Tweaking the numbers of receptors in a key brain area changes the daily rhythms of rest and wake in mice, according to research from WashU, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Tag: Brain
Good Timing: UNLV Study Unravels How Our Brains Track Time
Ever hear the old adage that time flies when you’re having fun? A new study by a team of UNLV researchers suggests that there’s a lot of truth to the trope.
Study Pinpoints Origins of Creativity in the Brain
The new results could ultimately help lead to interventions that help spark creative thought or aid people who have mental illnesses that disrupt these regions of the brain.
Researchers Identify Potential Therapeutic Target for Management of Thirst Disorders
In a recent mouse-model study, published in Nature Neuroscience, researchers at University Hospitals (UH), Harrington Discovery Institute at UH, and Case Western Reserve University have now found that the cerebellum also controls thirst, a major function necessary for survival. Specifically, the research team found that a hormone, asprosin, crosses from the periphery into the brain to activate Purkinje neurons in the cerebellum. This leads to an enhanced drive to seek and drink water.
Toddlers’ brains show significant growth in cognitive skills by 16 months, study finds
Toddlers engage more regions of their brains around 16-months to help them develop important cognitive skills enabling them to follow simple instructions and control impulses. Findings from the study, led by the Universities of Bristol and Oxford, and published in Imaging Neuroscience, suggests 16 months is a critical period for brain development.
UNC Researchers Identify Potential Treatment for Angelman Syndrome
Researchers at the UNC School of Medicine have identified a small molecule that could lead to a safe and effective treatment for the neurodevelopmental condition known as Angelman syndrome.
Chemotherapy disrupts gut microbiome in patients with breast cancer
“For the first time ever, our Intelligut Study found that the gut microbiome has been implicated in cognitive side effects of chemotherapy in humans,” said senior author Leah Pyter, associate professor of psychiatry and neuroscience with The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine.
Study Challenges ED Protocols for Geriatric Head Injuries and Blood Thinners
Out of 3,425 patients enrolled in the study, 0.4% (13 patients) experienced a delayed intracranial hemorrhage, a significantly lower rate than previously reported (7.2%).
Alcohol misuse can disrupt gut microbiota, causing inflammation that leads to organ damage
Alcohol researchers have long known that excessive drinking can cause damage to the liver, pancreas, heart, muscle, bone, and brain. However, only a subset of patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) appear to develop organ damage. New research shows that alcohol-induced gut inflammation is the missing link between unhealthy drinking and organ damage among certain AUD patients.
Gut Microbiome Linked to Brain Structure and Symptom Severity in People Who Drink Heavily
Gut bacteria may be associated with differences in brain structure and clinical symptom severity in people with alcohol use disorder.
Alzheimer’s Awareness Month: Virginia Tech researchers work toward better treatments
Alzheimer’s disease, a deadly brain disease than can cause loss of memory and mobility, affects millions of lives daily. June marks Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month, and Virginia Tech researchers are engaged in research meant to advance treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and assist caregivers of loved ones with dementia.
How can AI cope with changing categories?
Bar-Ilan University researchers have uncovered a new universal law detailing how artificial neural networks handle an increasing number of categories for identification. This law demonstrates how the identification error rate of such networks increases with the number of required recognizable objects.
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UC San Diego Develops First-In-Kind Protocol for Creating ‘Wired Miniature Brains’
Researchers have developed — and shared — a process for creating brain cortical organoids — essentially miniature artificial brains with functioning neural networks
NUTRITION 2024 showcases groundbreaking research on what we eat and why it matters
Be among the first to hear breaking news in food and nutrition science at NUTRITION 2024, the annual flagship meeting of the American Society for Nutrition held June 29–July 2 at McCormick Place in Chicago.
Scientists aim to stop harmful gut bacteria triggering Alzheimer’s
Australian scientists are exploring how harmful gut bacteria from a poor diet can access the brain and trigger early onset Alzheimer’s disease.
Tricking the Brain’s inner GPS: Grid cells responses to the illusion of self-location
Dr. Hyuk-June Moon from the Bionics Research Center at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), in collaboration with Prof. Olaf Blanke’s team at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), has successfully induced self-location illusions with multi-sensory virtual reality (VR) in the MRI scanner and observed corresponding changes in the human brain’s grid cell activity.
