Summary: A Yale-led study identifies an unexpected connection between chronic constipation and genital herpes infection. Source: Yale A new study led by researchers at Yale reveals a surprising link between genital herpes infection and severe intestinal dysfunction. Published June 8 in Cell Host & Microbe, the work sheds light on how herpes simplex virus type … Read more

Summary: NYU and FAS researchers have launched an interactive, evidence-based website that lets the public ask vetted professionals questions about COVID-19. Users can search a curated knowledge base or submit specific questions to a crowdsourced network of doctors and researchers; answers are currently provided within hours and are reviewed before being added to the public … Read more

Summary: A new study published in eLife reports that lunatic fringe genes mediate a mechanism that preserves neural stem cells, allowing the adult brain to generate new neurons throughout life. The researchers say these findings have wide implications for understanding adult neurogenesis and hippocampal stem cell regulation. Source: Baylor College of Medicine Researchers at Baylor … Read more

Summary: A new machine-learning study maps how patterns of gene expression relate to cognitive and emotional functions across the human brain, offering a resource to guide future research into psychiatric illness. Source: McGill University Many psychiatric disorders have strong genetic components, yet how genes shape higher-order brain function remains unclear. This study presents a spatial … Read more

Mice carrying a human stuttering-associated gene mutation reveal new clues about the speech disorder Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, in collaboration with scientists at the National Institutes of Health, report that mice engineered with a mutation linked to human stuttering produce vocalizations with repetitive, halting patterns that resemble aspects of … Read more

Summary: Researchers find that the brain can engage visual competition even when the conflicting information between the two eyes is not consciously perceived. Source: Chinese Academy of Sciences Invisible Conflicts in Vision: How the Early Visual Cortex Resolves Ambiguity Our visual system constantly receives rich but often ambiguous optical information. When input is incomplete or … Read more

Summary: Researchers have identified a protein connected to the RIT2 gene that appears to play a key role in regulating the accumulation of alpha-synuclein, the toxic protein that damages and kills neurons and is a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease. Early laboratory and animal studies suggest boosting RIT2 expression can reduce harmful alpha-synuclein buildup and protect … Read more

Summary: Recalling events from a third-person or observer perspective engages different brain systems than remembering from a first-person point of view. Using an observer perspective increases interaction between the anterior hippocampus and the posterior medial network during memory retrieval. Source: University of Alberta Recalling the past from an observer point of view recruits different brain … Read more

Noise Sensitivity Linked to Changes in How the Brain Processes Sound Summary: A new study examines how noise sensitivity appears in the way the brain encodes and responds to auditory information. Source: University of Helsinki. Many people feel strong discomfort from everyday sounds and describe themselves as being sensitive to noise. Previous work has shown … Read more

Summary: A new study clarifies how vesicles are recycled at inhibitory synapses. Source: OIST. Neurons in the brain form dense networks of connections. Within these networks, cells communicate to coordinate motor control, cognition and other functions. When a neuron is activated, it generates an electrical signal that travels along its axon. That electrical signal cannot … Read more