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Neuroscience news

Neuroscience

'Rhythm beats volume': How the brain keeps the world looking familiar

The brain is famously plastic: Neurons' ability to change their behavior in response to new stimuli is what makes learning possible. And even neurons' response to the same stimuli changes over time—a phenomenon known as ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Breathing interruptions after seizures may be risk factor for unexpected death in epilepsy patients

Epilepsy patients who experience breathing interruptions after a seizure may be at a higher risk of sudden unexpected death later in life, according to researchers at UTHealth Houston.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Hidden brain waves may serve as triggers for post-seizure wandering

People with temporal lobe epilepsy in particular often wander around aimlessly and unconsciously after a seizure. Researchers at the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University of Bonn, and the German Center for Neurodegenerative ...

Genetics

CRISPR approach offers hope for severe childhood brain disorder

When brain development gets off to a bad start, the consequences are lifelong. One example is a condition called SCN2A haploinsufficiency, in which children are born with just one functioning copy of the SCN2A gene—instead ...

Neuroscience

High phosphate diet impacts nervous system, induces hypertension

Diets rich in phosphate additives, commonly found in processed foods, can increase blood pressure by triggering a brain signaling pathway and overactivating the sympathetic nervous system that regulates cardiovascular function, ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

Using music to explore the dynamics of emotions

How does the human brain track emotions and support transitions between these emotions? In a new eNeuro paper, Matthew Sachs and colleagues, from Columbia University, used music and an advanced approach for assessing brain ...

Neuroscience

How the brain supports social processing as people age

Because aging weakens cognitive skills, older people can struggle to read difficult social cues. A brain region involved in attention and arousal—the locus coeruleus (LC)—helps with complex tasks, and its connections ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

Dopamine menus: Approach uses brain chemistry to improve task performance

You are likely accustomed to encountering a range of menus in daily life, but there is one that may be new to you: a dopamine menu. Dr. Robert Wilfahrt, a family medicine physician at Mayo Clinic and an expert in attention-deficit/hyperactivity ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

Attention scan: How our minds shift focus in dynamic settings

A person's capacity for attention has a profound impact on what they see, dictating which details they glean from the world around them. As they walk down a busy street, the focus of their attention may shift to a compelling ...

Medical research

How dysfunction of a cellular calcium channel affects hearing

Researchers at the University Medical Center Göttingen (UMG) have shown how a minimal change in a single ion channel increases the sensitivity of sensory cells in the inner ear. Even soft sounds, such as a whisper, are perceived ...

Neuroscience

How changes in the central amygdala drive anxiety

Researchers at the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience have discovered how loss of a gene strongly associated with autism and macrocephaly (large head size) rewires circuits and alters behavior.

Neuroscience

Study shows sleeping brain remains alert to harsh, urgent sounds

During sleep, the brain must achieve a delicate balance: disconnecting from sensory input to allow restorative functions, while remaining alert enough to wake if danger arises. How does it sort through external stimuli—particularly ...