Brain News and Research

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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.

Swedish scientist wins prestigious award for sickness behavior research

David Engblom, Professor of Neurobiology at Linköping University, Sweden, is awarded the 2026 Onkel Adam Prize for outstanding research at the Faculty of Medicine at Linköping University.

24 Jun 2026

Open source tool automates data reanalysis to detect rare diseases

A newly developed open-source tool designed for rigorous reanalysis of genomic data is highly effective at detecting new rare disease diagnoses.

24 Jun 2026

Functional brain imaging can help guide accelerated TMS for depression

Mass General Brigham study suggests that functional brain imaging can help guide accelerated transcranial magnetic stimulation for depression.

24 Jun 2026

Duke researchers discover molecules that target vital cell signaling proteins

To function normally, nearly every cell in the human body relies on G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) to receive and send signals. That's why GPCRs are targeted by roughly one-third of all FDA‑approved drugs.

24 Jun 2026

Zebrafish model unlocks new insights into hereditary brain disease

CADASIL, an inherited disease caused by mutations in the NOTCH3 gene, damages the brain’s small blood vessels, leading to strokes, cognitive decline, and early dementia.

24 Jun 2026

Electroacupuncture relieves neuropathic pain and anxiety by activating specific brain circuit

Neuropathic pain affects nearly 10% of the global population, and up to 60% of those individuals also struggle with anxiety or other mood disorders.

24 Jun 2026

Study uncovers sex-specific immune pathway driving glioblastoma growth

Researchers have identified a critical biological difference in how glioblastoma develops in male and female laboratory models, pinpointing an immune pathway that fuels tumor growth only in females.

23 Jun 2026

Sugar-coated nanoparticles extend survival in aggressive glioblastoma mouse model

Researchers at Oregon State University have potentially found a new way to treat the most aggressive form of brain cancer, glioblastoma, whose two-year survival rate is less than 30%.

23 Jun 2026

Study finds no detectable short-term brain harm after one youth soccer season

A prospective European cohort study found that one season of competitive youth soccer was not associated with detectable short-term differences in cognition, behavior, balance, MRI measures, or blood biomarkers compared with noncontact sports. However, soccer players had higher preseason tNAA, GFAP, and NfL levels than controls, highlighting the need for larger, multiyear studies to clarify whether repeated heading has cumulative effects.

23 Jun 2026

A night without sleep alters neural connections in human brains

A night without sleep produced increased markers of connections between brain cells, showing that sleep in humans may be important for restoring cellular balance in the brain, according to a study published June 23rd in the open access journal PLOS Biology by David Elmenhorst from the Forschungszentrum Jülich Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and colleagues.

23 Jun 2026

Advanced chip-based sensor identifies traumatic brain injury markers

Researchers have developed a chip-based metasurface biosensor that can detect traumatic brain injury (TBI) biomarkers at extremely low levels.

23 Jun 2026

Zebrafish study shows how visual surroundings reshape the eye's retina

The environment experienced by young zebrafish influences both the shape and electrical activity of the neurons in the eye, which impacts subsequent behavior.

23 Jun 2026

New study identifies brain circuits behind spontaneous and voluntary laughter

Laughter is a universal social signal that connects us with others, but the brain regions underlying laughter are not well understood, in part because it's hard to elicit genuine laughter in the lab.

23 Jun 2026

Lifetime estrogen exposure linked to improved brain health in women

Researchers from the University of Kansas have shown a link between reproductive hormone exposure throughout life and brain health in 459 women aged 65 to 80.

23 Jun 2026

Researchers identify molecular cause of age-related cognitive decline

A research team from University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University and the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center has identified a critical molecular cause of age-related cognitive decline, potentially paving the way for new treatments to protect brain health as we age.

23 Jun 2026

Electroacupuncture at Lianquan point restores post-stroke swallowing function

Swallowing is a complex act requiring precise coordination of the mouth, throat, and voice box. After a stroke, damage to the brain's motor cortex can disrupt swallowing-related neural commands, leaving patients unable to clear food or liquid from their throat safely.

23 Jun 2026

UCI Health launches world's first embryonic stem cell trial for Huntington's disease

UCI Health, the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine, has opened the world's first in-human embryonic stem cell-derived clinical trial for Huntington's disease.

23 Jun 2026

Cytoskeletal proteins in the cell nucleus influence brain development

The cytoskeleton gives cells their shape and helps them move. Researchers at Helmholtz Munich and the Ludwig Maximilian University now show that, in neural stem cells, proteins of the cytoskeleton are also found in the cell nucleus, where they can influence developmental programs.

23 Jun 2026

New TRUECAM wrapper makes medical artificial intelligence more trustworthy

Medical artificial intelligence (AI) faces a fundamental challenge: uncertainty quantification. Artificial neural networks are largely unaware of the limits of their training data and can become overconfident when confronted with unfamiliar inputs. Suppose you train a neural network to distinguish among African mammals.

23 Jun 2026

Longer breastfeeding links to fewer ADHD symptoms in children

Longer durations of full breastfeeding are linked to fewer ADHD symptoms in children, suggesting early feeding patterns may influence neurodevelopment.

23 Jun 2026