Latest

neuroplasticity

·May 18, 2023·5 min read

Boosting Brain Plasticity: A New Pathway for PTSD Therapy?

Researchers discovered that through temporary increases in brain malleability and simultaneous desensitization to fear memories, they could control fear responses in mice. This was achieved by inhibiting the Acan gene, thereby decreasing the presence of the protein Aggrecan, which solidifies and reduces malleability in the brain. The findings point towards potential new avenues for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

This shows a brain with the areas mentioned in the study highlighted

Featured Neuroscience

·April 17, 2023·5 min read

How Music Can Prevent Cognitive Decline

Listening to or practicing music had positive implications on cognitive decline in older adults by stimulating the production of gray matter in key brain areas, a new study reveals.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Pain

·April 16, 2023·5 min read

Turning Down the Volume of Pain: How to Retrain Your Brain When You Get Sensitized

For those with chronic pain, it may be possible to retrain your brain to help manage or reduce your symptoms when you become over-sensitized to other treatment methods.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·March 8, 2023·4 min read

How Gene Expression Controls Synaptic Plasticity in the Aging Human Brain

M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR) dependent LTP and LTD share a common AMPA trafficking pathway. Either the upregulation of neurotransmitter receptor genes or suppression of the downregulation could improve synaptic dysfunction associated with age-related neurodegeneration. The findings could assist in the creation of new therapies for Alzheimer's disease that target synaptic plasticity.

This shows a tired looking woman studying

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·February 8, 2023·3 min read

How Sleep Deprivation Affects Cognitive Performance

Sleep deprivation doesn't just alter brain activity, it also changes the connection between neurons. Both changes have a significant effect on working memory and cognitive performance.

Featured Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·January 20, 2023·5 min read

Why Congenitally Blind People Show Activity in Visual-Processing Areas of the Brain

Study reveals structural changes of connectivity in the thalamus to other brain areas in those with congenital blindness, providing evidence of brain plasticity. The areas of the thalamus that connect with the occipital lobe in those with blindness are weaker and smaller, giving space to connections in the temporal cortex which are strengthened.

This shows the outline of a head and a brain

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·December 29, 2022·7 min read

Holding Information in Mind May Mean Storing It Among Synapses

Findings support modern thought that neural networks store information by making short-term alterations to the synapses. The study sheds new light on short-term synaptic plasticity in recent memory storage.

Featured Neuroscience

·December 8, 2022·4 min read

Oxytocin Drives Development of Neural Connections in Adult-Born Neurons

In the olfactory bulb, levels of oxytocin rise and peak when new neurons incorporate themselves into neural networks. The findings shed new light on adult neurogenesis and brain plasticity.

Featured Neuroscience

·December 3, 2022·6 min read

Fatherhood Changes Men’s Brains

Researchers find significant changes in fathers' brains between the prenatal and the postpartum period. The main changes occurred in cortical areas associated with visual processing, attention, and empathy toward their baby.

This shows a face inside the outline of a head

Featured Neuroscience

·October 25, 2022·5 min read

Word and Face Recognition Can Be Adequately Supported With Half a Brain

Hemispherectomy patients who had a hemisphere of their brain removed during childhood can correctly recognize differences between pairs of words or faces 80% of the time, a new study reports. The findings reveal how the brain adapts when it is highly plastic.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·October 10, 2022·5 min read

After Stroke in an Infant’s Brain, Right Side of Brain Compensates for Loss of Language in Left Side

In children who experienced a left-hemisphere stroke within days of birth, brain plasticity allows the right hemisphere to acquire language abilities normally handled by the left hemisphere while maintaining its own language ability as well.