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Complete Reference Genomes Unlocked for Six Ape Species

Comprehensive reference genomes have now been assembled for six ape species: siamang (a Southeast Asian gibbon), Sumatran orangutan, Bornean orangutan, gorilla, bonobo and chimpanzee.

12 Apr 2025

Study Sheds Light on Development and Evolution of the Human Hypothalamus

The hypothalamus is a small but critical region at the base of the brain that controls the autonomic nervous system, regulates body temperature, signals hunger and thirst, exerts hormonal control over the pituitary gland, helps set circadian rhythms, influences sexual behavior and reproduction, and plays a role in instinctive behaviors like fear, aggression, and maternal bonding.

9 Apr 2025

Scientists Identify Crucial Mechanism for Maintaining Neuronal Identity in the Brain

A team of researchers from the Institute for Neurosciences, a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Miguel Hernández University (UMH) of Elche, in collaboration with researchers from Columbia University (New York, USA), has identified a mechanism that regulates the production of two different proteins from the same gene.

24 Mar 2025

Dendritic Spine Clusters Physically Link Memories Formed Close in Time

According to a recent study, the reason why memories from the same day seem connected while events from weeks apart feel separate is as follows: Human brains use dendrites, which are spiny extensions of neurons, rather than the cell bodies to physically connect memories that happen in close succession.

24 Mar 2025

Your Brain Maps Social Interactions Like a GPS

A study reveals how the brain uses 'basis functions' to simplify social decision-making, impacting biases and teamwork dynamics in group settings.

24 Mar 2025

Brain Research Offers Fresh Insights into the Nature Versus Nurture Debate

Riddle me this: how can it be that reading these words activates nearly identical word-sensitive patches of the brain's visual system in you and nearly every other reader of this story? And that a different set of face-sensitive visual regions-again in almost identical positions in each reader's brain-would activate to process the faces of the researchers, should you meet them?

18 Mar 2025

UCL Study Reveals How Our Brains Simplify Social Interactions

Our brains use basic 'building blocks' of information to keep track of how people interact, enabling us to navigate complex social interactions, finds a new study led by University College London (UCL) researchers.

14 Mar 2025

Study Reveals How the Brain Reorganizes Sensory Maps After Loss of Touch

A team of researchers from the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Miguel Hernández University (UMH) in Elche, has discovered that the developing brain can reorganize its sensory maps when the sense of touch is affected.

8 Mar 2025

New Brain-Mapping Technique Pinpoints Cell Types Linked to Alzheimer's Progression

Researchers from The University of Texas at Arlington and the University of California–San Francisco have employed a novel brain-mapping technique to pinpoint memory-related brain cells that are susceptible to protein accumulation, a significant contributor to the onset of Alzheimer’s disease, an irreversible and progressive neurological disorder that gradually impairs memory and cognitive abilities.

7 Mar 2025

Pain and Itch Processed by Distinct Neurons in the Anterior Cingulate Cortex

A research team led by KAANG Bong-Kiun, director of the Center for Cognition and Sociality within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS), and KO Hyoung-Gon, professor at Kyung Hee University College of Dentistry, have uncovered the neural mechanisms underlying the processing of pain and itch in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC).

5 Mar 2025

Study Reveals Complex Neural Modules Behind Motor Control

For nearly a century, scientists have known that different parts of the human brain's cortex control different body movements.

28 Feb 2025

MARBLE Method Uncovers Shared Brain Dynamics Across Animals

In the parable of the blind men and the elephant, several blind men each describe a different part of an elephant they are touching – a sharp tusk, a flexible trunk, or a broad leg – and disagree about the animal's true nature.

18 Feb 2025

Mismatch Repair Genes Found to be Key Drivers of Huntington's Disease

A new UCLA Health study has discovered in mouse models that genes associated with repairing mismatched DNA are critical in eliciting damages to neurons that are most vulnerable in Huntington's disease and triggering downstream pathologies and motor impairment, shedding light on disease mechanisms and potential new ways to develop therapies.

12 Feb 2025

First Cell Atlas of Focal Cortical Dysplasia Offers New Insights for Treatment

Using a single-cell sequencing technique, Brazilian researchers have created the first cell atlas of focal cortical dysplasia (FCD), a malformation of the cerebral cortex that leads to drug-resistant epilepsy.

31 Jan 2025

Unveiling the Architecture of Native NMDA Receptors in the Mammalian Brain

A research team led by Shujia Zhu from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ (CAS) Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology and Yang Li from the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica of CAS examined the architecture and assembly of endogenous N-methyl-ᴅ-aspartate receptors (eNMDARs) in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus of adult mammals in a study published in Cell on January 23rd, 2025.

27 Jan 2025

New Insights into the Biological Basis of Bipolar Disorder

According to research published in Nature on January 22nd, 2025, an international team of psychiatric genetics researchers has discovered 298 regions of the genome with DNA variations that increase the risk for bipolar disorder, more than four times the number previously found.

24 Jan 2025