Neuroscience News Science Magazine - Research Articles

Neuroscience News Home

Neuroscience News is an independent open access science magazine. Since 2001, we have featured neuroscience research news from labs, universities, hospitals and news departments around the world. Topics include brain research, AI, psychology, neuroscience, mental health and neurotech.

Latest Neuroscience News

Science news articles cover neuroscience, neurology, psychology, AI, mental health, robotics, neurotechnology and cognitive sciences.

Engineered Protein Reveals Hidden Incoming Signals Between Neurons

Researchers have engineered a next-generation glutamate sensor, iGluSnFR4, capable of detecting the faintest incoming synaptic signals between neurons—signals that, until now, have been nearly impossible to record in living brain tissue. By capturing these whisper-quiet inputs, scientists can finally observe how neurons weigh thousands of glutamate messages and transform them into an electrical output, the core computation behind memory, learning, and emotion.

Numbers in Vision Can Shift How We Perceive Space

New research reveals that numbers in our visual field can subtly distort how we judge spatial positions, showing that perception is shaped by both numerical magnitude and object-based processing. In traditional line-bisection tasks, smaller numbers shifted perceived centers leftward, supporting the idea of a mental number line.

Study Finds Way to Reverse Alzheimer’s

A new study challenges the long-held belief that Alzheimer’s disease cannot be reversed. Researchers showed that a severe drop in NAD+—a core energy molecule—drives Alzheimer’s pathology in both human brains and mouse models.

This shows a woman working late at night.

Working Nights May Increase Cancer Risk

Chronic circadian disruption — such as night-shift work, irregular schedules, or frequent jet lag — accelerates the development and spread of aggressive breast cancer. Researchers found that disrupted internal clocks not only weaken immune defenses but also reshape healthy breast tissue, creating conditions that tumors exploit.

Consciousness May Require a New Kind of Computation

A new theoretical framework argues that the long-standing split between computational functionalism and biological naturalism misses how real brains actually compute. The authors propose “biological computationalism,” the idea that neural computation is inseparable from the brain’s physical, hybrid, and energy-constrained dynamics rather than an abstract algorithm running on hardware. In this view, discrete neural events and continuous physical processes form a tightly coupled system that cannot be reduced to symbolic information processing.

Neurology News Articles

Neurology news articles cover neurology, brain cancer, traumatic brain injuries, neurosurgery, neuroanatomy, brain research and neurological disorders.

Dopamine Acts as a Movement Support System, Not a Speed Controller

Dopamine may not control the force or speed of movements as long believed. Instead, it appears to function as a foundational chemical that enables movement in the first place.

Social Isolation Directly Speeds Up Cognitive Decline

Social isolation has a direct causal impact on how quickly cognitive function declines in later life, independent of whether someone feels lonely. By analyzing more than 137,000 cognitive tests from over 30,000 older adults, the study found that reduced social contact consistently predicted faster decline across every demographic group.

Cancer Disrupts the Brain’s Internal Clock

Breast cancer can rapidly derail the brain’s day-night regulation of stress hormones, even before tumors are detectable. In mice, the disease flattens normal corticosterone rhythms by altering hypothalamic neuron activity, which may worsen outcomes and mimic symptoms often seen in cancer patients, such as insomnia and anxiety.

Tiny Gut Imposters Could Be Driving Multiple Sclerosis

New research reveals that when gut bacteria closely resemble the myelin sheath that protects nerve fibers, the immune system can become confused and attack both — accelerating multiple sclerosis. In mouse experiments, bacteria engineered to mimic myelin triggered faster disease progression by activating aggressive immune cells that infiltrated the nervous system.

Blood Transfusions May Accelerate Alzheimer’s Progression

New research shows that blood from older animals can speed up Alzheimer’s-related changes in the brain, while young blood may slow them down. In a long-term experiment, mice engineered to develop Alzheimer’s symptoms received weekly blood infusions from either young or old donors.

AI News Articles

AI news articles cover science articles about artificial intelligence including ChatGPT, Bard, Dalle, neural networks, machine learning, LLMs, AGI and other AI related topics.

AI Brain Model Reveals How Fear Works in Real Life

Researchers have developed an AI-driven brain model that can track fear as it unfolds in real-world situations, offering a major shift from traditional lab-based approaches. Classic fear studies often rely on static images, but these do not reflect how the brain processes fear in dynamic contexts.

AI Turns Simple EEG Scans Into Accurate Dementia Detectors

New research shows that deep learning can use EEG signals to distinguish Alzheimer’s disease from frontotemporal dementia with high accuracy. By analyzing both the timing and frequency of brain activity, the model uncovered distinct patterns: broader disruption across multiple regions in Alzheimer’s and more localized frontal and temporal changes in frontotemporal dementia.

