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GABA

This shows food items shaped into a brain.

·December 20, 2024·5 min read

Serotonin, GABA, and Dopamine Drive Hunger and Feeding

A new study has revealed how brain circuits and neurotransmitters regulate meal initiation, offering insights into obesity management. Researchers identified serotonin neurons in the midbrain's dorsal Raphe nucleus (DRN) as key players, inhibited by GABA and dopamine when hunger strikes.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 15, 2024·7 min read

Unlocking GABA Receptors

New research has revealed the diverse assembly and regulation of Type-A GABA receptors (GABAARs), which are crucial for balancing brain activity. Using cryogenic electron microscopy, researchers identified over 324,000 potential receptor structures, shaped by subunit combinations and their relative arrangement.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·March 19, 2024·4 min read

Brain Chemistry Balance Key to Young Women’s Anxiety

The development of anxiety in girls and young women might be attributed to the imbalance of brain chemicals GABA and glutamate. Researchers found that during maturation, the increase in GABA levels coupled with a decrease in glutamate levels in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex could be indicators of anxiety levels.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·August 3, 2023·5 min read

GABA Receptors Unveiled as Potential Antidepressant Targets

A new study argues the neurotransmitter GABA and its principal receptors could play a key role in managing depressive disorders. Researchers suggest potential pathways through which GABA-modulating treatments could alleviate both cognitive and affective symptoms linked to depression.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·June 27, 2023·6 min read

Brain Chemical Imbalance Detected in OCD

Researchers discovered a neurochemical imbalance in the brains of patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Using magnetic resonance spectroscopy, they found a disrupted balance between neurotransmitters glutamate and GABA in two specific regions of the frontal lobes.

Featured Neuroscience

·March 30, 2023·5 min read

How Alcohol’s Impact on the Brain Makes Us More Likely to Drink

Researchers have uncovered a neural mechanism involving the brain's immune system that spurs alcohol use disorder.

Featured Neuroscience

·February 3, 2023·5 min read

Sugar Is Processed Differently in the Brains of Obesity-Prone vs. Obesity-Resistant Rats

Glucose takes longer to get into the nucleus accumbens of obesity-prone rat models. Researchers also discovered excess levels of glutamate in obesity-prone rats, implying a deficiency in the neurotransmitter recycling process normally maintained by astrocytes.

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Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·November 15, 2022·3 min read

Children Learn More Quickly Than Adults

Children have a rapid boost of GABA during visual learning tasks that continue after the training ends. In adults, GABA levels remain consistent. Findings suggest children's brains respond to training in a way that allows the to more quickly and more efficiently stabilize learning.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 9, 2022·4 min read

A Clearer Picture of Developing Teen Brain

Study provides evidence of a critical period for neuroplasticity in the frontal cortex during the teenage years, a time at which risk-taking behaviors and mental illness risk peak.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·May 26, 2022·3 min read

Synaptic Connectivity of a Novel Cell Population in the Striatum

Researchers characterize a novel neural population within the striatum that appears to be responsible for the interplay between acetylcholine and GABA.

Featured Genetics Neurology Neuroscience

·May 9, 2022·4 min read

Gene Therapy Shows Promise in Treating Neuropathy From Spinal Cord Injuries

Gene therapy that inhibits targeted nerve cell signals effectively improves symptoms of neuropathic pain without negative side effects in mouse models of spinal cord injury or peripheral nerve damage.