Nervous System News

April 25, 2024

Top Headlines

Apr. 25, 2024 — What happens in the body when we are hungry and see and smell food? A team of researchers has now been able to show in mice that adaptations in the liver mitochondria take place after only a few minutes. Stimulated by the activation of a group of ...

After Spinal Cord Injury, Neurons Wreak Havoc on Metabolism

Apr. 24, 2024 — Conditions such as diabetes, heart attack and vascular diseases commonly diagnosed in people with spinal cord injuries can be traced to abnormal post-injury neuronal activity that causes abdominal fat tissue compounds to leak and pool in the liver ...

Perfect Balance: How the Brain Fine-Tunes Its Sensitivity

Apr. 18, 2024 — A sensitive perception of the environment is crucial for guiding our behavior. However, an overly sensitive response of the brain's neural circuits to stimuli can lead to neurodevelopmental disorders such as epilepsy. Researchers now report how ...

Paper: To Understand Cognition--and Its Dysfunction--Neuroscientists Must Learn Its Rhythms

Apr. 17, 2024 — Thought emerges and is controlled in the brain via the rhythmically and spatially coordinated activity of millions of neurons, scientists argue in a new article. Understanding cognition and its ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:46pm EDT

In the Brain, Bursts of Beta Rhythms Implement Cognitive Control

Apr. 23, 2024 — Bursts of brain rhythms with 'beta' frequencies control where and when neurons in the cortex process sensory information and plan responses. Studying these bursts would improve understanding of ...

Team Demonstrates Miniature Brain Stimulator in Humans

Apr. 12, 2024 — Engineers have developed the smallest implantable brain stimulator demonstrated in a human patient that could revolutionize treatment for drug-resistant depression and other psychiatric or ...

Protecting Brain Cells With Cannabinol

Apr. 17, 2024 — Scientists created four cannabis-derived CBN analogs (chemical look-a-likes) with enhanced neuroprotective properties and potential for therapeutic application in neurological disorders like ...

Workings of Working Memory Detailed

Apr. 17, 2024 — Investigators have discovered how brain cells responsible for working memory -- the type required to remember a phone number long enough to dial it -- coordinate intentional focus and short-term ...

Physical Activity Reduces Stress-Related Brain Activity to Lower Cardiovascular Disease Risk

Apr. 15, 2024 — Over a ten-year period, biobank participants who met recommended levels of physical activity had a 23% lower risk of cardiovascular disease, and the ...

Parkinson's Disease: New Theory on the Disease's Origins and Spread

Apr. 11, 2024 — New hypothesis paper builds on a growing scientific consensus that Parkinson's disease route to the brain starts in either the nose or the gut and proposes that environmental toxicants are the likely ...

Researchers Discover How We Perceive Bitter Taste

Apr. 10, 2024 — A new study reveals the detailed protein structure of the TAS2R14, a bitter taste receptor that allows us to perceive bitter taste. In addition to solving the structure of this taste receptor, the ...

Tiny Brain Bubbles Carry Complete Codes

Apr. 8, 2024 — Scientists discovered that the biological instructions within these vesicles differed significantly in postmortem brain samples donated from patients suffering from Alzheimer's ...

Nerve Cells Not Entirely 'Young at Heart'

Apr. 4, 2024 — Most human nerve cells last a lifetime without renewal. A trait echoed within the cells' components, some enduring as long as the organism ...

RNA That Doesn't Age

Apr. 5, 2024 — Certain RNA molecules in the nerve cells in the brain last a life time without being renewed. Neuroscientists have now demonstrated that this. RNAs are generally short-lived molecules that are ...

Organoids Reveal How to Protect the Brain Against Dementia and ALS Following Traumatic Injury, According to Study

Apr. 4, 2024 — A traumatic brain injury (TBI) can quadruple your risk for developing dementia and increase your chances of developing neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS. In a new study scientists use lab-grown ...

Researchers Map How the Brain Regulates Emotions

Apr. 3, 2024 — A new study is among the first of its kind to separate activity relating to emotion generation from emotion regulation in the human brain. The findings provide new insights that could help inform ...

