Weekly Neuroscience Update

*Illustration depicting a model of how DA and serotonin cotransmission shapes behaviour through frequency-dependent filtering of D1-MSN axons. Credit: Science Advances (2025)*

Scientists have uncovered a previously unknown mechanism by which dopamine, a key brain chemical vital for movement and motivation, can affect brain activity indirectly by boosting serotonin.

New brain imaging research shows that structural damage in schizophrenia spectrum disorders may begin in specific “epicenter” regions before spreading across connected brain networks. Individuals with the condition showed widespread reductions in structural similarity between key cognitive and emotional brain regions.

Researchers have uncovered new insights into how brain wiring differs in children and young adults with autism, offering more precise ways to understand the condition.

There is new hope for people who have lost their smell. Scientists have successfully tested a breakthrough device that lets people detect the presence of certain odors. This innovative system helps them “smell” again by translating odors into feelings (like touch) inside the nose.

Lockdown and social distancing measures during the COVID-19 pandemic were associated with increased developmental concerns about young children in Scotland, research suggests.

Researchers have identified two receptors in the brain that control the breakdown of amyloid beta, a substance that accumulates in Alzheimer’s disease. The study could pave the way for future drugs that are both safer and cheaper than current antibody treatments.

Patients with major depressive disorder, including non-responders to first-line antidepressants, may benefit from short-term nitrous oxide treatment.

A new study has achieved a long-standing goal in neuroscience: showing how the brain’s smallest components build the systems that shape thought, emotion and behaviour. The research, published in the journal Nature Communications, could transform how scientists understand cognition and aging, as well as mental health disorders like depression and schizophrenia.

Neuroscientists have identified five “major epochs” of brain structure over the course of a human life, as our brains rewire to support different ways of thinking.

New longitudinal research shows that Alzheimer’s disease blood biomarkers rise up to 95 percent faster in people with obesity than in those without. While baseline tests initially appeared lower due to blood dilution, long-term tracking revealed a significantly accelerated build-up of neurodegeneration and amyloid pathology.

Using in-vehicle driving data may be a new way to identify people who are at risk of cognitive decline, according to a study published on November 26, 2025, in Neurology.

Researchers have developed an AI system that can reconstruct fine hand muscle activity using only standard video footage. Traditionally, this type of measurement required intrusive electrodes attached to the skin, but the new method eliminates that need entirely.

A large population analysis found that older adults who received the shingles vaccine were significantly less likely to develop dementia over the following seven years.

A new review explores how episodic memories are formed, stored, and reshaped over time, revealing why our recollections of past events often change. Rather than functioning like fixed files, memories consist of multiple components that can lie dormant until triggered by environmental cues.

Finally this week, a multi-institutional team of researchers report that extensive musical training can steady the body in space, both with and without guiding sounds, during a blindfolded stepping test.

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*Mesoscale neural mechanisms of binocular rivalry in humans. Credit: Zhang Peng’s group*

A research group has revealed how the human brain resolves perceptual conflicts and generates conscious perception through local inhibition in the sensory cortex and feedback integration from the parietal cortex.

A new clinical trial shows that deep brain stimulation (DBS) improved symptoms in half of adults with treatment-resistant depression, with one-third reaching remission.

A large-scale analysis of nearly 1,900 children found that those with a family history of substance use disorder show early differences in how their brains transition between activity states, long before any drug exposure. Girls with a family history showed increased transition energy in introspective networks, suggesting greater difficulty shifting out of internal, stress-linked states.

New research shows that spontaneous eye blinks naturally sync to the beat of music, revealing a hidden form of auditory-motor synchronisation that occurs even without conscious movement.

An extensive, two-year study of nearly 12,000 children found that higher screen time at ages 9–10 predicts an increase in ADHD symptoms, independent of a child’s starting symptom level. Brain imaging revealed that heavy screen use is associated with smaller cortical volume and disrupted development in regions critical for attention, cognition, and reward processing.

Researchers have identified five major phases of human brain wiring that unfold from birth to old age, marked by four major turning points at ages 9, 32, 66, and 83.

