Summary: What does a mouse actually see? For the first time, researchers have reconstructed ten-second video clips from the neural activity recorded in the mouse visual cortex. By measuring the firing of individual neurons while mice watched natural movies and using an algorithm to translate those signals back into moving images, the team produced clear, … Read more

Summary: Gnawing is more than a mechanical necessity for rodents; it is also a rewarding, motivated behavior. New research identifies a neural circuit that links sensory input from the teeth directly to midbrain dopamine neurons. This pathway explains how oral sensations drive repetitive chewing behaviors and how those behaviors are reinforced by the brain’s reward … Read more

Summary: Does cannabis simply make you forgetful, or does it actually alter what you remember? New research shows that THC does more than blur memories — it can reshape them, increasing false recollections and interfering with everyday memory tasks. In one of the most thorough examinations of cannabis and memory to date, researchers at Washington … Read more

Summary: Does a 15-minute run benefit an athlete more than a beginner? New research from UCL shows the answer is yes. The study demonstrates that as aerobic fitness improves, the brain becomes better at releasing brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) — a key protein that supports neuron growth, strengthens synapses, and helps regulate executive functions such … Read more

Summary: For years, a large portion of the genetic basis of autism has been unexplained — a problem researchers call the “missing heritability.” A new study from the University of California San Diego shows that long-read whole genome sequencing (LR-WGS), a technology that reads much larger stretches of DNA at once, can uncover genetic variants … Read more

Summary: Why does motor coordination continue to improve into adulthood when the brain’s motor circuits appear structurally mature by early adolescence? New research identifies a crucial piece of the puzzle: astrocytes. These star-shaped support cells undergo a late-adolescent transition in the cerebellum, taking over persistent inhibitory signaling (GABA) via Best1 channels. That cellular handoff reduces … Read more

Summary: Can you reliably tell a real human voice from an AI-generated one? A recent study suggests that while people’s conscious judgments often fail, the brain itself begins to detect the difference after brief exposure. Researchers report that listeners are generally poor at distinguishing “deepfake” speech from genuine human voices, and short training sessions lead … Read more

Summary: Does being the firstborn give a biological and developmental head start? A large-scale Japanese cohort study indicates the answer is yes — and that differences appear much earlier than previously recognized. By comparing more than 2,000 sibling pairs within the same families, researchers found that second-born infants scored lower on standard developmental measures as … Read more

Summary: Whether you are negotiating a contract, chatting with a colleague, or playing rock-paper-scissors, your brain is constantly evaluating other people’s intentions in a process known as adaptive mentalization. A new University of Zurich study identifies a reliable neural “fingerprint” that predicts how quickly and accurately someone updates their beliefs about others. Using fMRI and … Read more

Summary: Exercise benefits the brain — and a new human study reveals how. For the first time, researchers recorded that a single 20-minute session on a stationary bike triggers a burst of high-frequency brain waves called ripples, which travel from the hippocampus to cortical areas that support learning and memory. Those ripple events, long observed … Read more