Neuroscience News - AI, Neuroscience, Psychology Research

·May 24, 2025·4 min read

Placebo Triggers Brain’s Opioid System to Relieve Pain

Researchers have successfully induced the placebo effect in rats, uncovering the neural mechanisms behind how belief in pain relief can reduce the perception of pain. Using conditioning, rats learned to associate injections with pain relief, and later exhibited reduced pain responses even when injected with saline.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·May 24, 2025·2 min read

Married Minds: Oral Microbiota May Mediate Shared Anxiety

A new study suggests that oral microbiota transmission between newlywed couples may influence the onset of depression and anxiety symptoms. Researchers observed that healthy spouses of partners with insomnia, depression, and anxiety developed similar mental health symptoms and microbiota profiles within six months of marriage.

Featured Neuroscience

·May 24, 2025·7 min read

Whiskers That Whisper: Mice Use Sound to Sense Their World

New research reveals that mice use not only touch but also sound to navigate their environments through whisking. These whisker-generated sounds are processed by the auditory cortex, even when tactile input is blocked, suggesting that mice can interpret them as a separate sensory signal.

Featured Neuroscience

·May 24, 2025·3 min read

New Tool Tracks Individual Brain Cells in Mice for Up to 99 Days

Tracking the same neurons in the brain over time has long challenged neuroscientists using calcium imaging in freely moving mice. A new analytical tool called CaliAli overcomes these limitations by aligning imaging data across sessions with remarkable accuracy.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·May 24, 2025·4 min read

Boosting Ketamine’s Antidepressant Effects to Last Two Months

Ketamine is a fast-acting antidepressant that can relieve symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD) within hours, even in treatment-resistant cases. However, its effects typically last only a week, and frequent dosing poses risks like dissociation or addiction.

This shows a person with a swab in their mouth.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·May 24, 2025·5 min read

Smart Floss Measures Stress Hormone for Easy, Real-Time Monitoring

Engineers have developed a novel dental floss device that can detect cortisol—a hormone linked to stress—through saliva, offering a painless, real-time method for stress monitoring. The device uses electropolymerized molecularly imprinted polymers (eMIPs), which act like custom molds to recognize specific molecules.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·May 24, 2025·7 min read

Scientists Decode Key Motions Behind Brain’s Transport

Cells depend on motor proteins like dynein to shuttle materials along microscopic highways, and dysfunction in these proteins can lead to serious neurological disorders. New research captured real-time, high-resolution “movies” of dynein being activated by its partner protein, Lis1, illuminating the step-by-step process.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·May 23, 2025·4 min read

Billy Joel Diagnosed with Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus: What is NPH?

Billy Joel has revealed a diagnosis of normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), a rare but potentially reversible brain disorder that causes symptoms like gait disturbance, cognitive decline, and urinary incontinence. NPH occurs when cerebrospinal fluid builds up in the brain's ventricles without increased pressure, often mimicking dementia or Parkinson’s.

Featured Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·May 23, 2025·4 min read

Eye Surgery Technique Could Restore Vision in Macular Degeneration

Scientists have developed a novel surgical method allowing two retinal tissue grafts to be implanted in a single eye, advancing treatment strategies for dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This new approach enables side-by-side testing of grafts—one with retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells and one without—within the same lesion, using a specially designed clamp to maintain eye pressure and reduce damage.

This shows people from different socioeconomic backgrounds.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·May 23, 2025·5 min read

Why People Trust Those Who Grew Up With Less

New research reveals that people are more likely to trust others who grew up in lower-income households than those from privileged backgrounds. Across multiple experiments, participants consistently showed greater behavioral trust toward individuals with modest upbringings, seeing them as more moral and trustworthy.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·May 23, 2025·5 min read

Tiny Genetic Code Disruption Alters Brain Wiring and Behavior

A small genetic sequence called mini-exon B plays a surprisingly crucial role in how neurons form synaptic connections, according to new research. Scientists found that deleting this four–amino acid segment from a synapse-building protein, PTPδ, disrupted neural activity and led to anxiety-like behaviors in mice.

Featured Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·May 23, 2025·5 min read

Infrared-Seeing Contact Lenses Turn Humans into Night Visionaries

Researchers have developed contact lenses that enable humans and mice to see near-infrared light by converting it into visible wavelengths. These lenses use specialized nanoparticles embedded in standard soft contact material, allowing users to perceive flickering infrared signals without needing external power.