How the Brain Senses Body Position and Movement

Apr. 2, 2024 — Researchers use neural networks to study proprioception, the sense the brain uses to 'know' the body's movement and ...

Reverse Effects of Trauma? Older Brain Cells Linger Unexpectedly Before Their Death

Mar. 28, 2024 — Researchers report that mature oligodendrocytes -- the central nervous system cells critical for brain function -- cling to life following a fatal trauma for much, much longer than scientists knew. ...

Could AI Play a Role in Locating Damage to the Brain After Stroke?

Mar. 27, 2024 — Artificial intelligence (AI) may serve as a future tool for neurologists to help locate where in the brain a stroke occurred. In a new study, AI processed text from health histories and neurologic ...

Study Finds High Prevalence of Hidden Brain Changes in People With Heart Disease

Mar. 26, 2024 — A new analysis involving over 13,000 people has found changes to blood vessels in the brain that can increase the risk of stroke and dementia are common in people with a range of heart conditions, ...

Developmental Crossroads in the Brain

Mar. 26, 2024 — Study reveals how proteins direct nerve cell precursors to turn into specialized ...

Insulin Affects the Recycling of Cellular Power Plants

Mar. 25, 2024 — In nerve cells, the hormone regulates whether mitochondria are shut down or kept ...

Movement Disorder ALS and Cognitive Disorder FTLD Show Strong Molecular Overlaps, New Study Shows

Mar. 22, 2024 — Single-cell gene expression patterns in the brain motor and frontal cortex, and evidence from follow-up experiments, reveal many shared cellular and molecular similarities that could be targeted for ...

Early Intervention After the First Seizure May Prevent Long-Term Epilepsy and Associated Cognitive Deficits

Mar. 22, 2024 — Only a very small percentage of neurons show changes after an epileptic seizure in mice, but these alterations can be permanent and trigger future seizures. An experimental treatment may prevent ...

Cellular Architecture of Lesions in Multiple Sclerosis Now Mapped out

Mar. 20, 2024 — Using advanced methodology, scientists have been able to reveal at the cellular level how lesions in multiple sclerosis ...

Brain Recordings in People Before Surgery Reveal How All Minds Plan What to Say Prior to Speaking

Mar. 19, 2024 — A new study in people undergoing surgery to treat seizures related to epilepsy shows that pauses in speech reveal information about how people's brains plan and produce ...

Is the Secret to Anxiety in Young Women Hidden in Our Brain Chemistry?

Mar. 19, 2024 — The development of anxiety in girls and young women may stem from an imbalance between two crucial brain chemicals, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate, according to a new study. This ...

Mar. 13, 2024 — U.S. veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq who suffered mild traumatic brain injury from exposure to explosive blasts were found to have changes in cerebrospinal fluid proteins that are ...

Researchers Identify Brain Connections Associated With ADHD in Youth

Mar. 13, 2024 — Researchers have discovered that symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are tied to atypical interactions between the brain's frontal cortex and information processing ...

Integrity of Blood-Brain Barrier Depends on Protein That Is Altered in Some Neurodegenerative Diseases

Mar. 13, 2024 — Defects in the blood vessel network of the central nervous system have been linked to early symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis ...

Researchers Expand Our Understanding of How the Body and Brain Communicate

Mar. 12, 2024 — Researchers investigating how exactly the brain processes the incoming stream of information from the heart and lungs, discovered that specific neurons in the thalamus are actively involved in ...

Researchers Identify Gene Involved in Neuronal Vulnerability in Alzheimer's Disease

Mar. 11, 2024 — Early stages of neurodegenerative disorders are characterized by the accumulation of proteins in discrete populations of brain cells and degeneration of these cells. For most diseases, this selective ...

Doctors Can Now Watch Spinal Cord Activity During Surgery

Mar. 7, 2024 — Scientists can make high resolution images of the human spinal cord during surgery. The advancement could help bring real relief to millions suffering chronic back ...

Patience Pays Off

Mar. 6, 2024 — Researchers decode the neuronal basis of decision-making processes and can thus predict ...