Nervous System News

November 20, 2024

Top Headlines

When Muscles Work Out, They Help Neurons to Grow

Nov. 12, 2024 — Exercise can have benefits at the level of neurons, through chemical and mechanical effects, researchers find. The discovery could inform exercise-related therapies for repairing damaged and deteriorating ...

Neuroscientists Discover How the Brain Slows Anxious Breathing

Nov. 19, 2024 — Scientists discovered a brain circuit that allows us to regulate voluntary breathing, which connects the brain's emotional and behavioral cortical area to its automatic breathing brainstem area. The findings provide a targetable area for slowing ...

A New Discovery About Pain Signaling May Contribute to Better Treatment of Chronic Pain

Nov. 18, 2024 — When pain signals are passed along the nervous system, proteins called calcium channels play a key role. Researchers have now pinpointed the exact location of a specific calcium channel fine-tuning ...

When Hepatitis E Viruses Attack Nerve Cells

Nov. 18, 2024 — Hepatitis E viruses (HEV) typically cause liver infections. They can, however, also infect other organs and cause neurological disorders. Little is yet known about how this process works. A research team has now developed a cell model to study the ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:54pm EST

Scientists Discover 'Entirely Unanticipated' Role of Protein Netrin1 in Spinal Cord Development

Nov. 14, 2024 — Researchers have uncovered a surprising new role for netrin1, a crucial protein in neural development, as a regulator that limits bone morphogenetic ...

Huntington's Disease Gene Also Enhances Early Brain Development and Intelligence, Study Finds

Nov. 13, 2024 — The Huntington's disease (HD) mutation eventually causes a fatal brain disease in adulthood, but a new study finds that early in life, children with ...

Researchers Uncover Potential Treatment for Rare Genetic Disorders

Nov. 14, 2024 — Researchers have identified a potential treatment for Sandhoff and Tay-Sachs diseases -- two rare, often fatal lysosomal storage disorders that cause progressive damage to nerve cells in the brain ...

New Insights Into How We Navigate Space and Store Memories

Nov. 14, 2024 — Researchers have revealed how two neural circuits located in the brain's retrosplenial cortex are directly linked to spatial navigation and memory storage. This discovery could lead to more precise ...

Anti-Anxiety and Hallucination-Like Effects of Psychedelics Mediated by Distinct Neural Circuits

Nov. 14, 2024 — New research suggests that it could be possible to separate treatment from hallucinations when developing new drugs based on psychedelics. The ...

Researchers Develop Minimally Invasive Neural Interface in Revolutionary Study

Nov. 13, 2024 — A team of researchers has developed a technique for diagnosing, managing and treating neurological disorders with minimal surgical ...

Early Treatment for Nerve Tumors Prevents Serious Problems, Study Finds

Nov. 12, 2024 — Small cranial nerve tumors that can cause hearing loss, vertigo and ringing in the ears are often watched rather than treated, but a new study is set to change how the tumors, called vestibular ...

Study Links Liver-Brain Communication to Daily Eating Patterns

Nov. 7, 2024 — People who work the nightshift or odd hours and eat at irregular times are more prone to weight gain and diabetes, likely due to eating patterns not timed with natural daylight and when people ...

Key Pathway Leading to Neurodegeneration in Early Stages of ALS Identified

Nov. 8, 2024 — Researchers identify a key pathway leading to neurodegeneration in early stages of ALS, hinting at the potential for short-circuiting the progression of the fatal disease if diagnosed ...

Memories Are Not Only in the Brain, New Research Finds

Nov. 7, 2024 — It's common knowledge that our brains -- and, specifically, our brain cells -- store memories. But a team of scientists has discovered that cells from other parts of the body also perform a memory ...

A Common Steroid Therapy May Influence Brain Development in Preterm Infants

Oct. 31, 2024 — Antenatal corticosteroids (ACS) are an established therapy for pregnant women at risk of preterm birth. Researchers have found that babies given ACS had notably smaller volumes of two key brain ...

Human Proteins Identified That Explain Inter-Individual Differences in Functional Brain Connectivity

Oct. 31, 2024 — A long-standing goal of neuroscience is to understand how molecules and cellular structures on a microscale give rise to communication between brain regions at the macroscale. A study now identifies, ...

