Brain News and Research

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The human brain is the center of the human nervous system and is a highly complex organ. Enclosed in the cranium, it has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times as large as the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size.

New Imaging Technique Offers Clearer View of Brain Function

Researchers have developed a new two-photon fluorescence microscope that captures high-speed images of neural activity at cellular resolution. By imaging much faster and with less harm to brain tissue than traditional two-photon microscopy, the new approach could provide a clearer view of how neurons communicate in real time, leading to new insights into brain function and neurological diseases.

16 Aug 2024

New Insights into Memory Formation and Modification

The ability to turn experiences into memories allows us to learn from the past and use what we learned as a model to respond appropriately to new situations. For this reason, as the world around us changes, this memory model cannot simply be a fixed archive of the good old days.

16 Aug 2024

Spontaneous Brain Activity Drives Early Neural Circuit Formation

In humans, the process of learning is driven by different groups of cells in the brain firing together. For instance, when the neurons associated with the process of recognizing a dog begin to fire in a coordinated manner in response to the cells that encode the features of a dog -; four legs, fur, a tail, etc. -; a young child will eventually be able to identify dogs going forward. But brain wiring begins before humans are born, before they have experiences or senses like sight to guide this cellular circuitry. How does that happen?

16 Aug 2024

Astrocytes Emerge as Key Players in Brain Health and Development

Researchers at the Mechanobiology Institute (MBI) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Duke-NUS Medical School have uncovered a novel mechanism for reawakening dormant neural stem cells, which may lead to the development of new treatments for neurodevelopmental disorders like autism, cerebral palsy, and learning disabilities.

14 Aug 2024

Mechanical Manipulation of Stem Cells Promises New Treatments

New stem cell therapies may result from a novel method that McGill researchers have created for mechanically modifying stem cells, which has not yet reached its full therapeutic potential.

14 Aug 2024

Deep-Learning Model Identifies Parkinson's Disease-Specific Neuroanatomical Features

A deep-learning-based contrastive approach to examine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans from Parkinson’s disease patients.

14 Aug 2024

Brain's Co-Rippling Activity Sheds Light on Consciousness

For many years, researchers have been concentrating on how the brain organizes information into hierarchical structures, with distinct regions of the brain designated for distinct functions.

13 Aug 2024

New Insights into How Cell Nuclei Shape Tissue Architecture During Development

In work conducted both at UC Santa Barbara and the Physics of Life Excellence Cluster of TU Dresden, biophysicist Otger Campàs and his research group have found that cell nuclei control the architecture and mechanics of eye and brain tissues during embryonic development.

13 Aug 2024

Research Unlocks Secrets of Stem Cell Retention in Bone Marrow

A discovery by a three-member Albert Einstein College of Medicine research team may boost the effectiveness of stem-cell transplants, commonly used for patients with cancer, blood disorders, or autoimmune diseases caused by defective stem cells, which produce all the body's different blood cells. The findings, made in mice, were published today in the journal Science.

9 Aug 2024

Noninvasive Ultrasound Method Enables Tracking of Gene Expression in Specific Brain Regions

The ability to alter or prevent the expression of faulty genes in the brain could be leveraged as a powerful therapeutic against neurodegenerative disease. However, the molecular underpinnings of the living brain are still largely inaccessible, hampering progress on such promising therapeutics.

9 Aug 2024

Single-Cell Analysis Uncovers Impact of TREM2 Mutation on Beta-Amyloid Plaques

Researchers led by the University of California, Irvine have discovered how the TREM2 R47H genetic mutation causes certain brain areas to develop abnormal protein clumps, called beta-amyloid plaques, associated with late-onset Alzheimer's disease.

8 Aug 2024

Breakthrough Compound ZTA-261 Shows Promise for Safer Lipid Disorder Treatment

Scientists at Nagoya University in Japan have made a significant breakthrough in treating lipid disorders.

8 Aug 2024

High-Resolution Spatial Transcriptomics at Lower Cost

A novel spatial transcriptomics method that could revolutionize tissue sample gene expression profiling.

7 Aug 2024

Mini-Gut Model Unlocks Secrets of COVID-19 Diarrhea

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine claim to have identified multiple molecular pathways linked to diarrhea caused by COVID-19, offering possible therapeutic interventions utilizing human stem cells to create a sort of “mini intestine-in-a-dish.

7 Aug 2024

Study Explores the Role of Sex-Biased Gene Expression in Autism Risk During Prenatal Development

The cortex of prenatal donors to determine differentially expressed genes based on sex and potentially identify molecular and cellular mechanisms that contribute to ASD.

7 Aug 2024

Breakthrough Method Captures Aging Impact on Alzheimer’s Disease in Lab-Grown Neurons

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a way to capture the effects of aging in the development of Alzheimer's disease.

2 Aug 2024

Breakthrough in Understanding Brain's Master Protein

Proteins engage in intricate molecular movements to fulfill their biological roles. The NMDAR protein, crucial for brain function, performs a particularly complex dance.

1 Aug 2024

Discovery of Immune Cell Reservoirs Near Glioblastomas Offers New Treatment Possibilities

Glioblastomas are highly aggressive, usually incurable brain tumors. If all therapeutic options are exhausted, patients have an average life expectancy of less than two years.

1 Aug 2024

Study Challenges Current Understanding of Parkinson's and Lewy Body Disease Onset

Early detection of Alzheimer's disease-related changes in Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies could be made possible by monitoring the amyloid-β (Aβ) and phosphorylated tau (p-tau) proteins.

1 Aug 2024

New Model Reveals Underlying Similarity in Mammalian Brain Shapes

A novel method for characterizing the cerebral cortex's shape has been devised by researchers, who also present evidence that cortices in all mammalian species share a common, fractal design.

31 Jul 2024