Neuroscience News and Research

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Childhood adversity can impact brain development and behavior

Growing up in poverty and experiencing traumatic events like a bad accident or sexual assault can impact brain development and behavior in children and young adults.

31 May 2019

Brain activity predicts future adolescent mood health

An imbalance of functioning in attention-related brain systems may help forecast the course of teen depression, according to a study published in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, published by Elsevier. Proper coordination of frontoinsular brain networks help us regulate our attention between external goals and self-focused or emotional thinking.

30 May 2019

Study investigates if remote ischemic preconditioning could be beneficial to the brain

What if wearing a blood pressure cuff could help prevent stroke? In a new study, people who restricted their blood flow by wearing inflated blood pressure cuffs on an arm and leg showed signs of more controlled blood flow to their brain, a process that could be protective if blood flow is more severely restricted in the event of a stroke, according at a study published in the May 29, 2019, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

30 May 2019

Researchers develop new artificial intelligence tools to find cell’s true identity

Scientists have long sorted cells into different varieties based on their appearance under a microscope or, for differences that are more visually subtle, based on the behavior of a handful of genes.

From Johns Hopkins Medicine 29 May 2019

Simulation neurons in amygdala allow animals to reconstruct mental state of others

Psychologists and philosophers had long suggested that simulation is the mechanism whereby humans understand the minds of others.

29 May 2019

Five new genetic risk loci associated with maximum habitual alcohol use identified

A genome-wide association study has identified five new genetic risk loci that can pass on risk for harmful alcohol use from parents to children, and confirmed one previously identified risk locus.

28 May 2019

Provocation of obsessive thoughts induces physiological brain changes in 64-year-old man with OCD

Thoughts that lead to compulsive behavior in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) correspond with physiological changes in the brain, according to a new case study. The article is published ahead of print in the Journal of Neurophysiology.

28 May 2019

Brain stimulation accelerates visual learning and recovery

A combination of visual training and a recently developed brain stimulation technique boosts learning in healthy adults and cortically blind patients, according to research published in JNeurosci.

From Society for Neuroscience 28 May 2019

Dysfunctional neurons repaired in dementia mouse model

Dysfunctional neurons in the hippocampus of adult female mice modeling dementia can be repaired and reconnected to distant parts of the brain, reports a new study published in JNeurosci.

From Society for Neuroscience 28 May 2019

Brain stimulation improves visual perceptual learning

Practice results in better learning. Consider learning a musical instrument, for example: the more one practices, the better one will be able to learn to play.

27 May 2019

Study offers neural explanation for social deficits in teenage girls

Teenage girls with problematic social behavior display reduced brain activity and weaker connectivity between the brain regions implicated in emotion regulation.

27 May 2019

Long-term effects of cannabis on the adolescent brain

About one in five Canadian adolescents uses cannabis (19% of Canadians aged 15-19), and its recent legalization across the country warrants investigation into the consequence of this use on the developing brain. Adolescence

27 May 2019

Insights into how single neurons and brain networks support spatial navigation

Spatial navigation is an essential cognitive function, which is frequently impaired in patients suffering from neurological and psychiatric disorders.

25 May 2019

Measles vaccination for all to prevent future disease outbreaks

Measles was declared eradicated in the United States in 2000, but has reappeared in recent months in the form of outbreaks in several states.

24 May 2019

Johns Hopkins researchers develop method to map retinal cell development

Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers report they have created a method of mapping how the central nervous system develops by tracking the genes expressed in cells.

24 May 2019

Zebrafish embryo could help better understand the potential underpinnings of brain disorders

A close look at the rapidly developing zebrafish embryo is helping neuroscientists better understand the potential underpinnings of brain disorders, including autism and schizophrenia.

24 May 2019

Study reveals possibility to enhance or suppress memories

What if scientists could manipulate your brain so that a traumatic memory lost its emotional power over your psyche?

24 May 2019

Rutgers-led study pinpoints key gene linked to impaired memory in Down syndrome

Targeting a key gene before birth could someday help lead to a treatment for Down syndrome by reversing abnormal embryonic brain development and improving cognitive function after birth, according to a Rutgers-led study.

24 May 2019

People with bipolar disorder more likely to later develop Parkinson's disease

People who have bipolar disorder may be more likely to later develop Parkinson's disease than people who do not have bipolar disorder, according at a study published in the May 22, 2019, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

23 May 2019