Neuroscience News and Research

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Neural mechanisms underlying behavioral flexibility revealed in mice

From work meetings to first dates, it's essential to adjust our behavior for success. In certain situations, it can even be a matter of life or death.

17 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

New clinical trial offers hope for patients with advanced “dry” age-related macular degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of vision loss and blindness for Americans 65 and older, is a progressive disease affecting central vision.

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

Traumatic brain injury disrupts brain drainage and accelerates Alzheimer’s risk

University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers have uncovered how and why traumatic brain injury (TBI) increases the risk for Alzheimer's disease, and their work suggests a potential way to prevent that increased risk.

16 Dec 2025

A multi-gene mouse model reveals new mechanisms of Hirschsprung disease

During development of the digestive system, a complex network of nerves forms around it, creating a "second brain" - the enteric nervous system (ENS) - which controls the movement of food and waste through the gut.

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

Study identifies molecular drivers of cerebral small vessel disease

A new study identifies molecular factors that promote small vessel disease - and an active drug that can restore impaired vascular functions.

16 Dec 2025

Functional MRI signals can misrepresent true brain activity

Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) found that an increased fMRI signal is associated with reduced brain activity in around 40 percent of cases.

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

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

New study defines rapidly progressive dementia

A new multicenter study led by Mayo Clinic researchers has established a practical, evidence-based definition for rapidly progressive dementia (RPD), a rare but devastating form of cognitive decline that develops over months instead of years.

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

FAU researchers create deep learning model that detects and evaluates Alzheimer's, FTD

Dementia is a group of disorders that gradually impair memory, thinking and daily functioning. Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common form of dementia, affects about 7.2 million Americans aged 65 and older in 2025.

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

Varenicline helps young people quit nicotine vaping regardless of cannabis use

Adolescent and young adult nicotine vaping has become an urgent public health concern, as 2024 marked the first year that nicotine vaping was the most initiated drug.

12 Dec 2025