Summary: New research indicates that the multiple, high-intensity stressors of 2020 may have disrupted the social and emotional development of young adults during a formative period of life. Source: Society for Personality and Social Psychology Overview The year 2020 brought overlapping crises—the COVID-19 pandemic, widespread social unrest following the murder of George Floyd, and a … Read more

Summary: Scientists have uncovered how animals distinguish closely related odors by combining stable and variable neural responses. This work reveals how some neurons reliably signal distinct smells while others introduce trial-to-trial variability that helps animals learn to tell very similar scents apart over time. The study, based on experiments and computational modeling of olfactory circuits … Read more

A Medicare claims analysis finds that percutaneous stereotaxic rhizotomy (PSR) is the most cost-effective surgical treatment for trigeminal neuralgia, despite being the least frequently used option, according to a study reported in the September issue of Neurosurgery, the journal of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, part … Read more

Summary: The Blue Brain Project has released an enriched 3D digital cell atlas that identifies a greater variety of neuron types than the previous version. Source: EPFL After four years of work, EPFL’s Blue Brain Project has released an expanded version of its 3D digital cell atlas for the mouse brain. This new atlas includes … Read more

Summary: In a mouse study, early-life stress increased the likelihood of developing autoimmune disease resembling multiple sclerosis and reduced responsiveness to a common therapy. Source: University of Illinois Childhood trauma alters disease course and treatment response in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis, a new study finds. Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign report … Read more

Summary: Temperature and barometric pressure show strong associations with cold pain tolerance and pressure pain tolerance, according to a new population-based study. Source: Wolters Kluwer Health Do weather conditions influence pain from conditions such as arthritis or migraine? What once sounded like folklore appears to have measurable effects: on standard quantitative sensory tests, several weather-related … Read more

Summary: New research from the University of Birmingham shows that transcranial infrared light therapy, a form of photobiomodulation (PBM), can reduce inflammation and cell death after mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and improve functional recovery in animal models. Short, daily exposures to near-infrared light—particularly at 810 nm—reduced markers of neuroinflammation and apoptosis, and led to … Read more

Rockefeller University scientists develop iDISCO: a fast, affordable 3D imaging method for large biological samples A team of neuroscientists at The Rockefeller University has developed iDISCO, an efficient and cost-effective imaging protocol that enables deep, three-dimensional visualization of molecular structures across large biological tissues. Combining improved immunolabeling with contemporary tissue-clearing approaches and light sheet microscopy, … Read more

Summary: Researchers find that infants as young as six months can make simple probability estimates. Source: Max Planck Institute. One of the human mind’s most powerful abilities is drawing generalisations from limited data. Adults rely on implicit probability estimates to represent regularities in the world and to guide decisions. Until recently, it was unclear when … Read more

Summary: White matter connectivity does not directly produce psychosis, but it appears to influence psychotic symptoms by altering the brain’s threshold for conscious access to sensory information. Source: SfN Altered long-range white matter connections can limit the brain’s ability to bring sensory information into conscious awareness, a process that may contribute to delusions and other … Read more