Latest

brain research

Research articles and news stories tagged with brain research

·August 14, 2025·4 min read

Single Gene Edit Transfers Behaviors Across Species

Scientists in Japan have used genetic engineering to make a species of fruit fly perform a courtship ritual it had never done before. By turning on the “fruitless” gene in insulin-producing neurons, they rewired the brains of Drosophila melanogaster to offer regurgitated food to potential mates—a behavior seen in a different species, D. subobscura.

This shows a man in a neurotech headset covered in words, implying this tech can interpret inner speech.

Featured Neuroscience

·August 14, 2025·5 min read

“Mind-Reading” Tech Decodes Inner Speech With Up to 74% Accuracy

Scientists have, for the first time, decoded inner speech—silent thoughts of words—on command using brain-computer interface technology, achieving up to 74% accuracy. By recording neural activity from participants with severe paralysis, the team found that inner speech and attempted speech share overlapping brain activity patterns, though inner speech signals are weaker.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·August 14, 2025·10 min read

Could Restoring Lithium Levels Help Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease?

A decade-long investigation has revealed that natural lithium in the brain helps shield against Alzheimer’s disease by maintaining healthy function across all major brain cell types. Researchers found that lithium loss is one of the earliest brain changes in Alzheimer’s, often occurring before noticeable symptoms.

This shows a brain surrounded by microbes.

Featured Neuroscience

·August 14, 2025·4 min read

Microbes in the Womb and at Birth Help Sculpt the Newborn Brain

New research reveals that microbes play a crucial role in shaping a newborn’s brain both before and after birth. Using a mouse model, scientists showed that the absence of maternal microbes during pregnancy led to fewer neurons in the PVN—a brain region essential for stress, social behavior, and body regulation—regardless of whether the newborn later received microbial exposure.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·August 13, 2025·4 min read

Genetic Switch May Be Key to Human Brain’s Unique Abilities

Researchers have identified a genetic region, HAR123, that may help explain what makes the human brain unique. Acting as a transcriptional enhancer, HAR123 influences the development of neural progenitor cells, which give rise to neurons and glial cells, and plays a role in determining their ratio.

This shows two people surrounded by smoke at a crossroads, implying quitting smoking could help resolve other addiction issues.

Featured Neuroscience

·August 13, 2025·6 min read

Quitting Smoking May Boost Recovery From Other Addictions

A large-scale U.S. analysis found that adults recovering from alcohol or other drug addictions were significantly more likely to maintain long-term remission if they also quit smoking. Using data from over 2,600 participants in the ongoing PATH Study, researchers discovered that those who went from being current to former smokers had a 42% greater chance of sustaining recovery from their non-tobacco addictions.

This shows an early human walking besides Australopithecus next to a lake.

Featured Neuroscience

·August 13, 2025·7 min read

Fossils Show Early Humans and New Australopithecus Lived Together

An international team of researchers working at Ledi-Geraru in Ethiopia has uncovered fossils indicating that early Homo and a newly identified Australopithecus species coexisted between 2.6 and 2.8 million years ago. The discovery includes 13 Australopithecus teeth, distinct from the famous Australopithecus afarensis (“Lucy”), and confirms there is no evidence of Lucy’s kind after 2.95 million years ago.

Featured Neuroscience

·August 13, 2025·4 min read

Sonic Swarms: How Tiny Robots Use Sound to Think and Move Like One

Researchers have developed a model for micro-sized robots that use sound waves to communicate, allowing them to self-organize into swarms with collective intelligence. These sonic swarms can adapt their shape, navigate complex spaces, and re-form if disrupted, making them potentially useful for environmental, medical, and sensor applications.

Auditory Neuroscience Featured Neuroscience

·August 13, 2025·5 min read

Musicians Show No Edge in Early Brain Sound Processing

A large-scale study challenges the long-held belief that musical training boosts the brain’s earliest stages of sound processing. Using a sample size over four times larger than earlier studies, researchers found no difference between musicians and non-musicians in subcortical auditory responses or in recognizing speech amid background noise.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·August 12, 2025·5 min read

Neuron Discovery Could Help Restore Breathing After Spinal Injuries

Scientists have discovered a specialized group of spinal cord interneurons that help regulate breathing when the body faces challenges like high carbon dioxide levels. Blocking these neurons impaired the body’s ability to adapt its breathing, suggesting they play a key role in respiratory control.

This shows a pregnant woman and a brain.

Autism Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·August 12, 2025·4 min read

Pre-Pregnancy Obesity Linked to Autism Risk

A new study reveals how maternal obesity before pregnancy can program autism-related behaviors in offspring through lasting epigenetic changes in egg cells. Using IVF and embryo transfer in mice, researchers isolated the pre-conception effects, finding altered DNA methylation patterns that disrupted genes such as Homer1.

This shows an older woman and a cat. A brain is in the background.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·August 12, 2025·5 min read

Feline Dementia Mirrors Human Alzheimer’s

A new study shows that cats with dementia exhibit brain changes strikingly similar to those seen in Alzheimer’s disease, including the toxic build-up of amyloid-beta in synapses. These changes disrupt connections between brain cells and contribute to memory and thinking decline.

1 2 3 4 … 1,225

brain research

Single Gene Edit Transfers Behaviors Across Species

“Mind-Reading” Tech Decodes Inner Speech With Up to 74% Accuracy

Could Restoring Lithium Levels Help Prevent Alzheimer’s Disease?

Microbes in the Womb and at Birth Help Sculpt the Newborn Brain

Genetic Switch May Be Key to Human Brain’s Unique Abilities

Quitting Smoking May Boost Recovery From Other Addictions

Fossils Show Early Humans and New Australopithecus Lived Together

Sonic Swarms: How Tiny Robots Use Sound to Think and Move Like One

Musicians Show No Edge in Early Brain Sound Processing

Neuron Discovery Could Help Restore Breathing After Spinal Injuries

Pre-Pregnancy Obesity Linked to Autism Risk

Feline Dementia Mirrors Human Alzheimer’s

Boosting Prefrontal Dopamine Shows Promise in Cutting Alcohol Use

Highly Sensitive People Face Greater Mental Health Risks

Bipolar Mood Shifts Linked to Insulin Signaling in the Pancreas

Dopamine Imbalance in the Brain May Drive Trichotillomania

Subscribe