Nervous System

The nervous system is an organ system containing a network of specialized cells called neurons that coordinate the actions of an animal and transmit signals between different parts of its body. In most animals the nervous system consists of two parts, central and peripheral. The central nervous system contains the brain and spinal cord.

What is the Nervous System?

The nervous system is a complex network of neurons and cells that carry messages to and from the brain and spinal cord to various parts of the body.

Bioelectronic Medicine: Hacking Nervous System Signals for Therapeutic Benefits

Development of the Nervous System

Function of the Nervous System

What are Schwann Cells?

Pathology of the Nervous System

The Impact of Hormones on the Nervous System

Latest Nervous System News and Research

Multiple sclerosis prevalence in England doubles due to better diagnosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) has more than doubled in recorded prevalence in England from 2000 to 2020, increasing by 6% per year, largely due to improved diagnosis and longer life expectancy, finds a new study by University College London (UCL) and Imperial College London researchers.

23 Mar 2026

Can your voice reveal stress levels?

This research explores speech prosody as a stress marker, analyzing the effects of relaxation methods on vocal changes and their implications for stress relief.

23 Mar 2026

Liquid biopsy enables rapid diagnosis of Burkitt lymphoma in Africa

In a study published today in Nature Medicine, researchers from the University of Oxford and the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) in Dar es salaam, Tanzania have shown that a minimally invasive "liquid biopsy" test can diagnose Burkitt lymphoma rapidly and accurately in sub-Saharan Africa, where delays in traditional testing often prove fatal.

19 Mar 2026

Breakthrough technology decodes leg movement signals from nerves in amputees

A research team led by researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, has, for the first time, successfully decoded leg movements directly from the remaining nerves in people with above-knee amputations.

19 Mar 2026

Tiny gene mutations shape cancer behavior and immune response

Cancer is often thought of as a single disease. Yet even tumors that arise in the same organ can follow very different genetic paths.

19 Mar 2026

New compound targets the neuronal epigenome to treat Alzheimer's disease

A team from the University of Barcelona has designed and validated in animal models an innovative compound with a pioneering mechanism of action for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

19 Mar 2026

People with type 1 diabetes face higher risk of developing dementia

Having type 1 diabetes is associated with a higher risk of developing dementia, according to a study published March 18, 2026, in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

18 Mar 2026

Burnout crisis demands science-based strategies beyond self-care solutions

Burnout is at an all-time high, with some studies saying two-thirds of employees now cite job burnout as a major challenge.

18 Mar 2026

Combination therapy shows promise for leptomeningeal metastasis in breast cancer

Patients with leptomeningeal metastasis (LM) have historically had few treatment options. Now, researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have found a combination of targeted therapies, tucatinib and trastuzumab, plus the chemotherapy drug, capecitabine, may improve symptoms and extend survival in some breast cancer patients with LM.

18 Mar 2026

Study finds common brain mechanism behind different anesthesia drugs

When patients undergo general anesthesia, doctors can choose among several drugs. Although each of these drugs acts on neurons in different ways, they all lead to the same result: a disruption of the brain's balance between stability and excitability, according to a new MIT study.

17 Mar 2026

Blocking fructose metabolism may improve brain tumor immunotherapy response

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered that specialized immune cells within the glioblastoma tumor metabolize fructose to suppress immune responses and promote tumor growth, reports a study published on March 17 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

17 Mar 2026

Researchers identify CD99L2 gene as a cause of spastic ataxia

Despite modern high-throughput sequencing, the genetic cause of most rare movement disorders remains unclear.

17 Mar 2026

Sleep-like brain activity linked to attention lapses in ADHD

New from JNeurosci, Elaine Pinggal, from Monash University, and colleagues assessed how sleep-like brain activity in awake adults influences sustained attention during a task.

16 Mar 2026

Brain breathing mechanism linked to persistent high blood pressure

A brain mechanism may explain why approximately 40% of people with hypertension continue to have high blood pressure despite taking medication. The discovery reveals potential targets for new treatments.

16 Mar 2026

Scientists identify common symptom patterns in post-COVID-19 vaccination syndrome

A registry study across 14 Japanese clinics analyzed 179 cases of post-COVID-19 vaccination syndrome (PCVS) and identified 493 adverse events affecting multiple organ systems. Most symptoms appeared within 90 days, but some occurred much later, highlighting the need for continued vaccine safety monitoring and better clinical frameworks for persistent post-vaccination symptoms.

16 Mar 2026

Early high-dose therapy improves hand and arm function in infants with cerebral palsy

Infants and toddlers with unilateral cerebral palsy, which affects the brain's control of muscles on one side of the body, show lasting improvements in hand and arm function when they receive early, high-dose therapy, according to a new multisite clinical trial led by Virginia Tech researchers at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC.

16 Mar 2026

Scientists show gut bacteria can reach the brain in mice and reveal a potential vagus nerve pathway

Researchers found that very small numbers of gut bacteria can translocate to the brain in mice, particularly when gut barrier permeability increases due to a Paigen diet. Evidence suggests the vagus nerve may serve as a partial route for this gut-to-brain microbial movement.

15 Mar 2026

Doctors warn of a deadly complication from measles outbreaks

The first sign came when Deepanwita Dasgupta was 5 and started stumbling more while playing at her home in Bangalore in southern India.

13 Mar 2026

Study identifies immune cells and RANK protein as fertility regulators

The kick off signal for puberty begins in the brain. Specifically, in the hypothalamus, where specific neurons release a hormone that activates the hypophysis, at the base of the skull, which then releases other hormones to start gonad –ovaries or testicles –maturation.

12 Mar 2026

Study finds treatment gap for young ADHD patients with substance use disorders

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder, affecting 12%–13% of adolescents in the United States, according to some studies.

12 Mar 2026