Meta-Learning of Motor Skills in the Dorsal Premotor Cortex of the Brain

Oct. 31, 2024 — Researchers have discovered that the dorsal premotor cortex serves a 'meta-learning' function, overseeing and regulating physical movements. Once believed to be limited to movement ...

Healthy Brains Suppress Inappropriate Immune Responses

Oct. 30, 2024 — Researchers have found a process by which the brain guards against attack by the immune system. In mice with multiple sclerosis, such 'guardian' proteins that train the immune system were ...

Gene Named for Mythical Irish Land Could Aid Muscle Function After Traumatic Nerve Injuries

Oct. 25, 2024 — Researchers describe how a gene called NANOG can improve the regrowth of damaged nerves after traumatic nerve injuries, like those sustained in motor vehicle accidents or gunshot ...

Could a New Medical Approach Fix Faulty Genes Before Birth?

Oct. 24, 2024 — A new biomedical tool successfully delivers genetic material to edit faulty genes in developing fetal mouse brain cells. This might stop disease progression of genetic-based neurodevelopmental ...

New Formation of Neurons from Stem Cell Niche Disrupted After Stroke

Oct. 24, 2024 — Researchers studied what happens immediately after a stroke in the stem cell niche known as the subventricular zone, using a mouse model. This revealed a mechanism that results in fewer newborn ...

'Human Mini-Brains' Reveal Autism Biology and Potential Treatments

Oct. 23, 2024 — By creating personalized brain 'organoids' in the lab, scientists showed how microRNAs impact brain development, and demonstrate how one drug can reverse critical cellular signs of ...

Cannabis Use in Adolescence: Visible Effects on Brain Structure

Oct. 23, 2024 — A collaborative study sheds light on how cannabis use affects brain development in young people, the main one being atrophy of certain regions of the cerebral ...

The Decision to Eat May Come Down to These Three Neurons

Oct. 23, 2024 — Manipulating a newly identified neural circuit can curb appetite -- or spur massive ...

Bilingualism May Maintain Protection Against Alzheimer's

Oct. 22, 2024 — In a study, researchers use neuroimaging methods to examine brain resilience in regions of the brain linked to language and aging. They found that the hippocampus in bilinguals with Alzheimer's ...

Clinical Trial for Treating Spinal Cord Injury Using Olfactory Cell Nerve Bridges

Oct. 22, 2024 — Realizing a Phase I human clinical trial commencing to test the efficacy and safety of the transplantation of olfactory cell nerve bridges to treat chronic spinal cord ...

Researchers Develop 3D Atlas of the Developing Mammalian Brain

Oct. 21, 2024 — A team of researchers has created a 3D atlas of developing mice brains, providing a more dynamic understanding of how the mammalian brain develops. This atlas provides a common reference and ...

Controlling Prosthetic Hands More Precisely by the Power of Thought

Oct. 17, 2024 — Researchers have developed a novel training protocol for brain-computer interfaces in a study with rhesus monkeys. The method enables precise control of prosthetic hands using signals from the brain ...

Alzheimer's Disease May Damage the Brain in Two Phases

Oct. 15, 2024 — Alzheimer's disease may damage the brain in two distinct phases, based on new research using sophisticated brain mapping tools. According to researchers who discovered this new view, the first, ...

Tiny Magnetic Discs Offer Remote Brain Stimulation Without Transgenes

Oct. 11, 2024 — Novel magnetic nanodiscs could provide a much less invasive way of stimulating parts of the brain, paving the way for stimulation therapies without implants or genetic modification, researchers ...

A New Target for Anxiety Disorders

Oct. 11, 2024 — By generating mice with genetic mutations that disrupt the brain's TrkC-PTP protein complex, researchers find a key way that brain cells ...

Evidence Builds for Near Infrared Light Treatment in Traumatic Brain Injury

Oct. 11, 2024 — New research indicates that a novel method could result in a new treatment option in an area of medicine that currently has few, if any, treatment ...

Magnetically Regulated Gene Therapy Tech Offers Precise Brain-Circuit Control

Oct. 10, 2024 — A new technology enables the control of specific brain circuits non-invasively with magnetic fields, according to a preclinical study. The technology holds promise as a powerful tool for studying the ...

Adding Vagus Nerve Stimulation to Training Sessions May Boost How Well Sounds Are Perceived

Oct. 9, 2024 — Just as a musician can train to more sharply distinguish subtle differences in pitch, mammals can improve their ability to interpret hearing, vision, and other senses with practice. This process, ...