A new study shows that when two people work together toward a shared goal, their brains begin to process information in increasingly similar ways. Using EEG recordings, researchers found that while all participants showed similar early responses to visual patterns, only collaborating pairs developed sustained neural alignment linked to the rules they agreed upon.

A large analysis of more than 11 million medical records found that people with untreated obstructive sleep apnea face a substantially higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease over time.

New research has revealed that Parkinson’s disease causes significant and progressive changes to blood vessels in the brain, changing our understanding of the disease which may lead to new treatment methods.

Diesel exhaust particles disrupt the function of the brain’s immune cells, a new study shows.

Researchers have developed a “virtual clinical trial” exploring a unique pharmacological treatment in patients who do not fully regain consciousness after a coma. The proposed treatment involves employing psychedelic drugs, such as psilocybin and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) that have intense, consciousness-altering effects in healthy volunteers.

A new meta-analysis shows that lithium supplementation does not significantly slow cognitive decline in people with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s disease.

New research shows that young adults with obesity already display biological patterns associated with liver stress, chronic inflammation, and early neural injury—changes typically seen in older adults with cognitive impairment. Participants with obesity also had unusually low blood choline levels, a nutrient critical for liver function, inflammation control, and long-term brain health.

A new study demonstrates that an AI assistant can conduct psychiatric assessment interviews with greater diagnostic accuracy than widely used mental health rating scales.

New brain imaging research shows that structural damage in schizophrenia spectrum disorders may begin in specific “epicenter” regions before spreading across connected brain networks. Individuals with the condition showed widespread reductions in structural similarity between key cognitive and emotional brain regions.

Finally, this week, researchers are exploring whether a person’s genetic risk for depression can help predict how multiple sclerosis (MS) progresses.

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Credit: PLOS Mental Health (2025). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmen.0000463

A recent study explores how physiological signals can reveal cognitive arousal—the level of mental alertness and emotional activation—without relying on subjective reporting.

New research reveals that women with long COVID show distinct biological disruptions — including gut inflammation, anaemia, and abnormal hormone levels — that may explain their heightened and persistent symptoms. These findings emerged from immune, biomarker, and genetic analyses in people one year after infection.

A new software enables brain simulations which both imitate the processes in the brain in detail and can solve challenging cognitive tasks.

University of Auckland researchers report that an 8-week, twice-weekly LSD microdosing regimen for major depressive disorder was feasible and well-tolerated, with Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) scores reduced by 59.5% at the end of treatment and sustained to six months.

Dance styles engage the brain in different ways depending on the movements, aesthetics, and emotions associated with the dance, according to a study published in Nature Communications.

New research shows that depression beginning before age 25 has a much stronger hereditary component than depression that emerges later in life. By analysing genetic data from over 150,000 people with depression, researchers identified distinct genetic regions linked specifically to early-onset cases.

Scientists have developed an innovative, non-invasive brain stimulation therapy to significantly improve visual function in stroke patients who have suffered vision loss following a stroke.

A rare intracranial brain-recording study revealed that tirzepatide, a GLP-1 and GIP receptor agonist, temporarily silences craving-related neural activity in a key reward circuit of the brain. Researchers observed that the drug initially shut down signaling in the nucleus accumbens of a patient with treatment-resistant obesity. However, after five months, both the “food noise” and the corresponding neural patterns returned, suggesting the effect was short-lived. The findings highlight how these metabolic drugs influence human brain circuits and underscore the need for more durable treatments targeting impulsivity in eating disorders.

Researchers report that ketogenic diets are associated with modest reductions in depressive symptoms in adults, while evidence for anxiety remains uncertain.

An international study has uncovered similar structural changes in the brains of young people diagnosed with anxiety disorders, depression, ADHD and conduct disorder, offering new insights into the biological roots of mental health conditions in children and young people.

A randomised, placebo-controlled trial shows that cannabis with active THC reduces immediate alcohol cravings and lowers drinking levels in heavy-drinking young adults.

