Antidepressants may keep your brain young
Aug 20, 2018 Erwin van den Burg
In contrast to what was generally believed, the aging brain does not lose neurons, but neurons lose their arbors, a new study found. These arbors are antenna-like outgrowths of neurons that make it possibl... Read more
Eyes could be the window to the brain of Parkinson's patients
Aug 19, 2018 Kshitij Jadhav
Patients with Parkinson's gradually lose neurons which produce dopamine, the chemical which helps control movement. Scientists have now found out that thi... Read more
First evidence linking DDT and Autism found
Aug 19, 2018 Kshitij Jadhav
Researchers studied more than 1 million pregnancies in Finland and found the first evidence of the link between an insecticide and risk for autism. Blood ... Read more
Connection between depressive symptoms and poor sleep quality explained by new research
Aug 19, 2018 Alexandru Ciobanu
New research has identified functional connectivities in the brain that mediate the association between depressive symptoms and poor sleep quality. The researchers examined data from 1,017 participants. Th... Read more
Immune cells decide whether to display male or female sexual behavior
Aug 15, 2018 Erwin van den Burg
A surprising outcome of a recent study reveals that a certain type of immune cells, known as mast cells, play an important role in determining whether an animal will display male or female sexual behavior... Read more
Pinpointing pessimism
Aug 10, 2018 Erwin van den Burg
By stimulating a brain region known as the caudate nucleus, scientists found that experimental animals generate rather negative expectations. Such negative mood makes the stimulated animals focus on negati... Read more
Poor maturation of synapses responsible for poor social interactions in autism
Aug 09, 2018 Alexandru Ciobanu
One of the hallmark symptoms of autism is a deficit in social interactions. A new study from the Universities of Geneva and Basel revealed some of the neural mechanism that could explain how this happens. ... Read more
Global warming will likely increase suicide rates globally
Jul 24, 2018 Alexandru Ciobanu
According to a new study, rising temperature due to global warming will have a surprising effect: they will increase the rates of suicide worldwide. The study estimates that by 2050 increasing temperatures... Read more
Where is the error? The parietal cortex knows!
Jul 17, 2018 Erwin van den Burg
Practice is needed to acquire new skills. One would for instance need to learn to control one’s own movements, as well as those of a moving target, like when you want to hit a tennis ball. A miss can... Read more
Memories share cells, but not synaptic plasticity
Jul 16, 2018 Erwin van den Burg
How two memories are on the one hand stored together in the same cells, but on the other hand remain their unique identity has long remained a mystery. By learning mice to be scared off two different tones... Read more
Your cognitive ability decreases if you expect a stressful day
Jul 04, 2018 Kshitij Jadhav
Researchers have found that if you begin your day by thinking how stressful it is going to be, harms your mindset throughout the day. It specifically affects our working memory which is that memory which h... Read more
From vision to action
Jul 03, 2018 Erwin van den Burg
Things you see reach the brain via the eyes, where the visual signal will be converted into movement to react adequately to what it was that you have seen. By adapting mouse cells so that they start to emi... Read more
Small and precise: new drug delivery tools for the brain
Jul 02, 2018 Erwin van den Burg
Neuroscientists have implanted microprobes into the brain that allows for a precise control of the volume of a drug (down to nanoliters!), and in very precisely defined brain areas. The infusions were moni... Read more
The more the merrier: newborn cells in the brain protect against stress
Jun 29, 2018 Erwin van den Burg
New neurons that are formed in the hippocampus, an important memory center and controlling emotions, appear to dampen the effects of chronic stress, a new study found. When the amount of new neurons in the... Read more
A novel target for treating alcoholism
Jun 28, 2018 Kshitij Jadhav
Researchers have discovered a new target in the brain, a receptor which has no known function which could reduce excessive alcohol use and withdrawal symptoms in a rat model of alcohol addiction. While ove... Read more
Dopamine plays a role in unlearning fear
Jun 28, 2018 Kshitij Jadhav
Researchers have discovered a brain circuit necessary for unlearning fear. Rats were trained to associate a sound with a foot shock and then trained them to unlearn fear. However, they found that certain n... Read more
Serotonin might be involved in learning
Jun 27, 2018 Kshitij Jadhav
Researchers have shown that serotonin which is one of the most widely available chemicals in the brain might be involved in learning. They used the optogenetic technique in which one can modulate neuron fi... Read more
Exposure to air pollution during pregnancy NOT LINKED to ADHD
Jun 26, 2018 Kshitij Jadhav
ADHD is characterized by behavioural symptoms of hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity in children of school going age. Recent studies had linked ADHD like symptoms to exposure to pollution during pre... Read more
Music lessons help kindergartners’ ability to discriminate spoken words
Jun 26, 2018 Alexandru Ciobanu
A new study shows that piano lessons induce a very specific effect in children. Musical training improved the ability to distinguish different pitches, which translates into an improvement in discriminatin... Read more
CRISPR editing used to decrease autism-like symptoms in mice
Jun 25, 2018 Kshitij Jadhav
Using gold nanoparticles to deliver DNA cutting enzyme in mice brain, researchers could modify a gene of a neurotransmitter and thereby decrease repetitive behaviours in mice displaying behaviour features ... Read more
