Nervous System News

June 3, 2025

Top Headlines

Researchers Develop Innovative Model to Study Sense of Smell

June 3, 2025 — Using a newly devised, three-dimensional model to study the regeneration of nerve tissue in the nose, researchers have discovered that one type of stem cell thought to be dormant may play a more significant role in preserving the sense of smell than ...

Brain Training Game Offers New Hope for Drug-Free Pain Management

June 2, 2025 — A trial of an interactive game that trains people to alter their brain waves has shown promise as a treatment for nerve pain -- offering hope for a new generation of drug-free ...

Newly Identified Group of Nerve Cells in the Brain Regulates Bodyweight

May 28, 2025 — Obesity is a global health problem that affects many people. In recent years, very promising anti-obesity drugs have been developed. Despite these successes, there are patients who do not respond to these drugs or suffer from side effects. ...

A Switchboard With Precision: How the Brain Licenses Movements

May 28, 2025 — Neurons deep in the brain not only help to initiate movement -- they also actively suppress it, and with astonishing precision. The findings are especially relevant for better understanding neurological disorders such as Parkinson's ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:44pm EDT

How Brain Stimulation Alleviates Symptoms of Parkinson's Disease

May 27, 2025 — Persons with Parkinson's disease increasingly lose their mobility over time and are eventually unable to walk. Hope for these patients rests on deep brain stimulation, also known as a brain ...

Weight Loss Linked to Nerve Cells in the Brain

May 27, 2025 — A specific group of nerve cells in the brain stem appears to control how semaglutide affects appetite and weight -- without causing ...

Tiny Genetic Switch Found to Control Brain Balance and Behavior

May 22, 2025 — Researchers have identified a remarkably small but critical piece of genetic code that helps determine how brain cells connect, communicate, and function. The discovery not only deepens our ...

Potential New Treatment for Alzheimer's Disease, Other Neurodegenerative Conditions

May 22, 2025 — Worldwide, more than 55 million people suffer from dementia caused by Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and other conditions that destroy cells in the brain ...

Scientists Design Gene Delivery Systems for Cells in the Brain and Spinal Cord

May 21, 2025 — Research teams have created a versatile set of gene delivery systems that can reach different neural cell types in the human brain and spinal cord ...

New Research on ALS Opens Up for Early Treatment

May 20, 2025 — Using the gene scissors CRISPR and stem cells, researchers have managed to identify a common denominator for different gene mutations that all cause the neurological disease ALS. The research shows ...

How Molecules Can 'Remember' and Contribute to Memory and Learning

May 20, 2025 — Researchers have discovered how an ion channel in the brain's neurons has a kind of 'molecular memory', which contributes to the formation and preservation of lifelong memories. The researchers have ...

Language Isn't Just for Communication -- It Also Shapes How Sensory Experiences Are Stored in the Brain

May 20, 2025 — Our ability to store information about familiar objects depends on the connection between visual and language processing regions in the brain, ...

A Step Forward in Treating Serious Genetic Disorders Prenatally

May 14, 2025 — Evidence is mounting that clinicians can treat serious genetic disorders prenatally by injecting medicine into the amniotic fluid, thus preventing damage that begins in ...

Experimental Painkiller Could Outsmart Opioids -- Without the High

May 19, 2025 — A study shows a non-opioid pain reliever blocks pain at its source -- calming specific nerve signals that send pain messages to the brain. In mice, the compound SBI-810 eased pain from surgery, bone ...

Study Reveals Impacts of Alzheimer's Disease on the Whole Body

May 16, 2025 — While Alzheimer's disease is mostly considered a disorder of the brain, emerging evidence suggests that the condition also affects other organs of the body. Working with the laboratory fruit ...

New Insights Into the Energy Balance of Brain Neurons

May 14, 2025 — A research team has demonstrated how the energy levels of individual neurons in the brain change during so-called spreading depolarizations -- waves of activity that occur in various brain disorders. ...

Hormone Cycles Shape the Structure and Function of Key Memory Regions in the Brain

May 13, 2025 — Hormone levels fluctuate like the tides, ebbing and flowing according to carefully orchestrated cycles. These hormones not only influence the body, but can cross into the brain and shape the behavior ...

