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brain research

Research articles and news stories tagged with brain research

·July 19, 2023·8 min read

Epigenetic Marking of Satiety Gene Influences Obesity Risk in Women

Researchers identified an epigenetic factor that influences women's risk of obesity. The study found that the risk of obesity increases by 44% if there are a large number of methyl groups attached to the POMC gene, associated with the feeling of satiety.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·July 2, 2025·6 min read

TikTok ADHD Misinformation Can Mislead Young Minds

College students increasingly turn to TikTok for information, including on mental health. A new study found that exposure to misinformation about ADHD on the platform reduced students’ factual knowledge but increased their confidence in that knowledge. Participants who viewed misleading content were also more likely to seek both scientifically supported and unproven treatments.

Featured Neuroscience

·May 15, 2025·4 min read

All Senses Activate Deep Brain Hubs for Focus and Consciousness

A new study reveals that all human senses—sight, hearing, taste, and touch—activate the same deep brain regions linked to consciousness when attention is sharply focused. Using fMRI data from over 1,500 healthy participants, researchers found that sensory input, regardless of the type, engages the midbrain reticular formation and central thalamus. These areas are crucial for regulating alertness, attention, and awareness.

Image shows the location of the hippocampus.

Featured Genetics Neurology Open Neuroscience Articles

·January 11, 2017·4 min read

Protein in Brain Pathway Enhances Memory and Could Be Dementia Treatment Target

Researchers discover the protein CRTC1 can help enhance memory by controlling gene expression.

The male and female symbols are shown here

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·March 31, 2019·4 min read

Allergic reactions play role in sexual behavior development in unborn males/females

Exposure to allergic inflammation, while in utero, increased mast cell and microglia activation, leading to masculinization of dendritic spine density in the preoptic area of females. During adulthood, females exposed to allergic inflammation showed an increase in more masculine behaviors.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·December 30, 2022·4 min read

Ketamine Found to Increase Brain Noise

By inhibiting NMDA receptors, ketamine increases noise to gamma frequencies in one layer of the thalamic nucleus and one lay of the somatosensory cortex. Findings suggest psychosis may be triggered by an increase in background noise impairing thalamocortical neurons which may be caused by a malfunction in NMDA receptors affecting the balance of inhibition and excitation in the brain.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·February 28, 2022·7 min read

How Opioid Use Affects Offspring

Opioid use prior to pregnancy raises the risk that male offspring will develop type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, a new rat study finds.

Featured Neuroscience

·August 28, 2019·4 min read

Lefty, righty brains count on same area for numbers

A new study debunks the popular myth that handedness plays a role in the lateralization of number processing in the brain. The study revealed, regardless of which is your dominant hand, the brain's location for number processing is the same.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·April 12, 2019·5 min read

Want to learn a new skill? Take some short breaks

Taking a short rest following a learning activity to help strengthen memory consolidation.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·May 25, 2023·6 min read

Loosely Wrapped Myelin Marks Early Stages of Multiple Sclerosis, Even Before Inflammation

Structural abnormalities in white matter, even before the onset of inflammation, may serve as a new therapeutic target for multiple sclerosis (MS). The study, focusing on 'normal-appearing white matter', identified early changes in myelin, an insulating substance around nerve fibers.

Featured Neuroscience

·July 13, 2022·4 min read

Where Memory Fragments Are Stored

While the overall memories of an experience are stored in the hippocampus, individual details are parsed and stored in the prefrontal cortex.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·August 24, 2022·4 min read

Neurosurgical Procedure Used to Measure Dopamine and Serotonin Is Safe

Inserting a microelectrode deep into the brain to measure serotonin and dopamine levels of patients scheduled to receive deep brain stimulation is safe and effective.