New research shows that the brain distinguishes between “what an odour is” and “how it feels,” processing them at different times. After smelling, the brain sends a quick signal that identifies molecular features for differentiation.

“Drains” in the brain, responsible for clearing toxic waste in the organ, tend to get clogged up in people who show signs of developing Alzheimer’s disease, a new study shows.

Researchers have discovered how the brain keeps time for precise movements, revealing a neural “hourglass” mechanism between the motor cortex and striatum. The motor cortex sends timing signals that accumulate in the striatum until they reach a threshold that triggers action.

Finally this week, a new brain imaging study reveals that music activates the same chemical system in the brain that is responsible for the pleasure associated with food and social bonding.

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*A non-invasive imaging technique, 1H-MRS, can detect chemicals in different parts of the brain. Choline is represented by “Cho” in the above graph. Credit: UC Regents*

A new study shows that people with anxiety disorders tend to have lower levels of a chemical called choline in their brains compared to people without anxiety. Choline is a nutrient that plays an important role in brain function. It helps produce acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter involved in memory, mood regulation, and muscle control. It’s also a component of cell membranes, helping brain cells communicate efficiently.

Researchers have developed a highly sensitive diagnostic that predicts a person’s stage of dementia based on neurovascular and metabolic changes.

The way we speak in everyday conversation may hold important clues about brain health, according to a new study that found that subtle features of speech timing, such as pauses, fillers (‘uh,’ ‘um’) and word-finding difficulty, are strongly linked to executive function, the set of mental skills that support memory, planning and flexible thinking.

ADHD symptoms are influenced by socioeconomic factors in regions affected by conflict and resource limitations, a new study focusing on non-Western populations has found.

Infants born deaf or hard of hearing show adverse changes in how their brains organise and specialise, which can significantly affect their cognitive and linguistic development. However, recent studies indicate that timely exposure to sound and language, even in modified forms, can considerably help these children develop more normally and bridge the gap in their learning processes.

A research team has discovered extensive genetic links between neurological disorders like migraine, stroke and epilepsy, and psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia and depression.

New research reveals that trait shyness is linked to reduced spontaneous neural activity in the cerebellum, a brain region traditionally associated with motor control but increasingly recognised for its role in emotion and social cognition.

Scientists have developed the most detailed molecular map yet of how the brain develops and reacts to inflammation, revealing that disease processes can “reawaken” genes from early life.

A new brain decoding method called mind captioning can generate accurate text descriptions of what a person is seeing or recalling—without relying on the brain’s language system. Instead, it uses semantic features from vision-related brain activity and deep learning models to translate nonverbal thoughts into structured sentences.

Researchers have found that living in a socioeconomically deprived neighbourhood can harm brain health as early as midlife.

A new study reveals that autism symptom severity correlates with shared brain-connectivity patterns in children with autism or ADHD. Stronger autistic traits are linked to increased connectivity between frontoparietal and default-mode networks, which are vital for social cognition and executive functions.

Mayo Clinic researchers have developed a new tool that can estimate a person’s risk of developing memory and thinking problems associated with Alzheimer’s disease years before symptoms appear.

Using full-genome sequencing data from more than 347,000 individuals, researchers have quantified how much genetic variation explains human traits such as height, body mass index, fertility, and disease risk. The results show that genes account for roughly 30% of the variation between individuals, with higher estimates for traits like height and lower for fertility.

Finally this week, a large-scale study of more than 86,000 Europeans found that speaking multiple languages may help slow biological and cognitive aging.

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*Single-Cell Transcriptomic Atlas of the Human Habenula Credit: American Journal of Psychiatry (2025)*

New research published in the American Journal of Psychiatry provides new molecular insights into the role of the habenula, a pea-sized brain region that helps regulate motivation and mood, in contributing to the risk of schizophrenia.

In an article published in Brain Medicine, a European research team presents a focused review of emerging neuromodulation techniques for treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

A study using wearable scanning technology has revealed how brain function differs in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). This is the first study to utilise this newly developed technology in MS, demonstrating its potential for investigating neurological diseases.