UTSW Research: Improved bladder cancer detection, tracking gamma waves, and more
Blue light improves bladder cancer detection across races; Gamma waves distinguish goal-oriented movements; Giving abnormal bone formation a closer look; Dissecting the HIV-1 transcriptional circuitry
Scientists have mathematically simulated an epileptic seizure for the first time
Scientists at Immanuel Kant BFU have developed a mathematical model that describes human brain condition in epilepsy. The system reproduced changes in brain activity during a seizure, as well as taking into account multiple interactions among neurons and other brain cells.
Everyday social interactions predict language development in infants
In a study published April 8 in Current Biology, University of Washington researchers found that when the adult talked and played socially with a 5-month-old baby, the baby’s brain activity particularly increased in regions responsible for attention — and the level of this type of activity predicted enhanced language development at later ages.
Feeding the lonely brain
Study finds that lonely women experienced increased activation in regions of the brain associated with food cravings.
Press passes available now for NUTRITION 2024 to be held June 29–July 2
Complimentary press passes are now available for NUTRITION 2024, the annual flagship meeting of the American Society for Nutrition.
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Gene therapy offers hope for giant axonal neuropathy patients
A gene therapy developed by researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center for a rare disease called giant axonal neuropathy (GAN) was well tolerated in pediatric patients and showed clear benefits, a new study reports. Findings from the phase one clinical trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, could offer hope for patients with this rare condition and a host of other neurological diseases.
How Fear Unfolds inside Our Brains
The stress-induced mechanisms that cause our brain to produce feelings of fear in the absence of threats — such as in PTSD — have been mostly a mystery. Now, neurobiologists have identified the changes in brain biochemistry and mapped the neural circuitry that cause generalized fear experiences.
Brain development of the unborn baby: a combined effect of genetics and food availability
A new population study led by researcher Tomas Paus , professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at the University of Montreal and researcher at CHU Sainte-Justine, highlights the respective roles of maternal and fetal genes in the growth of the baby’s cerebral cortex .
Brain Waves Travel in One Direction When Memories are Made and the Opposite When Recalled
These wide-ranging waves quickly link the specific constellations of brain regions that work in harmony to perform a task.
Hahn Awarded CZI Grant to Monitor, Manipulate Proteins Important in Nervous System Function, Neurological Disease
Klaus Hahn, PhD, the Ronald G. Thurman Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology at the UNC School of Medicine, will co-lead this Chan Zuckerberg Initiative project with colleagues at Duke University and North Carolina State University.
UTSW team’s new AI method may lead to ‘automated scientists’
UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) method that writes its own algorithms and may one day operate as an “automated scientis” to extract the meaning behind complex datasets.
Live music emotionally moves us more than streamed music
How does listening to live music affect the emotional center of our brain? A study carried out at the University of Zurich has found that live performances trigger a stronger emotional response than listening to music from a device.
Neurobiology: How bats distinguish different sounds
Seba’s short-tailed bat (Carollia perspicillata) lives in the subtropical and tropical forests of Central and South America, where it mostly feeds on pepper fruit
Mapping potential pathways to MND treatment
For the first time, researchers from The University of Queensland (UQ) have mapped out the proteins implicated in the early stages of motor neurone disease (MND).
Are you depressed? Scents might help, new study says
Smelling a familiar scent can help depressed individuals recall specific autobiographical memories and potentially assist in their recovery, discovered a team of University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers and UPMC social workers in a study published today in JAMA Network Open.
Gold nanoparticles reverse brain deficits in multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s
Results from phase two clinical trials at UT Southwestern Medical Center showed that a suspension of gold nanocrystals taken daily by patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson’s disease (PD) significantly reversed deficits of metabolites linked to energy activity in the brain and resulted in functional improvements.
A flicker of truth: Piercing the “continuity illusion”
A study by a team at the Champalimaud Foundation (CF) has cast a new light on the superior colliculus (SC), a deep-seated brain structure often overshadowed by its more prominent cortical neighbor.
