Summary: Researchers studying 140 families examined both behavioral and brain-to-brain synchrony to clarify how parent and child interactions align at observable and neural levels. The findings indicate that higher neural synchrony does not always reflect better interaction quality: mothers who display insecure attachment traits showed increased brain-to-brain synchrony with their children, which the researchers interpret … Read more

Summary: Reduced cortical thickness is associated with a history of concussions in former college football players, according to researchers. Source: University of Cincinnati College of Medicine Researchers at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine report evidence that playing collegiate football may be linked with persistent changes in brain structure. Their study, published in the … Read more

Summary: UCLA researchers report that new mothers who slept less than seven hours per night at six months postpartum showed biological age increases of roughly three to seven years compared with mothers who averaged seven or more hours of sleep. Source: UCLA New mothers often say sleepless nights make them feel years older, and recent … Read more

Motion despite immobility. The illusion of self-motion is created, for example, in an IMAX cinema with the help of large-format movies. This is possible because the brain computes self-motion from the visual surround moving past the eyes. Deciphering how the brain performs this computation is the aim of Alexander Borst and his team at the … Read more

Summary: Researchers have identified specific brain regions and neuron types that are essential for learning from negative experiences. Their work highlights a group of inhibitory neurons in the horizontal limb of the diagonal band of Broca (HDB) — called HDB-PV neurons because they express the calcium‑binding protein parvalbumin — as central players in how aversive … Read more

Summary: New research shows that a strong friendship network can be as important as a charismatic leader in driving group violence. Study Finds Friendship Networks Drive Raiding Behavior Among the Nyangatom; Leadership Matters Most for Initiation Researchers studying the social dynamics of the Nyangatom, a nomadic pastoralist community in East Africa, report that dense friendship … Read more

Nearly a million genetic variations across about 400 smell receptors mean everyone experiences scent differently. Why People Smell Things Differently: Genetics of Odor Receptors A tiny difference in DNA — a single amino acid change in one odor receptor gene — can determine whether you find a particular scent pleasant or unpleasant. That same gene … Read more

Summary: Biological changes that accompany aging may help explain why many older adults with major depression do not fully recover after antidepressant treatment. Source: UConn Major depression in older adults is common, causes significant disability, and raises the risk of age-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, cardiovascular conditions, and premature mortality. With … Read more

Summary: Researchers at Rice University developed an affordable, easy-to-build, open-source platform that brings optogenetics into more biology laboratories. Source: Rice University. Light Plate Apparatus (LPA) makes optogenetics accessible to standard biology labs Rice University bioengineering graduate student Karl Gerhardt and colleagues have designed a low-cost, easy-to-use hardware platform that lets biologists with little or no … Read more

Summary: Previous research has shown that infections during pregnancy can increase the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other psychiatric conditions in offspring. A new study from the University of Copenhagen explains how maternal infection disrupts neural development in the fetal brain and demonstrates that the timing of maternal inflammation critically influences the degree … Read more