Different Anesthetics, Same Result: Unconsciousness by Shifting Brainwave Phase

May 12, 2025 — A new study finds that an easily measurable brain wave shift of phase may be a universal marker of unconsciousness under general ...

Promising Parkinson's Drug Decoded

May 8, 2025 — How well our brain functions depends heavily on the performance of our nerve cells. That is why they are regularly checked for their proper function -- defective cell components are marked, disposed ...

Sleep Apnea During REM Sleep Linked to Memory-Related Brain Changes

May 7, 2025 — Obstructive sleep apnea, a condition that causes lower oxygen levels during sleep, is linked to degeneration of brain regions associated with memory through damage to the brain's small blood ...

A Pipette That Can Activate Individual Neurons

May 7, 2025 — Researchers have developed a new type of pipette that can deliver ions to individual neurons without affecting the sensitive extracellular milieu. Controlling the concentration of different ions can ...

Decoding the Brainstem: A New Window Into Brain--Body--Mind Interactions

May 2, 2025 — Researchers have developed a new imaging method, D-PSCAN, which enables minimally invasive, wide-field, high-resolution imaging of the nucleus tractus solitarii (NTS) in living mice. This technique ...

Molecular Double Agent: Protein 'Eato' Plays Surprising Role in Protecting the Brain

May 1, 2025 — A team of researchers has made a discovery in fruit flies that could change the way we understand brain diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's in humans. The scientists found that Eato ...

New Technology Facilitates Delivery of Advanced Medicines

Apr. 30, 2025 — Researchers have developed a technique that enables efficient delivery of therapeutic proteins and RNA to cells. The method shows promising results in animal studies to deliver gene editors and ...

Brain Decoder Controls Spinal Cord Stimulation

Apr. 28, 2025 — A lab develops brain wave decoder that may help in spinal cord injury ...

New Body-Fluid Biomarker for Parkinson's Disease Discovered

Apr. 25, 2025 — Researchers have discovered a new biomarker for Parkinson's disease. A misfolded protein facilitates reliable diagnosis even in the early stages of Parkinson's disease in body ...

In Down Syndrome Mice, 40Hz Light and Sound Improve Cognition, Neurogenesis, Connectivity

Apr. 25, 2025 — A new study provides new evidence that sensory stimulation of a gamma-frequency brain rhythm may promote broad-based restorative neurological health ...

Immune Cells Drive Congenital Paralysis Disease

Apr. 25, 2025 — Patients with spastic paraplegia type 15 develop movement disorders during adolescence that may ultimately require the use of a wheelchair. In the early stages of this rare hereditary disease the ...

Building 'Cellular Bridges' for Spinal Cord Repair After Injury

Apr. 21, 2025 — Capitalizing on the flexibility of tiny cells inside the body's smallest blood vessels may be a powerful spinal cord repair strategy, new research ...

Engineered Microglia Show Promise for Treating Alzheimer's and Other Brain Diseases

Apr. 21, 2025 — A new way to deliver disease-fighting proteins throughout the brain may improve the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other neurological disorders, according to scientists. By engineering ...

How Disturbed Signaling Pathways Could Promote Epileptic Seizures

Apr. 16, 2025 — Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) type 2 is a congenital malformation of the cerebral cortex that is often associated with difficult-to-treat epilepsy. In the affected areas, nerve cells and their layer ...

Researchers Have Mapped the Hidden Control System of Vision

Apr. 15, 2025 — The smallest control system of vision in mammals has been mapped -- a discovery that opens entirely new insights into how our vision works and how it can be affected by ...

The Brain Resorts to Myelin When Other Brain Nutrients Are Depleted

Apr. 10, 2025 — Marathon runners experience reversible changes in their brain myelin. These findings indicate that myelin (a substance that surrounds the neurons) exhibits behavior that was previously unknown, and ...

Discovery Reveals Protein Involved in Parkinson's Disease Also Drives Skin Cancer

Apr. 9, 2025 — A small protein involved in neurodegeneration leading to Parkinson's disease also drives a type of skin cancer known as melanoma, according to new ...