A new study reveals that microRNAs—tiny regulators of gene expression—play a crucial role in shaping Purkinje cells, rare brain neurons linked to movement and neurodevelopmental disorders. Using advanced genetic tools, researchers showed...
A new study using intracranial recordings in humans reveals that the thalamus, particularly its higher-order regions, plays a central role in triggering conscious perception. By monitoring brain activity during a visual task, researchers...
The way bonobos combine vocal sounds to create new meanings suggests the evolutionary building blocks of human language are shared with our closest relatives
Early administration of the drug Fosdenopterin/rcPMP improves the chances of survival of infants with MoCD type A and promotes the development of brain functions.
Researchers have developed a method that shows how the nervous system and sensory organs are formed in an embryo. By labeling stem cells with a genetic 'barcode', they have been able to follow the cells' developmental journey and...
New research shows that Sat Nav systems are helping keep older drivers on the roads for longer. The study reveals that over 65s with a poorer sense of direction rely more on help from GPS navigation systems such as Sat Nav or smartphone...
Ancient humans living in what is now Ukraine 400,000 years ago may have practised or taught tool-making techniques using mammoth tusks, a softer material than bone
Fluency in a foreign language is often thought to be about speaking quickly and using advanced vocabulary. However, researchers reveal that speakers who use common, everyday expressions sound more fluent than those who rely on rare,...
Parkinson's doesn't just affect movement and the brain -- it may also impact the heart, according to new research. Scientists suggest that targeting a key protein outside of the brain could help manage Parkinson's-related heart issues.
There are over six million Americans with heart failure who are at greater risk of losing their cognitive abilities earlier in life, a study suggests. Global cognition and executive functioning declined more rapidly over the years after...
In a new extensive systematic review, researchers identified 17 modifiable risk factors that are shared by stroke, dementia, and late-life depression. Modifying any one of them can reduce your risk of all three conditions. The findings...
Researchers used a synthetic version of moon dust to build working solar panels, which could eventually be created within – and used to power – a moon base of the future
A new study challenges the widely held belief that high-quality, nonjudgmental listening is essential for persuasion. While good listening improves how people feel about a conversation and reduces defensiveness, it doesn’t enhance the...
A new study has identified specific brain networks that regulate the intensity of political engagement, regardless of ideology. By analyzing Vietnam War veterans with localized brain injuries, researchers found that damage to the...
As China’s vast electrical grid relies more on wind, solar and hydropower, it faces a growing risk of power shortages due to bad weather – and that could encourage the use of coal plants
Organoids have revolutionized science and medicine, providing platforms for disease modeling, drug testing, and understanding developmental processes. While not exact replicas of human organs, they offer significant insights. Scientists...
For the first time, scientists have shown how heavy alcohol use leads to long-term cognitive impairments by damaging brain circuits responsible for decision-making. In a rat model, animals exposed to high alcohol levels performed...
Cervical artery dissection is a tear in an artery in the neck that provides blood flow to the brain. Such a tear can result in blood clots that cause stroke. A new study has found almost a five-fold increase in the number of U.S....
For the first time researchers demonstrate in an animal how heavy alcohol use leads to long-term behavioral issues by damaging brain circuits critical for decision-making.
High-speed drones will be put to the test in the extreme Arctic environment as part of a project to assess how quickly glaciers in Greenland are retreating
Feedback is baffled – baffled! – as to why Facebook owner Meta's attempts to suppress a previous employee's memoir sent the book rocketing to the top of the book charts
A cost-cutting initiative in the world of passenger aviation could see flight-deck staff reduced to just a captain, with their co-pilot replaced by AI. It may save money, but it's a risk too far, argues Paul Marks
Why are some people drawn towards exploration and challenge – even to the point of extreme danger? Alex Hutchinson's bracing new book unpicks the complex reasons
For decades, autistic women and girls have had to play "diagnostic bingo" before getting their true diagnosis. As new neuroscience offers a fresh understanding of the condition, the time for change is now
Chronic excessive alcohol (ethanol) consumption induces neuroadaptations in the brain's reward system, including biochemical and structural abnormalities in white matter that are implicated in addiction phenotypes. Here, we demonstrate...
Despite the prevalence of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), efforts to develop a detailed understanding of the neuropsychology of this neurodevelopmental condition are complicated by the diversity of interindividual...
Numerous studies have shown that neuronal representations in sensory pathways are far from static but are instead strongly shaped by the complex properties of the sensory inputs they receive. Adaptation dynamically shapes the neural...
Zebra finches sing individually unique songs and recognize conspecific songs and individual identities in songs. Their songs comprise several syllables/elements that share acoustic features within the species, with unique sequential...
Opioids initiate dynamic maladaptation in brain reward and affect circuits that occur throughout chronic exposure and withdrawal that persist beyond cessation. Protracted abstinence is characterized by negative affective behaviors such...
Providing nutrition or health labels on product packaging can be an effective strategy to promote a conscious and healthier diet. However, such labels also have the potential to be counterproductive by creating obstructive expectations...
A growing body of evidence suggests that the link between the cardiac autonomic nervous system (ANS) and the central nervous system (CNS) is crucial to the onset and development of major depressive disorder (MDD), affecting perception,...
Understanding the intricate mechanisms underlying slow-wave sleep (SWS) is crucial for deciphering the brain's role in memory consolidation and cognitive functions. It is well established that cortical delta oscillations...
Our eyes are never still. Even when we attempt to fixate, the visual gaze is never motionless, as we continuously perform miniature oculomotor movements termed as fixational eye movements. The fastest eye movements during the fixation...
Alpha-synuclein (αsyn) is the key pathogenic protein implicated in synucleinopathies including Parkinson's disease (PD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). In these diseases, αsyn is thought to spread between cells where it...
Because of the important roles of both serotonin (5-HT) and the cerebellum in regulating anxiety, we asked whether 5-HT signaling within the cerebellum is involved in anxiety behavior. Physiological 5-HT levels were measured in vivo by...
Dopaminergic (DA) neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) and ventral tegmental area (VTA) play a crucial role in controlling animals’ orienting and approach behaviors toward relevant environmental stimuli. The ventral...
Stimulus-driven attention allows us to react to relevant stimuli (and imminent danger!) outside our current focus of attention. But irrelevant stimuli can also disrupt attention, for example, during listening to speech. The degree to...
Adaptation affects neuronal responsivity and selectivity throughout the visual hierarchy. However, because most prior studies have tailored stimuli to a single brain area of interest, we have a poor understanding of how exposure to a...
Emotionally arousing events are typically vividly remembered, which is generally adaptive but may contribute to mental disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Previous research on emotional memory focused primarily on events...
An AI tool that analyzes nurses' data and notes detected when patients in the hospital were deteriorating nearly two days earlier than traditional methods and reduced the risk of death by over 35%.
Researchers have demonstrated how specific biomarkers in the blood can predict the development of dementia up to ten years before diagnosis, among older adults living independently in the community.
Researchers have gained a new understanding of how the brain processes reward and risk information. Neuroscientists show how nerve cells in the so-called amygdala not only encode the probability and magnitude of rewards, but also...