AI-Powered Bionic Hand Restores Natural, Intuitive Grasping Ability

A new study shows that integrating artificial intelligence with advanced proximity and pressure sensors allows a commercial bionic hand to grasp objects in a natural, intuitive way—reducing cognitive effort for amputees. By training an artificial neural network on grasping postures, each finger could independently “see” objects and automatically move into the correct position, improving grip security and precision.

This shows a brain with computer components on it.

Brain Uses AI-Like Computations for Language

The human brain processes spoken language in a step-by-step sequence that closely matches how large language models transform text. Using electrocorticography recordings from people listening to a podcast, researchers found that early brain responses aligned with early AI layers, while deeper layers corresponded to later neural activity in regions such as Broca’s area.

This shows a person looking into a void and a hologram.

AI Is Changing the Way Humans Grieve, Remember, and Face Death

Generative artificial intelligence is quietly reshaping how humans process grief, remembrance, and mortality. Digital reconstructions of the deceased may offer comfort, but they also risk blurring the natural boundary between presence and absence.

Psychology News Articles

Science research articles cover psychology, depression, mental health, schizophrenia, mental disorders, happiness, stress, PTSD, autism, psychiatry and therapy.

This shows faces expressing different emotions.

Smiling Faces Trigger Mimicry, and Make Us Trust Them More

People instinctively mimic others’ facial expressions, but new research shows we do this far more with joyful faces than with sadness or anger—and that the intensity of mimicry predicts how much we trust someone. Across three experiments using EMG and behavioral tasks, participants copied smiles more readily and rated smiling individuals as more attractive, confident, and trustworthy.

Guilt and Shame Shape Behavior Through Separate Brain Pathways

uilt and shame arise from different cognitive triggers and rely on distinct neural systems to guide compensatory behavior. Using a controlled game that manipulated both harm and responsibility, researchers showed that guilt is more strongly driven by the severity of harm caused, while shame is more strongly shaped by how responsible someone feels for that harm. Guilt also more reliably translated into financial compensation, whereas shame required greater cognitive control to influence behavior.

Emotional Stress Triggers Instant Arousal From Deep Sleep

A new study uncovers a precise brain pathway that rapidly converts emotional stress into sudden wakefulness during NREM sleep. Researchers found that GABAergic neurons in the BNST activate glutamatergic neurons in the DpMe, causing immediate arousal.

Depression Quietly Damages the Heart Through Stress Circuits

Depression and anxiety may heighten cardiovascular disease risk through chronic stress pathways in the brain and body. In a large analysis of more than 85,000 adults, those with depression or anxiety — especially both — were significantly more likely to experience heart attack, stroke or heart failure.

Second-Hand Gifts Are Becoming the New Status Symbol

New research shows that buying second-hand gifts is typically a thoughtful, intentional decision rather than an impulsive one. Consumers are motivated by fair prices, the thrill of finding rare items, and the desire to shop sustainably. Survey results from a major online marketplace reveal that intentions often translate directly into purchases—especially for items that are easy to evaluate, such as books.

Trending Neuroscience News

These are the most viewed Neuroscience News articles of the month.

This shows DNA and other cellular factors associated with ASD.

Many Autism Cases May Be Preventable

A new study proposes that autism arises when genetic vulnerability, an early environmental trigger, and prolonged activation of the cellular stress response align during critical developmental windows. This “three-hit” metabolic model reframes autism as a disorder of disrupted cellular communication and energy metabolism rather than an inevitable genetic outcome.

Why Consciousness Evolved

New work explores why consciousness evolved and what observing birds can teach us about its biological purpose. The findings outline three distinct forms of consciousness—basic arousal, general alertness, and reflexive self-awareness—each providing unique adaptive advantages.

This shows a brain and three supplement pills

Supplement Mix Reverses Autism Traits

Researchers have made a major advance, discovering that a low-dose mixture of zinc, serine, and branch-chain amino acids (BCAAs) can successfully alleviate behavioral symptoms in three different mouse models of autism. This breakthrough lies in the synergy of the three common nutrients, which work together to restore normal neural communication and reduce hyperactivity in the brain's emotional center.

The Way You Drive Might Signal Mild Cognitive Impairment

Researchers found that long-term driving behavior can reveal early signs of cognitive decline years before clinical diagnosis. Older adults who later developed impairment showed gradual reductions in trip frequency, night driving, and route variety compared to cognitively healthy peers.

Boosting Sleep Ripples Helps Preserve Memories Normally Forgotten

A new study shows that precisely manipulating brain activity during sleep can help mice retain memories that would normally fade, offering a potential pathway for treating memory loss conditions. Researchers identified a specific sleep-related pattern—large sharp-wave ripples—that signals when new experiences are being transferred from the hippocampus to the neocortex for long-term storage. By boosting these ripples at just the right moment using optogenetics, scientists enabled mice to remember brief encounters they would typically forget.

Trending Neuroscience News

Subscribe