A new large-scale, open data resource helps researchers link brain development with mental health disorders.

Scientists have created one of the most comprehensive single-cell maps of the developing human brain. The atlas captures nearly every cell type, their genetic fingerprints, and how they grow and interact. It also benchmarks best-in-class laboratory methods for producing high-quality neurons, marking a significant step toward new therapies for Parkinson’s disease and other brain disorders.

Creative experience might enhance brain health, potentially slowing the brain’s ageing.

For the first time, scientists have mapped the genetic architecture of the brain’s communication bridge—the corpus callosum—using AI and MRI data from over 50,000 people. The study uncovered dozens of genes that shape the size and thickness of this vital structure, many of which are active during prenatal development when the brain’s wiring is established.

Researchers have discovered that the gut’s rhythmic muscle movements may help explain how blood vessels in the brain expand and contract in coordination.

Researchers have uncovered a previously overlooked role of the hippocampus in shaping memory, revealing how social interactions can enhance the brain’s ability to convert fleeting experiences into lasting memories.

An analysis of brain scans from 572 people reveals that activity in brain regions linked to reward and social processing can predict how effective messages will be. The work is published in PNAS Nexus.

Differences between men and women in intelligence and behaviour have been proposed and disputed for decades. Now, a growing body of scientific evidence shows hundreds of genes act differently in the brains of biologically male or female humans. What this means isn’t yet clear, though some of the genes may be linked to sex-biased brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

A new study reveals that humans possess a form of “remote touch,” enabling them to detect hidden objects in sand without making direct contact.

A week-long retreat combining meditation and mind-body healing produced significant changes in brain activity and blood biology, demonstrating how consciousness-based practices can transform physical health. Participants showed reduced default-mode activity, enhanced neural connectivity, elevated natural opioids, immune activation, and metabolic shifts—effects that extended beyond the brain into the entire body.

Scientists have created an advanced visual neuroprosthesis that communicates bidirectionally with the brain, marking one of the most significant steps yet toward restoring functional vision

A new study has found that consuming unsalted, skin-roasted peanuts can significantly improve brain vascular function and memory. The findings were published online in the international, peer-reviewed journal Clinical Nutrition.

A new imagery-focused therapy called iMAPS may help people with psychosis gain control over disturbing mental images that fuel paranoia, fear, and hallucinations.

Finally, this week, a new brain decoding method called mind captioning can generate accurate text descriptions of what a person is seeing or recalling—without relying on the brain’s language system. Instead, it uses semantic features from vision-related brain activity and deep learning models to translate nonverbal thoughts into structured sentences.

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Credit: *Neuroscience* (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2025.06.032

Memory loss may not simply be a symptom of getting older. New research shows that it’s tied to specific molecular changes in the brain and that adjusting those processes can improve memory.

An international consortium of researchers has created the largest-ever database compiling records of brain activity during sleep and dream reports. One of the first analyses of the database confirmed that dreams do not occur only during REM sleep, but also during deeper and calmer NREM stages. In these cases, brain activity resembles wakefulness more than deep sleep, as if the brain were “partially awake.”

A smartphone app for muscle relaxation significantly reduced migraine-related disability in patients visiting the emergency department.

A new study reveals that sleep-like slow-wave brain activity can persist for years in surgically disconnected brain hemispheres of awake epilepsy patients. Using EEG recordings, researchers found that the isolated cortex exhibits patterns similar to deep sleep, anesthesia, or vegetative states—suggesting absent or reduced awareness.

People 60 and older who are excessively sleepy during the day may have more problems with memory and thinking after surgery, suggests a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2025 annual meeting.

Doctors and researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC have developed a new treatment for epilepsy patients who don’t respond to medication and aren’t candidates for surgery. Their approach, published in Nature Communications, uses deep brain stimulation (DBS) that is tailored to each patient’s unique brain wiring.

A new computational tool has uncovered genetic evidence directly linking Alzheimer’s disease to the loss of memory-making neurons, helping to resolve a decades-long mystery in dementia research.

