Summary: New research maps how cannabinoids change neural circuit dynamics and disrupt memory-related signaling in the hippocampus. Source: PLOS. Paranoia. Munchies. Giggles. Sleepiness. Memory lapses. While many users recognize these effects of cannabis, the underlying neural mechanisms are still incompletely understood. One of the most widely concerning effects is the short-term memory impairment that often … Read more

When people weigh multiple options to find the best reward, some base their choices on how uncertain each outcome is. A new study finds that those who follow this uncertainty-driven strategy uniquely recruit the right rostrolateral prefrontal cortex to calculate relative uncertainty, while people who use other strategies do not. Most everyday choices involve uncertainty. … Read more

Summary: Machine learning is helping researchers uncover the genetic influence on foraging behaviors in mice. Source: University of Utah Health Mice scurry while searching for food, yet their wanderings may be shaped by genes. Researchers at University of Utah Health applied machine learning to connect genetic variation with the incremental steps that compose instinctive and … Read more

A new study reveals how the brain rapidly constructs inferred contexts and rules when learning new tasks—even when such structure does not actually exist. The research, which identified reliable individual differences, explains how people generalize task knowledge to similar situations and may guide future work on learning disabilities and adaptive learning strategies. Many everyday tasks … Read more

Summary: A new study identifies the brain circuits that explain why individual animals respond differently to repeated visual threats. Using advanced neural recording and manipulation tools, researchers mapped two separate pathways that produce either persistent escape responses or rapid habituation in mice. These behavioral differences are linked to variations in internal arousal states and beta-frequency … Read more

Summary: Researchers at MIT report that the synaptic protein CPG2 is markedly reduced in the brains of people with bipolar disorder (BD). They further show that specific genetic variants in the SYNE1 gene impair CPG2 expression or function. The work links molecular changes at excitatory synapses to genetic risk for bipolar disorder and may guide … Read more

Summary: New research shows Neanderthals had auditory and vocal capacities comparable to modern humans, enabling them to perceive and produce human speech. Source: Binghamton University Neanderthals — the closest extinct relatives of modern humans — had the hearing and vocal capabilities necessary for human-like speech, according to a new multidisciplinary study that includes researchers from … Read more

Summary: Hydroxychloroquine appears to slow some measures of disability progression in people with primary progressive multiple sclerosis, according to a University of Calgary study. Source: University of Calgary Researchers at the University of Calgary report encouraging early results for hydroxychloroquine, a widely available generic medication, when used to treat disability progression in primary progressive multiple … Read more

Summary: Rapamycin, a drug approved for cancer and transplant patients, increases amyloid-beta plaques in the brains of an Alzheimer’s disease mouse model. Source: UT San Antonio Researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) report that oral rapamycin raises levels of beta (β)-amyloid protein plaques in a … Read more

Summary: New research identifies an unexpected developmental role for serotonin in human neocortex formation. Serotonin functions outside cells as a growth factor for basal progenitors in the developing human neocortex, and placenta-derived serotonin may have contributed to the evolutionary enlargement of the human neocortex. Source: Max Planck Society Throughout human evolution the brain increased in … Read more