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neurobiology

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·January 23, 2020·4 min read

Living near major roads linked to risk of dementia, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and MS

Living less than 50 meters away from a major road, or less than 150 meters away from a highway, increases the risks for dementia, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and multiple sclerosis. However, living close to green spaces appears to have more of a protective effect against neurodegenerative diseases.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·January 23, 2020·4 min read

A rat had basically no brain, but it could still see, hear, smell, and feel

Rat R222 was born with hydrocephalus. Neuroimaging revealed most of its brain had compressed and collapsed as it filled with fluid. However, despite its condition, the animal was still able to see, hear, smell, and feel like other animals. The study sheds new light on neuroplasticity, and the findings could have implications for the development of new machine learning technologies.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·January 23, 2020·3 min read

Hot flashes impair memory performance

Vasomotor symptoms, including hot flashes in postmenopausal women, may contribute to memory performance problems. Neuroimaging reveals hot flashes caused alterations in brain function during memory encoding and retrieval tasks, specifically within the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex.

Featured Neuroscience

·January 23, 2020·3 min read

New insight into brain connectivity

Researchers have developed a new framework that sheds new light on changes in the brain's activity and connections.

This shows a drawing of a brain made up of cog wheels

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·January 23, 2020·3 min read

How the brain processes rewards

Different types of reward have unique effects on the basal ganglia nuclei. Food rewards influence the left hemisphere of the brain, while erotic rewards engage the right lateral globus and left caudate. Financial rewards engage the basal ganglia bilaterally.

Autism Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·January 23, 2020·4 min read

Largest autism genetics study identifies 102 associated genes

In the largest genetic sequencing study of autism conducted to date, researchers have identified 102 genes associated with the neurodevelopmental disorder. 49 of the genes were also associated with other developmental delays. The new study has enabled the researchers to increase the number of ASD associated genes from 65 to 102.

Featured Genetics Neurology Neuroscience Neuroscience Videos

·January 22, 2020·5 min read

Google and Janelia researchers unveil biggest, most detailed map of the fly brain to date

FlyEM, a team of scientists from Google and the Janelia Research Campus at Howard Hughes Medical Institute, has released the most complete map of the fly brain ever created. The map pinpoints millions of connections between 25,000 neurons. The researchers have made the data free online, along with all of the tools necessary to use it.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience Psychology

·January 22, 2020·3 min read

Study explores cognitive function in people with mental illness

Study finds few differences in the profiles of genes that influence cognition between those with severe mental health disorders and the general population.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·January 22, 2020·3 min read

Researcher discovers previously rejected function in the brain’s blood vessels

Despite previous findings, researchers have found precapillary sphincters in the brain. The study reports the precapillary sphincters may play a major role in disturbances of the brain's blood supply and blood pressure.

This shows microspheres with neural growth factor

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·January 22, 2020·3 min read

Synthetic nerve conduit bridges the gap in arm nerve repair

A new synthetic conduit can bridge large nerve gaps by guiding the regrowth of neurons. When implanted into the arms of macaques with nerve defects in their arms, the conduit boosted neurogenesis and the nerve's ability to conduct signals for a year.

This shows one of the study participants

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·January 22, 2020·5 min read

What it’s like to live without a sense of smell?

Olfactory disturbances have wide-ranging implications for both the mental health and emotional well being of sufferers.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience Psychology

·January 22, 2020·5 min read

How stress causes gray hair

Study reveals a link between the nervous system and stem cells that regenerate pigment in hair follicles. When stressed, norepinephrine from the sympathetic nervous system causes melanocyte stem cells to activate excessively. The stem cells all convert into pigment-producing cells, prematurely depleting the reservoir. The findings explain the cellular and molecular links between stress and premature hair graying.