While studies have linked brain areas to remembering personal experiences, brain areas involved in learning more impersonal information about the world remain unclear. In a new JNeurosci paper, researchers used fMRI on 29 human volunteers as they performed a learning task to shed light on how the brain acquires semantic, impersonal information.

Researchers have traced the earliest stages of multiple sclerosis (MS), showing that the immune system begins attacking the brain up to seven years before diagnosis.

New research has provided the strongest evidence yet that auditory verbal hallucinations—or hearing voices—in schizophrenia may stem from a disruption in the brain’s ability to recognise its own inner voice.

Adults with gum disease may be more likely to have signs of damage to the brain’s white matter than people without gum disease, according to a study published in Neurology Open Access.

A team of researchers has developed and tested a new virtual reality (VR) training task designed to help stroke survivors living with visuospatial neglect (VSN), a disabling condition that affects attention and awareness of one side of space. The exploratory case study is among the first to integrate audiovisual cues within a physiotherapy-based VR task to support rehabilitation.

Finally, this week, listening to music when you are over 70 years of age has been linked to a 39% reduction in the risk of dementia, according to a new study of over 10,800 older people.

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Participants were more likely to perceive the avatar’s expression as angry when they actively avoided the avatar, compared to when the avatar moved away from them. Credit: (C)Toyohashi University Of Technology.

A research team from the Cognitive Neurotechnology Unit and the Visual Perception and Cognition Laboratory at Toyohashi University of Technology has found that approach–avoidance behavior in a virtual reality (VR) environment modulates how individuals recognize facial expressions.

A McGill University-led clinical trial is the first in humans to show online brain training exercises can improve brain networks affecting learning and memory.

A new study reveals that the human brain synchronizes more accurately with rhythm when listening to music than when feeling it through touch. When people tap along to sound, slow rhythmic brain waves align with the perceived beat, helping maintain steady timing.

Psilocybin could be the future of mental health care, with promising findings emerging from Australia’s first research trial using psychedelics to treat depression.

An international research team led by a University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine investigator has revealed intricate details about how nerve signals activate at the neuromuscular junction. This specialized synapse connects motor neurons to skeletal muscle fibers.

A ‘digital twin’ of your brain could predict mental health issues and slow cognitive decline.

A study published in Environment International concludes that air pollution during pregnancy is associated with slower brain maturation in newborns. It is the first study to analyze brain development within the first month of life.

A new clinical trial is investigating how advanced brain monitoring could improve the diagnosis and management of epilepsy.

University of California San Diego of Medicine researchers, in collaboration with the genetic testing company 23andMe, have identified regions of the human genome associated with cannabis use, uncovering new relationships with psychiatric, cognitive and physical health.

The conditions where you live may influence your brain health and risk for dementia, according to a new study.

Women are affected by severe depression twice as often as men. The reasons for this have not yet been fully clarified. One potential factor is sex-specific differences in the blood-brain barrier. Scientists are conducting research on the project “Leaky blood-brain barrier in major depressive disorder.” A particular focus is on sex-specific differences.

New research reveals how uniquely wired human brains can perceive the world in strikingly similar ways.

A new study published in Scientific Reports indicates that amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and multiple sclerosis (MS) have an extremely high geographic association, even after controlling for race, gender, wealth, latitude, and access to neurological health care.

Finally, this week, a ‘ flight simulator‘ for the brain reveals how we learn—and why minds sometimes go off course.

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Opioid blockade (Naltrexone condition; right side) relative to placebo (Control condition; left side) selectively eliminated attentional broadening after reward receipt (A), but did not change attentional narrowing after reward anticipation (B) or reward-related performance speed on the lexical decision task (C). Credit: Psychological Medicine (2025).

Feeling good doesn’t just lift our mood—it also helps us stay flexible and resilient. A study by an international team of neuroscientists shows that natural brain opioids released after rewards play a key role in broadening attention, offering fresh insights into stress, cognition, and well-being.

A ground-breaking study has shown that ALS may actually be an autoimmune disease.

