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Neuroscience news
Neuroscience
Eat, explore, rest: Leptin-sensing brain circuit helps overcome anxiety to meet vital needs
How do mammals manage to eat in situations that cause anxiety, step into exposed spaces, or slow down when anxiety drives them to keep moving? A new study pinpoints a leptin-sensitive circuit in the lateral hypothalamus that ...
2 hours ago
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Psychology & Psychiatry
Do animals fall for optical illusions? What fish and birds can teach us about perception
Have you ever looked at two circles of exactly the same size and sworn one was larger? If so, your eyes have been tricked by the Ebbinghaus illusion, a classic example of how context can shape what we see. Place a circle ...
7 hours ago
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Social media usage linked to lower cognitive performance in preteens
Increasing social media usage among children has been linked to a decline in cognitive performance. A JAMA study involving 6,554 adolescents aged 9–13 found that those who spent more time on social media scored lower in ...
Music could help ease pain from surgery or illness. Scientists are listening
Nurse Rod Salaysay works with all kinds of instruments in the hospital: a thermometer, a stethoscope and sometimes his guitar and ukulele.
Oct 18, 2025
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Lab-grown brains with all major cell types support next-generation therapy research
A new 3D human brain tissue platform developed by MIT researchers is the first to integrate all major brain cell types, including neurons, glial cells and the vasculature into a single culture. Grown from individual donors' ...
Oct 18, 2025
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How the auditory cortex syncs with behavior to help the brain become a better listener
When we are engaged in a task, our brain's auditory system changes how it works. One of the main auditory centers of the brain, the auditory cortex, is filled with neural activity that is not sound-driven—rather, this activity ...
Oct 17, 2025
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Deep sleep supports memory via brain fluid and neural rhythms, research finds
Researchers led by Masako Tamaki at the RIKEN Center for Brain Science in Japan report a link between deep sleep and cerebrospinal fluid, the clear liquid that surrounds and supports the brain and spinal cord. Published in ...
Oct 17, 2025
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Missing molecule holds clues to Down syndrome
New research suggests a missing brain molecule may hold the key to understanding—and potentially treating—the faulty neural circuits seen in Down syndrome. Restoring the molecule, called pleiotrophin, could enhance brain ...
Oct 17, 2025
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Mapping overlooked challenges in stroke recovery
Researchers at the Department of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital conducted one of the largest qualitative studies with stroke survivors and care partners within the United States to better understand what well-being ...
Oct 17, 2025
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Men experience more brain atrophy with age despite women's higher Alzheimer's risk
Women are far more likely than men to end up with Alzheimer's disease (AD). This may, at least partially, be due to women's longer average lifespans, but many scientists think there is probably more to the story. It would ...
Preventing overhydration: Study uncovers a neural circuit that prompts mice to stop drinking
Identifying the neural mechanisms that support the regulation of vital physiological processes, such as drinking, eating and sleeping, is a long-standing goal within the neuroscience research community. As the disruption ...
A 'flight simulator' for the brain reveals how we learn—and why minds sometimes go off course
Every day, your brain makes thousands of decisions under uncertainty. Most of the time, you guess right. When you don't, you learn. But when the brain's ability to judge context or assign meaning falters, thoughts and behavior ...
Oct 16, 2025
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'Kiss-shrink-run' mechanism resolves neurotransmission mystery
A research team has resolved a 50-year-old controversy in neuroscience. By employing a self-developed, time-resolved cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) technique, the team, led by Prof. Bi Guo-Qiang from the University of ...
Oct 16, 2025
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Disconnected cerebral hemisphere in epilepsy patients shows sleep-like state during wakefulness
Sleep-like slow-wave patterns persist for years in surgically disconnected neural tissue of awake epilepsy patients, according to a study published in PLOS Biology by Marcello Massimini from Universita degli Studi di Milano, ...
Oct 16, 2025
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Loops of RNA help drive synapse-building during visual system development in young mice
Wiring up the brain's trillions of circuit connections is an enormous job performed by a huge crew of molecules. Among the less understood members are circular RNAs, transcripts from DNA that assume a closed loop shape. A ...
Oct 16, 2025
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Discovery of 'primed' state in neuromuscular receptors may guide future drug design
An international research team led by a University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine investigator has revealed ultra-detailed intricacies in how nerve signals activate at the neuromuscular junction, a specialized synapse that ...
Oct 16, 2025
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Sex-specific differences in blood-brain barrier may elucidate why women face greater depression risk
Women are affected by severe depression twice as often as men. The reasons for this have not yet been fully clarified. One potential factor is sex-specific differences in the blood-brain barrier. This barrier is formed by ...
Oct 16, 2025
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Air pollution during pregnancy associated with slower brain maturation in newborns
A study published in Environment International concludes that air pollution during pregnancy is associated with slower brain maturation in newborns. It is the first study to analyze brain development within the first month ...
Oct 16, 2025
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Detailed structure of key hearing protein points way to optimizing gene therapies for deafness
Researchers in Göttingen, Germany, have elucidated the structure and function of otoferlin, a protein that plays a crucial role in the hearing process. Loss of otoferlin or impairment of its function causes a frequent form ...
Oct 16, 2025
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Smartphone-based relaxation program reduces disability for emergency department migraine patients
A smartphone app for muscle relaxation significantly reduced migraine-related disability in patients visiting the emergency department, a new study shows.
Oct 16, 2025
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ALS risk tied to ATXN2 protein disrupting neuron growth in fruit fly study
A Northwestern Medicine study has revealed a key mechanism underlying the development of motor neuron diseases, offering new insights into potential treatment options, according to a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience.
Oct 16, 2025
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Hair-thin electrode extends brain signal recording duration three-fold
The rapid progression of an aging society has led to a sharp rise in patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and Parkinson's disease, making it a critical issue in health care and welfare.
Oct 16, 2025
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Misophonia: Having strong negative reactions to certain sounds is linked to mental inflexibility
Hearing involves more than just the ears—it's intimately connected to how we think and feel. A recent study has shed light on the possible links between hearing, emotion, and cognition by investigating misophonia, a condition ...
Oct 16, 2025
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From caraway to cure: Engineering CBD-like seizure treatments without cannabis
A UNLV-led team of researchers has co-opted a common kitchen spice to create a new class of cannabidiol (CBD)-like medicines that show powerful seizure-reducing effects—offering a safer, more affordable, and more effective ...
Oct 16, 2025
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New clinical trial to advance seizure monitoring and improve epilepsy diagnosis
A new clinical trial co-led by researchers at FutureNeuro and RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences is investigating how advanced brain monitoring could improve the diagnosis and management of epilepsy.
Oct 16, 2025
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