Predicting psychosis before it occurs
The onset of psychosis can be predicted before it occurs, using a machine-learning tool which can classify MRI brain scans into those who are healthy and those at risk of a psychotic episode.
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Researcher determines ADHD gives entrepreneurs an edge
The brains of people with ADHD function in ways that can benefit them as entrepreneurs, according to research from the West Virginia University John Chambers College of Business and Economics.
World’s largest childhood trauma study uncovers brain rewiring
The world’s largest brain study of childhood trauma has revealed how it affects development and rewires vital pathways.
Bullied teens’ brains show chemical change associated with psychosis
Researchers have found that adolescents being bullied by their peers are at greater risk of the early stages of psychotic episodes and in turn experience lower levels of a key neurotransmitter in a part of the brain involved in regulating emotions.
Dr. Claudia Padilla discusses Alzheimer’s and a new treatment.
Claudia Padilla, MD, at Baylor Scott & White Health, discusses Alzheimer’s and a new treatment. What You Need to Know: Alzheimer’s disease is a type of dementia. The most common sign is short-term memory loss. New medication targets the protein…
Firing nerve fibers in the brain are supplied with energy on demand
Brain function depends on the swift movement of electrical signals along axons, the long extensions of nerve cells that connect billions of brain cells.
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Brain Protein’s Virus-Like Structure May Help Explain Cancer-Induced Memory Loss
In a rare but serious complication of cancer, the immune system can start attacking the brain, causing rapid memory loss. What triggers this was largely unknown. Now, researchers at University of Utah Health have found that some tumors can release a virus-like protein, kickstarting an out-of-control autoimmune reaction.
Brain drain – nasopharyngeal lymphatics found to be crucial for cerebrospinal fluid outflow
‘Lymphatic plexus’ behind the nose drains cerebrospinal fluid from the brain, potentially impacting neurodegenerative conditions.
Unraveling the mysteries of the brain with the help of a worm
Do we really know how the brain works? In the last several decades, scientists have made great strides in understanding this fantastically complex organ. Scientists now know a great deal about the brain’s cellular neurobiology and have learned much about the brain’s neural connections, and the components that make up these connections.
Device keeps brain alive, functioning separate from body
Researchers led by a team at UT Southwestern Medical Center have developed a device that can isolate blood flow to the brain, keeping the organ alive and functioning independent from the rest of the body for several hours.
Sets of neurons work in sync to track ‘time’ and ‘place,’ giving humans context for past, present and future
Two studies led by UCLA researchers offer new insights into the way neurons in the human brain represent time and space – the most basic ingredients of consciousness of human existence and the primary dimensions of experience that allow us to reconstruct the past and envision the future.
Anti-anxiety drug may improve brain cancer survival chances
A new research study shows that cerebrospinal fluid reduces current treatment efficacy in brain cancer and identifies new therapeutic opportunities.
UCI Expert On: Metacognition
How do our brains take in complex information from the world around us to help us make decisions? And what happens when there’s a mismatch between how well your brain thinks it’s performing this function and how well it’s actually doing? In this episode of the UCI School of Social Sciences Experts On, cognitive scientist Megan Peters takes a deep dive into metacognition – our ability to monitor our own cognitive processing.
Researchers induce brain activation using infrared light-controlled drugs
This cutting-edge technique activates a specific neurotransmitter receptor using mid-infrared light, which can penetrate deep into tissue and offers unparalleled pharmacological and spatiotemporal precision in three dimensions.
What an animated taco reveals about curiosity and patience
Curiosity paradoxically increases people’s patience for an answer, while simultaneously making them more eager to hear it, finds a new study by Duke neuroscientists.
Pupil response may shed light on who responds best to transcranial magnetic stimulation for depression
New findings from researchers at UCLA Health suggest that measuring changes in how pupils react to light could help predict recovery from depression and personalize transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) treatment of major depressive disorder.
UC Irvine health psychologist Julian F. Thayer elected to National Academy of Medicine
Irvine, Calif., Oct. 9, 2023 — Julian F. Thayer, a Distinguished Professor of psychological science at the University of California, Irvine, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine, one of the highest distinctions accorded to professionals in the medical sciences, healthcare and public health. He is one of 100 new members announced today.