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Neuroscience news

Neuroscience

Heart-brain connection: International study reveals role of vagus nerve in keeping the heart young

The secret to a healthier and "younger" heart lies in the vagus nerve. A recent study coordinated by the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa and published in Science Translational Medicine has shown that preserving ...

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.

Psychology & Psychiatry

Surge in serotonin points to new treatment target for schizophrenia

New research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London has provided the first direct evidence that schizophrenia is associated with a greater release of serotonin in the ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Exposure to PFAS and PCBs linked to higher odds of multiple sclerosis

People who have been exposed to both PFAS and PCBs are more likely to be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). These new research findings are based on analyses of blood samples from more than 1,800 individuals in Sweden, ...

Neuroscience

Stress hormone identified that helps repair the brain

When laboratory mice suffer brain damage, e.g., from an injection, research group leader Jan Deussing has observed that a certain type of cell always appears and is activated in the immediate vicinity of the injury site. ...

Neuroscience

Why a mild brain injury can trigger Alzheimer's

New research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine is revealing why traumatic brain injury increases the chance of developing Alzheimer's disease—and the discovery is pointing to a potential strategy to prevent ...