Researchers are using a variety of techniques to better understand how the brain 'wires up'.
Examining brain tissue, researchers have identified common gene groups that are disrupted in people with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and major depression.
A new study reveals a new molecular mechanism for Huntington's disease.
Mothers who eat high fat diets during pregnancy could be elevating the risk of future depression and anxiety symptoms for their children, a new study in Frontiers in Endocrinology reports. High fat diets may impair the development of the central serotonin system, researchers discovered. Further studies noted that introducing a healthy diet to the offspring at an early age did not reverse the effect.
Study identifies a specific gene in rats that relates to physical inactivity. The gene could play a role in human sedentary behaviors.
Researchers have identified different neuron types and provided a new list of genes associated with schizophrenia. The findings could pave the way for developing new targeted therapies to treat the condition.
A new study reveals why some people with the herpes simplex 1 virus experience painful lesions, while others have no symptoms and yet still spread the infection. Researchers say the difference could be a result of how variations in the way certain strains of HSV-1 activate gene expression in neurons.
Researchers report huntingtin plays a critical role in long-term memory.
A new study identifies a sub region of the brain that works to form a particular kind of memory: fear-associated with a specific environmental cue or “contextual fear memory."
ZNF804A, a gene that contributes to schizophrenia also affects brain function and structure during early stages of fetal development, researchers report.
Teenage binge drinking is linked to altered gene expression in the brain, specifically the central nucleus of the amygdala. Adolescent rats exposed to alcohol had increased levels of miR-137, resulting in lower expression of proteins essential for healthy neuron growth. During adulthood, these rats displayed higher levels of anxiety and an increased preference for alcohol consumption.
Researchers discover neurons have a special preassembly technique to speed up the manufacture of proteins at synapses, enabling synaptic plasticity and the brain to rapidly form memories.
