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Neuroscience news

Genetics

Why the human brain matures slower than its primate relatives

The human brain is a fascinating and complex organ that supports numerous sophisticated behaviors and abilities that are observed in no other animal species. For centuries, scientists have been trying to understand what is ...

Neuroscience

Alzheimer's disease can be reversed in animal models to achieve full neurological recovery

For over a century, Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been considered irreversible. Consequently, research has focused on disease prevention or slowing, rather than recovery. Despite billions of dollars spent on decades of research, ...

HIV & AIDS

Brain chemistry can reactivate or suppress dormant HIV

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections are still fairly common and an estimated 40 million people worldwide are currently living with this condition. The HIV virus attacks the body's immune system and thus makes those ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

Humans could have as many as 33 senses

Stuck in front of our screens all day, we often ignore our senses beyond sound and vision. And yet they are always at work. When we're more alert, we feel the rough and smooth surfaces of objects, the stiffness in our shoulders, ...

Neuroscience

To flexibly organize thought, the brain makes use of space

Our thoughts are specified by our knowledge and plans, yet our cognition can also be fast and flexible in handling new information. How does the well-controlled and yet highly nimble nature of cognition emerge from the brain's ...

Neuroscience

How age affects recovery from spinal cord injury

A study published in Neurology looks at how age may affect recovery for people with spinal cord injuries. "With population growth and improvements in medicine, the number of people diagnosed with spinal cord injury is increasing ...

Neuroscience

Why there's always room for dessert—an anatomist explains

You push back from the table after Christmas lunch, full from an excellent feast. You really couldn't manage another bite—except, perhaps, a little bit of pudding. Somehow, no matter how much you've eaten, there always ...

Oncology & Cancer

How brain tumor cells influence neurons and vice versa

Gliomas are cancers that originate directly in the brain, instead of spreading to the brain from other parts of the body. These cancers cannot be cured with conventional cancer treatments, as they spread into healthy brain ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

Exploring why some people tend to persistently make bad choices

When people learn that surrounding visuals and sounds may signify specific choice outcomes, these cues can become guides for decision making. For people with compulsive disorders, addictions, or anxiety, the associations ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

Brain injuries linked with potential risk of suicide

Adults who experience a head injury face a substantially higher risk of attempting suicide compared to those without such injuries, according to the findings from a new UK-based study.

Neuroscience

Speaking more languages might keep you younger, study suggests

Can learning another language help you stay younger for longer? Far beyond its cultural and social value, speaking multiple languages may protect both brain and body health, slowing down the biological processes of aging ...

Neuroscience

Chemical compound holds potential against Alzheimer's disease

A team of researchers at the Federal University of ABC (UFABC) in Brazil has developed a new chemical compound with the potential to treat Alzheimer's disease. The research involved computer simulations (in silico), cell ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Findings reveal role of FBXO21 in axon degeneration

NMNAT2 is a key protein required for axon integrity whose rapid depletion following axon injury triggers Wallerian degeneration. The molecular mechanism controlling NMNAT2 turnover in neurons has not been fully understood. ...

Oncology & Cancer

Pancreatic cancer forms 'synapses,' scientists discover

Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest types of tumors. A team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) reports that pancreatic tumors exploit the body's nervous system by forming so-called pseudosynapses.

Neuroscience

Nonsurgical treatment shows promise for targeted seizure control

Rice University bioengineers have demonstrated a nonsurgical way to quiet a seizure-relevant brain circuit in an animal model. The team used low-intensity focused ultrasound to briefly open the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in ...

Health

Everyday speech may reveal early signs of brain health changes

The way we speak in everyday conversation may hold important clues about brain health, according to new research from Baycrest, the University of Toronto and York University. The study found that subtle features of speech ...