FeaturedNeuroscience·December 19, 2016·4 min readBaby Brain: Pregnancy Brain Changes Last 2 Years After BirthStudy reports significant reduction in gray matter volume in brain regions associated with social cognition for up to two years following birth.Read More
FeaturedOpen Neuroscience ArticlesPsychology·January 2, 2017·10 min readBabies Exposed to Stimulation Get a Brain BoostContrary to popular belief, exposing children to stimuli early can help to boost their development, researchers report.Read More
ElectrophysiologyFeaturedNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience Articles·February 3, 2017·4 min readBrain Plasticity: How Adult Born Neurons Get WiredResearchers report adult neurogenesis not only helps increase the number of cells in a neural network, it also promotes plasticity in the existing network. Additionally, they have identified the role the Bax gene plays in synaptic pruning.Read More
FeaturedNeurologyNeurosciencePsychology·November 5, 2017·4 min readWhy Our Brains Need Sleep, and What Happens If We Don’t Get EnoughFrom consolidating memories to cleaning out toxins in the brain that accumulate during waking hours, researchers explore why sleep is so important and what happens when we don't get enough.Read More
FeaturedNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience Articles·November 30, 2017·4 min readHelping the Brain Prune Bad HabitsEmory researchers report a drug approved in Japan for stroke, can help to stimulate neural pruning and help reduce habit driven behaviors in mice.Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·January 4, 2018·3 min readBrain’s Immune System May Be Key to Better Treatments for Psychiatric DisordersResearchers investigate how synaptic pruning occurs during development in hopes of discovering how neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders occur.Read More
FeaturedNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience Articles·March 26, 2018·3 min readCaptured on Film For the First Time: Microglia Nibbling on SynapsesA new electronic microscopy study has captured microglia perform their role in synaptic pruning.Read More
FeaturedGeneticsNeurologyNeurosciencePsychology·April 17, 2018·2 min readBrain Development Influenced by Immune SystemA new study provides further evidence for immune system activation during pregnancy and disruptions in brain development. Many adult diseases, researchers say, may originate during fetal development.Read More
FeaturedNeurosciencePsychology·February 4, 2019·5 min readExcess Immune Pruning of Synapses in Neural Cells Derived From Patients with SchizophreniaResearchers have directly observed excessive synaptic pruning in cells derived from people with schizophrenia.Read More
AutismFeaturedNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience Articles·June 4, 2019·4 min readExercise fine-tunes brain’s connections, eases autism spectrum disorder in mouse modelParticipating in exercise improved synaptic pruning in mouse models of autism. The study also found microglia dependant synaptic pruning is impaired by maternal inflammation, which has been previously connected to the development of ASD.Read More
FeaturedNeuroscience·September 25, 2019·5 min readBrain anatomy changes with maturation to adolescenceWhite matter tracts show increasing maturation with age from the back to the front of the brain. The maturations begin as a child reaches 9-12 years of age. The maturity correlates with a critical and formative period of development.Read More
FeaturedGeneticsNeuroscienceOpen Neuroscience ArticlesPsychology·January 14, 2020·3 min readHyperactive immune system gene causes schizophrenia-like changesStudy implicates C4, an immune system gene, in schizophrenia pathogenesis.Read More