Summary: Researchers have identified the thalamus as a key regulator in the emergence of normal sleep and wake states during brain development. Source: George Washington University. Conscious awareness depends on continuous, internally generated brain activity. The way this activity is modulated underlies the electroencephalogram (EEG) and supports sleep, dreaming, perception, and attention. The appearance of … Read more
Summary: Researchers identified elevated levels of alpha2-Na+/K+ ATPase (alpha2-NKA), a protein that promotes toxic, inflammation-driving astrocytes, in brain samples from people who died of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), Alzheimer’s disease and other tau-related neurodegenerative disorders. In a mouse model, treating reactive astrocytes with the FDA‑approved drug digoxin reduced astrocyte reactivity, decreased neuroinflammation and slowed tau-driven … Read more
Neurobiologists have for the first time isolated the responses of individual neurons in the fly brain to specific motion stimuli. This advance in motion-vision research opens the door to a more detailed understanding of the fly’s motion-detection circuitry and the distinct roles single cells play within that neural network. The brain of the fly – … Read more
Summary: A new machine-learning algorithm accurately distinguishes lower-grade gliomas from glioblastoma using clinically relevant MRI measurements of tumor location and volume. Source: Yale An estimated 18,000 people in the United States died from brain and spinal cord tumors in 2020. To help clinicians more quickly and reliably distinguish tumor severity, an international research team led … Read more
Summary: A new study identifies a powerful psychological predictor of maternal sleep health: a pregnant woman’s expectations about postpartum sleep strongly forecast her actual sleep disruption after birth. These expectations predict outcomes even more than prior sleep problems, number of previous births, or past psychiatric diagnoses. In a prospective study tracking 432 women from mid-pregnancy … Read more
Summary: New UC Berkeley research reveals how the brain replays and organizes memories, compressing long experiences into short, fixed-length neural sequences. By recording hundreds of hippocampal neurons in freely flying bats, scientists observed neural replay and theta-like sequences outside the rodent model, offering fresh insights into memory formation, navigation, and planning. The team found that … Read more
Summary: For years, researchers have concentrated on how psychedelics change neuronal connections. A new study identifies a critical missing piece in long-term recovery from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): myelin remodeling. The researchers report that psilocybin and MDMA do more than shift brain activity temporarily—they promote physical repair of myelin, the insulating sheath surrounding nerve fibers … Read more
Summary: A large behavioral and EEG study reports that men who score high on social dominance make faster decisions across a range of tasks, and this promptness is linked to a distinct brain signal. Source: EPFL. Study Overview Social hierarchies are a common feature of human and animal groups, and dominance helps determine priority access … Read more
Summary: Men diagnosed with hypersexual disorder (also referred to as compulsive sexual behavior disorder or sex addiction) show higher circulating oxytocin levels compared with men without the condition. Source: The Endocrine Society New research indicates that men with hypersexual disorder have elevated blood oxytocin compared with healthy men, and that successful psychological treatment is associated … Read more
Summary: The protein CaMKII, central to brain and heart function, can be modulated by three distinct classes of inhibitors. These pharmacological tools allow researchers to probe CaMKII’s roles with greater precision and may help reduce some harmful effects linked to Alzheimer’s disease and heart dysfunction. Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus reviewed … Read more