Brain/Neuroscience
Brain chemicals fight for the status quo—that’s why it’s so hard to change people’s minds even when the science consensus is overwhelming
Why do people refuse to change their views when confronted with scientific consensus? Research is starting to show us how ...
How repetitive movements help autistic people cope with anxiety
Typical infants and toddlers may kick their legs repeatedly, rock back and forth while playing or flap their hands in ...
‘Topographical disorientation’: What it’s like to live without a sense of direction
We all know people who say they have “no sense of direction,” and our tendency is almost always to minimize ...
Alzheimer’s research is stuck on a ‘single, unproven hypothesis’. It’s time to explore new theories
Over the past decade we’ve seen failure after failure in clinical trials for neurodegenerative disease. Despite over 200 clinical trials, ...
Using ‘mini brains’ to study Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and other disorders hits a potential snag
Brain organoids, often called "minibrains," have changed the way scientists study human brain development and disorders like autism. But the ...
‘It takes a world’: Initiative urges global collaboration to help us understand the human brain
First envisioned in 2016 through a series of discussions on the “grand challenges” in neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University, the International ...
Why are older parents more likely to have children with autism?
Older men and women are more likely than young ones to have a child with autism, according to multiple studies ...
How sex, money and food motivate the brain
Researchers from HSE University, Skoltech and the University of Toronto analyzed data from 190 fMRI studies and found out that food, sex ...
Do obesity and mental illness share genetic links?
If a person with high genetic vulnerability is exposed to adverse environmental factors, such as an infection or mental trauma, ...
Brain organoids ‘giving insight’ into origins of autism, epilepsy and schizophrenia
Knowing how the human brain develops is critical to understanding how things can go awry in neurodevelopmental disorders, from intellectual ...
Can DNA predict who might be a mass murderer?
There have been repeated attempts over the past 50 years to find genetic links to criminal behavior or mass murderers ...
Alzheimer’s link to herpes disputed in new study
Around 30 years ago, researchers in the UK discovered DNA strands of herpes simplex virus 1 in postmortem brain samples of Alzheimer’s ...
Viewpoint: To understand human consciousness, we need a revolutionary way of thinking about it
A science of consciousness is coming ...
Brain organoids becoming ‘more human’, forcing researchers to grapple with ethical concerns
Though no bigger than a pea, organoids hold enormous promise for improving our understanding of the brain: They can replicate ...
Psychosomatic disorders not ‘all in the mind’: Brain-body connection bolstered by new research
Placebo effects, exercise highs, getting sick when you’re stressed out—the popular press and the scientific literature alike are replete with ...
Dementia’s ‘biological weak spot’: A single mutation helped this woman evade Alzheimer’s for decades
A cruel twist of genetic fate brought Alzheimer’s disease to a sprawling Colombian family. But thanks to a second twist, ...
People with autism more likely to experience headaches and epilepsy
People with autism have more brain-related health problems, such as headaches and epilepsy, than typical people do, according to a ...
Video: Placebo effect or powerful antidepressant? Understanding the science of psychedelic microdosing
Individuals who microdose mushrooms, or those who microdose LSD, claim to experience an elevated mood, increased productivity, and a greater ...
Autism may not ‘hardwired by genetics’, with severity shaped by early life experiences, claims researchers in yet unpublished study
A child’s environment exerts a strong influence on the severity of her autism, according to a study of 78 pairs ...
Reconsidering LSD and other psychedelic drugs for treating depression and anxiety
There is a movement underway to reconsider how LSD and other psychedelic drugs are regulated. If restrictions were loosened, these ...
We’ve mapped a fly brain down ‘to the very last neuron’. That’s a big deal for human brain research
[A]s director of Janelia Research Campus, part of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, [Gerry Rubin has] spent the last 12 ...
A video game for ADHD? We’re still waiting to see what the FDA thinks
In mid-2018, the startup Akili Interactive Labs asked the Food and Drug Administration to let it do something that’s never ...
Zika virus could offer new way to attack deadly brain cancers
New research has revealed that the Zika virus breaks into brain cells by using a special molecular key, and scientists ...
Gene therapy for Alzheimer’s? Biotech startup suggests new approach, using dementia ‘off switch’
What if there were a single mechanism in the brain that, when faulty, leads to all kinds of dementias? And ...
Rethinking the brain’s reward system—and what creates human intelligence
In a paper published in Nature ... DeepMind, Alphabet’s AI subsidiary, has once again used lessons from reinforcement learning to ...
Sperm test could predict odds of fathering child with autism
Some men who have an autistic child carry mutations linked to the condition only in their sperm, according to a ...
Can we use the brain’s ‘biochemical changes’ to predict—and prevent— suicide?
No field of scientific inquiry can single-handedly untangle a phenomenon as complex as suicide. But [Kees] van Heeringen and many ...
Brain building block glutamate could be key to treating Alzheimer’s, schizophrenia, depression
Glutamate is often called the “major excitatory neurotransmitter” within the brain. It is the brain’s “go” signal. [Neuroscientist David] Baker ...
