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neurodevelopment

This shows a brain surrounded by microbes.

·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 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 the outline of a sad child, a child looking into the mirror and an ominous adult in the background. There are chains tying the child to the adult.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·August 11, 2025·5 min read

Early Abuse Shapes Adult Sexual Behavior

A new study has found that sexual narcissism mediates the link between childhood trauma and compulsive sexual behavior. Researchers compared individuals with and without compulsive sexual behavior, measuring trauma history, sexual narcissism, and hypersexuality.

This shows a couple at a crossroads. One way shows a bright future, the other, a darker future.

Featured Neuroscience

·August 10, 2025·6 min read

How Upbringing Shapes Risk Decisions

A new study suggests that the way you take risks as an adult may depend less on how risky you are by nature and more on the types of resources you had growing up. Researchers found that people who were “socially rich” (strong social support, less money) and “economically rich” (more money, less social support) took similar risks but used different brain regions to get there.

This shows a child listening to music, surrounded by emotional emojis.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·August 8, 2025·5 min read

Music May Help Kids Understand Emotions, Even Without Empathy

Music plays a powerful role in how we perceive and express emotion—and a new study finds that even very young children can match emotions in music to facial expressions. Researchers studied 144 children aged 3 to 5 and found that emotion recognition improves with age.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·August 4, 2025·4 min read

How Kids Learn What Emotions Really Mean

A new study reveals that children’s ability to understand emotions develops through a cognitive shift between ages 5 and 10. While younger kids perceive emotional expressions instinctively through visual cues, older children increasingly depend on conceptual knowledge to grasp emotional nuance.

This shows the outline of two heads and brains. One brain is foggy, as though representing depression.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·August 3, 2025·5 min read

Brain Reward Signals Blunted by Genetic Depression Risk

A new imaging study reveals that young adults with a higher genetic risk for depression show diminished brain activity when processing rewards and punishments. Using data from nearly 900 healthy twins and siblings, researchers found altered activation in brain regions linked to attention and decision-making—well before any symptoms of depression appeared.

This shows a dad and child surrounded by money and dark clouds, implying financial assets do not really affect mental health outcomes.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·July 31, 2025·6 min read

Poverty Isn’t the Key Driver in Family Mental Health Struggles

A large-scale longitudinal study challenges the assumption that poverty amplifies the link between parental distress and child mental health problems. Using advanced statistical modeling, researchers found that financial hardship did not influence the reciprocal relationship between parents’ and children’s mental health.

This shows the outline of a head and brain. There are children running in the background.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·July 26, 2025·3 min read

Childhood Trauma May Rewire Brain for Lifelong Aggression

Aggression isn’t just a behavioral issue—it has deep neurobiological roots, especially when shaped by early-life trauma. New research is investigating how childhood adversity rewires brain circuits that control emotion, memory, and attention, increasing the risk of impulsive and pathological aggression.

This shows a developing brain and neurons branching out.

Autism Featured Genetics Neuroscience Psychology

·July 25, 2025·5 min read

Could Mental Illness Begin Before You’re Born?

A groundbreaking study has revealed that genes linked to mental and neurodegenerative disorders, such as autism, depression, and Parkinson’s, begin influencing brain development during the earliest fetal stages. These genes are already active in neural stem cells—the progenitors that form the brain—long before symptoms arise.

This shows the outline of two heads and smoke.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·July 23, 2025·4 min read

Tobacco Use Linked to Higher Depression and Anxiety

Adolescents who use e-cigarettes or conventional tobacco products are significantly more likely to report symptoms of depression and anxiety than non-users, a new study finds. Researchers analyzed data from over 60,000 U.S. middle and high school students surveyed between 2021 and 2023.

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neurodevelopment

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

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

Pre-Pregnancy Obesity Linked to Autism Risk

Early Abuse Shapes Adult Sexual Behavior

How Upbringing Shapes Risk Decisions

Music May Help Kids Understand Emotions, Even Without Empathy

How Kids Learn What Emotions Really Mean

Brain Reward Signals Blunted by Genetic Depression Risk

Poverty Isn’t the Key Driver in Family Mental Health Struggles

Childhood Trauma May Rewire Brain for Lifelong Aggression

Could Mental Illness Begin Before You’re Born?

Tobacco Use Linked to Higher Depression and Anxiety

Cellular Drawstrings Seal the Developing Brain

SSRIs May Trigger Tinnitus

Napping Patterns Predict Mortality Risk

Multiple Pregnancies May Shield the Female Brain From Stroke

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