Engaging in creative experiences, such as music, dance, visual arts, and even specific video games, can slow brain aging and promote healthier brain function, according to a new international study by the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI), published in Nature Communications.

Can your brain attune itself to a foreign language before you’re born? A team of neuropsychology researchers has found that it can.

A new study reveals that the brain’s social perception pathway—a network that processes faces, gaze, and speech—is already active at birth or shortly thereafter. Using advanced imaging data, researchers showed that newborns exhibit robust connectivity in regions responsible for visual and social processing.

Scientists have discovered why mental maps tend to fade with age.

A new study has identified five distinct “sleep-biopsychosocial” profiles that connect how we sleep with our brain networks, mental health, cognition, and lifestyle. Using data from over 700 participants, researchers found that different sleep patterns—ranging from poor quality to resilience and short duration—each showed unique neural connectivity patterns.

A large-scale international study has revealed that autism diagnosed in early childhood is genetically and developmentally distinct from autism diagnosed later in life.

Scientists have developed a new mathematical model of memory that explores how information is encoded and stored. Their analysis suggests that memory works best in a seven-dimensional conceptual space — equivalent to having seven senses. The finding implies that both humans and AI might benefit from broader sensory inputs to optimize learning and recall.

Researchers have identified a rare type of brain cell that may drive the chronic inflammation and neurodegeneration seen in progressive multiple sclerosis (MS).

A new study shows that bullying activates distress pathways in the brain within seconds. Tweens and adults who viewed first-person bullying videos displayed heightened activity in social and emotional brain networks, alongside strong autonomic threat responses.

New research sheds light on the mechanisms by which humans can isolate and focus on individual sounds in noisy environments.

Scientists have revealed that intentional memory control—deciding what to remember or forget—is more potent than emotional influence when forming long-term memories. Participants were more likely to recall words they were told to remember than those carrying emotional weight, even though emotion sometimes strengthened recall or caused false memories.

Finally, this week, a new study reveals how the brain organizes and directs its slowest activity.

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*Experimental tasks and behavioral results. Credit: Science Advances (2025)*

Musical people find it easier to focus their attention on the right sounds in noisy environments. This is shown in a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal Science Advances. The results suggest that music training can be used to sharpen attention and cognition.

A major UK study has revealed that the early warning signs of multiple sclerosis (MS) may appear years before diagnosis and affect all communities in similar ways.

Pea-sized brains grown in a lab have, for the first time, revealed the unique way neurons might misfire due to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, psychiatric ailments that affect millions of people worldwide but are difficult to diagnose because of the lack of understanding of their molecular basis.

Researchers have developed a minimally invasive method for recording brain activity through blood vessels.

A long-term study tracking 475 children found that autistic children are far more likely to experience persistent gastrointestinal issues than their peers. These symptoms often co-occur, persist throughout childhood, and are strongly related to challenges with sleep, communication, behavior, and sensory processing.

Science and artificial intelligence have combined in a study that could lead to personalized repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, or rTMS, for smokers who want to quit.

New research suggests that when people listen to speech at varying speeds, the auditory cortex does not adjust its timing but instead processes sound within a fixed time window. This discovery challenges the long-standing idea that the brain flexibly adapts its processing pace to match speech rhythms.

Neuroscientists are leveraging music’s ability to synchronize brain waves to enhance the effectiveness of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).

Fluctuations in brain activity, also known as neural variability, enable us to be flexible in adjusting our behavior to the current situation. A new study shows that neural variability increases throughout development before stabilizing in adolescence. And deviating from this trajectory is associated with worse executive functioning.

Scientists have identified a previously underexplored population of hypothalamic neurons that plays a pivotal role in regulating energy expenditure.

A new study reveals that our brain’s attention system first prepares broadly, then focuses on specific details within fractions of a second. Using EEG and machine learning, researchers tracked how people focused on either the colour or the movement of dots before they appeared.

The first major data release from the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study has provided researchers with a groundbreaking resource to study early childhood brain development.

