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Researchers discover how stress can decrease the desire to eat

Eating disorder researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have discovered a neurocircuit in mice that, when activated, increased their stress levels while decreasing their desire to eat. Findings appear in Nature Communications.

18 Aug 2019

Scientists reverse social traits associated with autism in mouse model

Research has been ongoing in the field of genetic mutations and changes and brain and other neural disorders including Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and a new study in mice models of autism has shown a possible link between mutations or deletions of the SHANK3 gene and a rare disorder called Phelan-McDermid syndrome and ASD.

29 Jul 2019

Study provides clues to neural circuits underlying social deficits linked to ASD

Although psychiatric disorders can be linked to particular genes, the brain regions and mechanisms underlying particular disorders are not well-understood.

26 Jul 2019

Pitt wins $6 million grant to develop cortical vision research program

The University of Pittsburgh received a $6 million grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation to support the development of a cortical vision research program in the Pitt School of Medicine Department of Ophthalmology.

16 Jul 2019

EMBL study reveals uncoupling between chromatin topology and gene expression

Molecular biologists long thought that domains in the genome’s 3D organization control how genes are expressed.

16 Jul 2019

Neuroscientists control visual behavior of a mouse with single-cell precision

For the first time, a team of neuroscientists from Columbia University have controlled a visual behavior of a mouse by activating a few neurons in its visual cortex.

4 Jul 2019

Researchers attempt to solve PTSD puzzle

A team of Penn State and University of Puerto Rico School of Medicine researchers is attempting to answer a question that has long puzzled experts: Why do some individuals suffer post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after experiencing trauma, and others do not?

29 Jun 2019

New study may explain distinct speech processing functions of left and right brain

In the 1860s, French physician Paul Broca published his findings that the brain's speech production center was located in the left hemisphere

25 Jun 2019

Researchers develop new system that creates 'virtual taste realities'

The fly hasn't eaten for an entire day and it's starving. Finally, it finds a pile of edible gelatinous goo. It begins eating when suddenly a green light appears, and the food, which was far from delicious a moment ago, becomes irresistibly sweet.

24 Jun 2019

Study: Melanin-concentrating hormone neurons in hypothalamus increase REM sleep

Every night while sleeping, we cycle between two very different states of sleep. Upon falling asleep, we enter non-rapid eye movement sleep where our breathing is slow and regular and movement of our limbs or eyes are minimal.

20 Jun 2019

Small cluster of neurons in mouse's brain are crucial to making squeaky, ultrasonic 'songs'

Researchers at Duke University have isolated a cluster of neurons in a mouse's brain that are crucial to making the squeaky, ultrasonic 'songs' a male mouse produces when courting a potential mate.

17 Jun 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

Biophysicists study structure of KR2 rhodopsin under physiological conditions

A team of biophysicists from Russia, Germany, and France, featuring researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, has discovered and studied the structure of the KR2 rhodopsin under physiological conditions.

8 May 2019

Study provides new insights into functional role of posterior parietal cortex in decision-making

To make judgments about an unknown sensory stimulus based on prior knowledge is a basic decision process, called perceptual decision-making.

7 May 2019

Combination-imaging technique provides new window into macaque brain connections

Researchers can now see how the two sides of the living brain mirror each other thanks to a new combination-imaging technique.

24 Apr 2019

Key gene could decrease detrimental brain swelling after stroke

Could a medication someday help the brain heal itself after a stroke, or even prevent damage following a blow to the head? A new USC study lends support to the idea.

15 Apr 2019

Stimulating parvalbumin-containing cells causes surprising changes in blood volume, flow

Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia are some of the most common brain disorders and have been associated with problems in cells that contain a type of protein, called parvalbumin.

10 Apr 2019

Sounds and vibrations are quite similar for the brain, finds new study

We all know the feeling of a mobile phone vibrating in our hands when announcing an incoming call. If we perceive these vibrations so clearly, it is due to specialized receptors that transduce them into neural signals sent to our brain.

21 Mar 2019

Salk scientists show how background noise from neurons can interrupt focused attention

It's easy to miss something you're not looking for. In a famous example, people were asked to closely observe two groups of people--one group clad in black, the other in white--pass a ball among themselves.

20 Mar 2019

Piece of puzzle unlocked in what drives alcohol addiction

Researchers at the Scripps Research Institute have made an important discovery that may help to explain the neural mechanism that drives alcohol consumption in cases of addiction.

19 Mar 2019