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.

Study reveals new therapeutic options for multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is known as "the disease with a thousand faces" because symptoms and progression can vary dramatically from patient to patient.

20 Apr 2020

EMBL researchers create ‘virtual embryo’ for single-cell studies

Researchers from EMBL Heidelberg and from the University of Padua School of Medicine have created the first complete description of early embryo development, accounting for every single cell in the embryo.

20 Apr 2020

Research pinpoints potential new therapeutic target for retinal degeneration

Multi-disciplinary work led by researchers from Trinity College Dublin has pinpointed a potential new therapeutic target for treating retinal degeneration. The work has discovered that a protein (SARM1) involved in neuronal cell injury may also have a role in the progression of retinal degeneration.

20 Apr 2020

Infant temperament predicts personality more than 20 years later

Researchers have found that behavioral inhibition in infancy predicts a reserved, introverted personality at age 26.

20 Apr 2020

Virtual reality can activate brain networks to make empathy easier

Virtual reality can activate brain networks that increase your ability to identify with other people.

20 Apr 2020

Potential new therapies for multiple sclerosis

In every MS patient cells of their body's own immune system migrate to the brain, where they destroy the myelin sheath.

20 Apr 2020

Research will drastically stabilize brain-computer interfaces

Researchers have drastically improve brain-computer interfaces and their ability to remain stabilized during use.

20 Apr 2020

FAU scientists win $1.7 million NIH grant for research on neuroinflammation

Anxiety, depression and cognitive decline are prominent psychopathologies that together affect more than 40 million people in the United States.

20 Apr 2020

Wind turbine noise has small but significant effect on dream sleep, shows study

Wind turbine noise (WTN) influences people's perception of the restorative effects of sleep, and also has a small but significant effect on dream sleep, otherwise known as REM (rapid eye movement) sleep, a study at the University of Gothenburg shows. A night of WTN resulted in delayed and shortened REM sleep.

20 Apr 2020

New neuromorphic memristor mimics the human brain in efficient learning

Only 10 years ago, scientists working on what they hoped would open a new frontier of neuromorphic computing could only dream of a device using miniature tools called memristors that would function/operate like real brain synapses.

20 Apr 2020

Study adds increasing evidence that autoimmunity plays a role in Parkinson's disease

A new study co-led by scientists at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology adds increasing evidence that Parkinson's disease is partly an autoimmune disease. In fact, the researchers report that signs of autoimmunity can appear in Parkinson's disease patients years before their official diagnosis.

20 Apr 2020

Researchers unveil electronics that mimic the human brain in efficient learning

A team has discovered how to use memristors to make a neuromorphic memristor, or "memory transistor," device

20 Apr 2020

New research gives further evidence that autoimmunity plays a role in Parkinson's disease

A new study adds increasing evidence that Parkinson's disease is partly an autoimmune disease.

20 Apr 2020

New gene promoters could improve treatments for neurological diseases

A recently developed system for switching on the activity of genes could improve treatments for a broad range of neurological diseases.

18 Apr 2020

Study describes unconventional mechanism of ionic channel traffic in cardiac cells

Ionic channels -integral proteins in the cell membrane- are essential in several processes such as cardiac activity, nervous transmission, cell proliferation and the regulation of blood pressure.

18 Apr 2020

MIT researchers devise new way to remotely control hormone release

Abnormal levels of stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol are linked to a variety of mental health disorders, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

18 Apr 2020

Researchers find a key brain region for controlling binge drinking

A team of National Institutes of Health-funded researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina has found that deactivating a stress-signaling system in a brain area known for motivation and emotion-related behaviors decreases binge drinking.

17 Apr 2020

New cyclic peptide enhances blood-brain barrier penetration

A Japanese research team has developed a cyclic peptide (a chain of amino acids bonded circularly) that enhances blood-brain barrier penetration.

17 Apr 2020

New computational model shows how psilocybin affects brain activity

Interest in research into the effects of psilocybin, a psychedelic drug, has increased significantly in recent years due to its promising therapeutic effects in neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety and addiction.

17 Apr 2020

Scientists discover anti-cancer compound in the humble willow

More than a century after giving the world aspirin, another potential drug has been found in the stem and leaves of willows – this time with anti-cancer properties.

17 Apr 2020