A study published in The Cerebellum provides initial experimental evidence that a single session of cerebellar High-Definition Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (HD-tDCS) may help to maintain anticipatory and consummatory pleasure and enhance reward sensitivity in healthy individuals.

New research finds that regional fat distribution exerts distinct effects on brain structure, connectivity and cognition, revealing patterns not explained by body mass index (BMI).

A new study reveals that fluoxetine, more commonly known as Prozac, does more than simply increase serotonin—it alters how brain cells utilize energy and form new connections. After two weeks of treatment, parvalbumin interneurons in the prefrontal cortex became less rigid, with mitochondrial energy genes reduced and plasticity genes upregulated.

Depression’s earliest signs can be hard to spot, but a new study shows AI can detect them in subtle facial movements.

A new five-year study explores how dopamine may drive changes in brain myelin during social isolation. Researchers will track how dopamine interacts with oligodendrocytes, the cells responsible for producing myelin and supporting neuron function.

Scientists have revealed a key mechanism in how our brains change when we learn new information or form memories.

Humans excel at adapting to new situations, while machines often stumble. A new interdisciplinary study reveals that the root of the issue lies in how humans and AI approach “generalization,” the process of transferring knowledge to new problems.

Finally this week, according to new research, habit, rather than conscious choice, drives most of our actions.

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New research shows that the adult brain can generate new neurons that integrate into key motor circuits. The findings demonstrate that stimulating natural brain processes may help repair damaged neural networks in Huntington’s and other diseases.

A study published in Brain Communications highlights a new approach to treating drug-resistant epilepsy.

A novel human study with intracranial recordings demonstrates the thalamus’s pivotal role, especially its higher-order regions, in the onset of conscious perception, with activation preceding that of the prefrontal cortex.

New findings reveal that long-term obesity patterns have distinct impacts on brain structure, function, and cognition.

Researchers have discovered new potential therapeutic targets for multiple sclerosis (MS). While current treatments prevent further damage, the current findings may form the starting point for the development of new treatments for tissue recovery in MS. The research is published in the journal Brain.

Research published in the Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging has uncovered changes in brain connectivity during chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer.

Mass General Brigham investigators have linked difficult early life experiences with reduced quality and quantity of the white matter communication highways throughout the adolescent brain. This reduced connectivity is also associated with lower performance on cognitive tasks.

A team of engineers has developed a microscale brain–computer interface that is small enough to be placed between hair follicles on a user’s head.

Researchers have identified specific high-order thalamic nuclei that drive human conscious perception by activating the prefrontal cortex. Their findings enhance understanding of how the brain forms conscious experience, offering new empirical support for theories that assign a central role to thalamic structures rather than cortical areas alone.

A natural compound found in everyday fruits and vegetables may hold the key to protecting nerve cells—and it’s showing promise as a potential treatment for ALS and dementia.

New research highlights how smartphones are transforming memory science by capturing real-world data on sleep, emotion, and daily experiences. Studies show that replaying memories before sleep, experiencing novel events, and feeling positive emotions can all strengthen autobiographical memory.

An artificial intelligence tool that can help interpret and assess how well treatments are working for patients with multiple sclerosis has been developed by UCL researchers.

A recent study indicates that brain cells possess a higher degree of plasticity than previously understood. This suggests that the brain’s ability to adapt and change throughout life is more extensive than earlier scientific models suggested.

Researchers have discovered that increased blood flow leads to stiffness in the hippocampus, a region of the brain that plays important roles in learning and memory.

By mapping the presynaptic inputs to single neurons within the primary somatosensory cortex researchers have shown how these neurons integrate brain-wide signals related to behavior, offering a more nuanced understanding of cortical activity.

Seventeen modifiable risk factors are shared by stroke, dementia, and late-life depression, according to a review published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

A recent study has shown how aspects of brain function change with age, revealing that excitatory processes in the brain decrease, while inhibitory processes increase as children get older. The findings are an important step in understanding disorders like autism.

Finally this week, research shows that a blow to the head can significantly impact a child’s or adolescent’s future education. Even a mild concussion can have far-reaching consequences.