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Featured Genetics Neuroscience Neuroscience Videos

·October 27, 2025·9 min read

Hungry Brains Rewrite the Senses

When fruit flies lack essential amino acids, their brains rewire their sense of smell to help them find food rich in the nutrients they need. Researchers discovered that two genes—Or92a and Ir76a—boost the flies’ sensitivity to smells linked with fermented foods and bacteria that produce beneficial amino acids.

Featured Neuroscience

·September 30, 2025·5 min read

Facial Movements Reveal Hidden Thoughts

A groundbreaking study shows that mice’s facial movements can reveal their problem-solving strategies, offering a non-invasive way to infer hidden thoughts. Researchers found that analyzing subtle facial cues was just as informative as tracking neural activity, suggesting that the mind leaves visible traces on the face.

This shows a couple, their brains and spines.

Featured Neuroscience

·September 23, 2025·9 min read

Spinal Cord Found to Shape Arousal and Sex

A new study overturns the traditional view that the brain solely directs male sexual behavior while the spinal cord executes ejaculation. Researchers identified Galanin-expressing spinal neurons that both drive ejaculation and regulate arousal, integrating sensory input, brain feedback, and internal states.

Featured Neuroscience

·June 5, 2025·10 min read

Dopamine Neurons Map Future Rewards, Not Just Past Ones

Populations of dopamine neurons don't simply signal reward prediction errors—they encode rich maps of possible future outcomes, including when and how much a reward might be. This diverse, adaptable neural code mirrors cutting-edge AI strategies known as distributional reinforcement learning.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 25, 2024·6 min read

How the Brain Toggles Female Sexual Rejection and Acceptance

A new study uncovers how progesterone-responsive neurons in the anterior ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH) toggle between sexual receptivity and rejection in female mice. These neurons are highly active during rejection behaviors, such as kicking or boxing males, when females are outside their fertile phase. During fertility, these neurons receive inhibitory signals, reducing their activity and enabling mating. Using advanced techniques like optogenetics, researchers confirmed that activating these neurons induces rejection even in fertile females, while silencing them decreases rejection behaviors without triggering receptivity.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·November 18, 2024·7 min read

Parkinson’s Tremor Linked to Dopamine in Caudate Nucleus

Rest tremor in Parkinson’s disease is linked to dopamine activity in the caudate nucleus, challenging conventional beliefs about dopamine loss and motor symptoms. Surprisingly, patients with stronger tremor preserved more dopamine in the caudate, highlighting a complex relationship between tremor severity and neural circuits.

Featured Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·August 12, 2024·6 min read

How the Brain Learns and Integrates Prior Knowledge with New Information

The brain builds a hierarchy of knowledge, connecting lower-order sensory details to higher-order concepts, shaping our perception of the world. A new study reveals how visual experience influences the brain’s feedback connections, allowing us to integrate context and recognize patterns based on past experiences. Researchers found that visual input refines these connections, enhancing our ability to interpret complex stimuli and update our understanding of the environment.

This shows a brain model wearing headphones.

Auditory Neuroscience Featured Neuroscience

·May 10, 2024·8 min read

Unveiling the Brain’s Response to Sound

Researchers discovered how the brain translates sounds into actions, a key to understanding sensory decision-making. Their study reveals that both sensory and future action-related signals are present in the cortex, challenging previous beliefs that these areas are functionally distinct.

Featured Neuroscience

·February 19, 2024·7 min read

Dopamine’s Role in Movement Explored

A new study explains how dopamine influences movement sequences, offering hope for Parkinson's disease (PD) therapies. Researchers observed that dopamine not only motivates movement but also controls the length and lateralization of actions, with different neurons activating for movement initiation and reward reception.

Featured Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·February 12, 2024·9 min read

Seeing Motion: Brain’s Role in the Continuity Illusion

A new study uncovers how our brains convert a series of rapid flashes into the perception of smooth, continuous motion, a fundamental aspect of how mammals, including humans, experience the world. By employing functional MRI, behavioral experiments, and electrical recordings of brain activity, researchers identified the superior colliculus (SC) as crucial in transitioning from static to dynamic vision.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·June 16, 2023·6 min read

Psychedelic Breakthroughs: Balancing Promise and Peril in Mental Health Therapies

Psychedelics offer promise as potential treatments for mental health disorders, from depression to PTSD. However, the unique mind-altering effects of these substances also present distinct ethical and clinical challenges.