impairment.

12 Feb 2020

Study provides evidence of aerosol exposure to microcystins among coastal residents

Florida has experienced numerous harmful algal blooms in recent years, including blue-green algae and their toxins in 2016 and 2018. Despite their intensity and frequency, there is scant data on human exposure to these blooms and concentrations of the toxins they produce in tissues of exposed individuals.

12 Feb 2020

Macrophages migrate from the blood to attack brain tissue shortly after stroke

Macrophages are part of the innate immune system and essential for brain development and function. Using a novel method, scientists from Jena University Hospital, the University of Bonn and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York (USA) succeeded in visualizing macrophages that were formed in the bone marrow.

11 Feb 2020