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New research highlights varied cold perception across body tissues

Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche A research team led by Félix Viana, co-director of the Sensory Transduction and Nociception laboratory at the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint research center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH), has demonstrated that the body uses different molecular mechanisms to detect cold in the skin and in internal organs.

18 Dec 2025

Researchers decipher anti-MOG antibody construction, paving way for therapies

MOG Antibody-associated Disease (MOGAD) is a rare autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. The blood of patients contains antibodies against myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG), a protein in the myelin layer that surrounds the neurons in the brain. It is believed that these antibodies contribute to the destruction of this protective layer in the brain.

18 Dec 2025

How the brain tracks distance in the dark without landmarks

Whether you are heading to bed or seeking a midnight snack, you don't need to turn on the lights to know where you are as you walk through your house at night.

17 Dec 2025

Brain structural changes linked to chronic PTSD in World Trade Center responders

New research among World Trade Center (WTC) responders with chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has uncovered measurable physical changes in their brain structure, consistent with changes in the balance of myelinated to unmyelinated neurons (fast- and slow-conducting nerve cells) across both hemispheres of the brain.

17 Dec 2025

Rethinking dopamine’s role in movement and Parkinson’s disease

A McGill-led study is challenging a popular theory about how dopamine drives movement, a discovery that could shift how scientists think about Parkinson's disease treatments.

17 Dec 2025

Hyperphosphorylated tau may help protect the brain from infection

One of the main proteins that contributes to Alzheimer's disease is called phospho-tau (p-tau). When p-tau gets too many phosphate groups attached to it (a process called hyperphosphorylation), it starts to stick together and form clumps called "tangles" inside of brain nerve cells.

17 Dec 2025

New rapid blood test enables early and accurate diagnosis of ALS

ALS is a debilitating paralytic disease characterized by the death of upper and lower motor neurons. Fortunately, ALS is relatively rare, with an incidence rate of 1.6 per 100,000 adults, resulting in about 30,000 cases in the United States at any one time.

16 Dec 2025

Neuron structure variations impact sensory information processing in mice

Closely related subtypes of dopamine-releasing neurons may play entirely separate roles in processing sensory information, depending on their physical structure.

16 Dec 2025

Combining stem cell therapy and BDNF enhancement to manage Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson's disease (PD) is an age-related, progressive, neurodegenerative condition, caused by loss of dopamine-producing neurons.

16 Dec 2025

Tau biology expands beyond microtubules to neurodegeneration, metabolism and mental illness

An Thought Leaders Invited Review published today in Genomic Psychiatry by Dr. Peng Lei and colleagues presents a sweeping synthesis of tau protein research that fundamentally reframes our understanding of this molecule's dual identity.

16 Dec 2025

Scientists discover rapid synapse adaptation in neuronal communication

Every movement you make and every memory you form depends on precise communication between neurons. When that communication is disrupted, the brain must rapidly rebalance its internal signaling to keep circuits functioning properly.

16 Dec 2025

AI uncovers hidden mechanisms of covert attention and emergent neuron types

Shifting focus on a visual scene without moving our eyes - think driving, or reading a room for the reaction to your joke - is a behavior known as covert attention.

15 Dec 2025

Researchers explore how the visual brain system recovers following traumatic injury

The brain shows a capacity to recover from traumatic injury, which somewhat contradicts the widely accepted idea that neurons do not regenerate.

15 Dec 2025

Breast cancer disrupts stress hormone rhythms in the brain

"The brain is an exquisite sensor of what's going on in your body," says Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Assistant Professor Jeremy Borniger. "But it requires balance. Neurons need to be active or inactive at the right times. If that rhythm goes out of sync even a little bit, it can change the function of the entire brain."

15 Dec 2025

How brain cells manage long distance genetic instructions

Scientists found that messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules that carry genetic instructions to the far reaches of neurons in the brain tend to cluster together mostly because they are abundant, not because they move in coordinated groups.

15 Dec 2025

Bioluminescent tool illuminates single-cell activity in living brains

A decade ago, a group of scientists had the literally brilliant idea to use bioluminescent light to visualize brain activity.

12 Dec 2025

SN101 iPSC-derived therapy relieves chronic pain and preserves joints

SereNeuro Therapeutics, a preclinical biotechnology company developing non-opioid pain therapies, unveiled new data today on a novel approach to chronic pain management and joint tissue preservation.

12 Dec 2025

Autoimmune attack on CASPR2 drives nerve hyperexcitability and involuntary muscle activity

A scientific review on autoimmune neurological diseases reveals what occurs in our body when the immune system, by mistake, produces antibodies that target a protein essential for the normal functioning of nerves.

12 Dec 2025

Study reveals shared genetic roots across multiple psychiatric disorders

Distinct psychiatric disorders have more in common biologically than previously believed, according to the largest and most detailed analysis to date of how genes influence mental illness.

11 Dec 2025

Study reveals stepwise formation of cerebellar projections in the developing brain

A team of researchers at the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH), has reconstructed for the first time how the cerebellum establishes its connections with the rest of the brain during the earliest stages of life.

11 Dec 2025