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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

Researchers identify tipping point that leads to rapid sleep onset

In the new study, researchers demonstrated that the human brain falls asleep abruptly, rather than gradually, with a "tipping point" marking the transition from wakefulness into sleep. They were then able to predict the momentary ...

Neuroscience

Online Tai Chi is helping people with chronic knee pain

Tai Chi is a slow, gentle mind-body exercise that has been shown to benefit a wide range of health conditions and is particularly effective for people with chronic knee pain caused by osteoarthritis.

Genetics

Previously unknown genetic cause of microcephaly identified

Microcephaly is a congenital malformation that leads to a significantly reduced brain size and is often accompanied by developmental delay. An international research team led by Dr. Tran Tuoc from the Department of Human ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

Dopamine found to increase willingness to wait for rewards in humans

A research team from the University of Cologne conducted one of the most comprehensive studies on dopamine and decision-making in humans so far, providing evidence for effects of the former on the latter. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

How our brain understands human actions

How do we recognize and interpret what others are doing—whether they're greeting a friend, preparing a meal together or doing sports? A new study authored by André Bockes, Ph.D. student at the Chair of Cognitive Neuroscience, ...

Neuroscience

How neurons go with the flow when migrating through the brain

Researchers have discovered how newly created neurons depend on blood flow in the adult brain to travel from their site of origin to their final location. The study in mice, published today in eLife, is described by the editors ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

Rare brain cell may hold key to preventing schizophrenia symptoms

Difficulty completing everyday tasks. Failing memory. Unusually poor concentration. For many people living with schizophrenia, cognitive challenges are part of daily life. Alongside well-known symptoms such as hallucinations ...

Neuroscience

Suspenseful movies shed light on aging and memory

As horror enthusiasts queue up their favorite Alfred Hitchcock films to welcome in the Halloween season, Brock University researchers have turned to the master of suspense for a different reason—to better understand how ...

Medical research

A 'bird's eye view' of how human brains operate

A new study provides the best evidence to date that the connection patterns between various parts of the human brain can tell scientists the specialized functions of each region.

Psychology & Psychiatry

Exploring a mechanism of psychedelics

Using psychedelics to treat psychiatric diseases has become less controversial as scientists continue to reveal their underlying mechanisms. In an eNeuro paper, researchers led by Pavel Ortinski, from the University of Kentucky, ...