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synaptic plasticity

·September 15, 2026·5 min read

How Neurons Transcribe Massive Genes

Scientists discover RNA-scaffolded SFPQ condensates in neurons that enable the transcription of extra-long genes, providing new insights into ASD and ALS.

Auditory Neuroscience Featured Neuroscience

·August 6, 2026·8 min read

Researchers Discover the Brain’s Hidden Learning Switch

The extracellular matrix undergoes rapid 24-hour remodeling cycles during learning, locking into place to protect mastered skills.

Featured Neuroscience

·July 29, 2026·7 min read

How Musical Improvisation Rewires Brain Activity

Musical improvisation suppresses self-critical prefrontal regions in adults and activates intrinsic reward structures in children, demonstrating that generative creativity is an innate brain mechanism.

Electrophysiology Featured Neuroscience

·July 17, 2026·12 min read

ECT Reprograms Adult Neurons into a Youthful State

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)-like stimulation induces a durable state of cellular dematuration and epigenetic nuclear reprogramming in mature, post-mitotic neurons.

Featured Neuroscience

·June 3, 2026·10 min read

Cortisol Pathway Discovered to Close Early Brain Plasticity

A new study reveals that the stress hormone cortisol plays a critical role in closing early-life brain plasticity windows.

Featured Neuroscience

·June 3, 2026·10 min read

Hippocampal CA1 Hub Safeguards Past Knowledge

New research unmasks a "memory switchboard" deep within the hippocampus that allows the brain to reuse cells to store different memories without overwriting them.

Autism Featured Neuroscience

·May 18, 2026·9 min read

Novel Drug Target to Reverse Fragile X Syndrome Found

Can an overactive synaptic protein hold the key to treating the most common genetic cause of autism? A new study identifies the protein EPAC2 as a potent drug target for reversing the behavioral and neurological deficits of Fragile X syndrome.

Featured Neuroscience

·May 18, 2026·8 min read

How the Brain Filters Calcium to Form Memories

By collecting over 50,000 high-resolution cryo-EM movies, researchers visualized how a molecular sieve called the Asn cage filters calcium from magnesium based entirely on their hydration properties. While magnesium holds water too tightly to squeeze through the pore, calcium sheds its water shell, dehydrates, and transits freely to trigger synaptic plasticity.

Autism Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·May 13, 2026·9 min read

A New Genetic Entry Point for Autism Traits

Can autism's core traits be separated from cognitive ability? Researchers have identified PTCHD1-AS, a long non-coding RNA gene that regulates social interaction and repetitive behaviors without affecting learning or memory. By tracing this gene's influence to synaptic plasticity in the striatum, the study provides a "molecular pattern" for future precision treatments aimed specifically at the hallmark features of the autism spectrum.

Featured Neuroscience

·May 13, 2026·9 min read

Single Brain Connection Pinpointed as the Starting Point of Learning

Scientists have pinpointed a single synaptic connection in the basal ganglia as the origin point for vocal learning. By studying zebra finches, researchers discovered that "turning off" these specific synapses causes a bird's song to revert to babbling. This discovery highlights the brain's delicate balance between creative experimentation and technical mastery, offering new insights into human speech and movement disorders like Parkinson’s disease.

This shows two heads surrounded by magnetic pulses.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·May 7, 2026·7 min read

Magnetic Pulses Restore Brain Circuits to Treat Depression

Researchers have discovered that accelerated magnetic stimulation selectively targets IT neurons to regrow lost synaptic connections, providing the first cellular-level evidence of how TMS repairs the stress-damaged brain in just 24 hours.