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Reprogramming brain cells enables flexible decision-making

Humans, like other animals, have the ability to constantly adapt to new situations. Researchers have utilized a mouse model to reveal which neurons in the brain are in command in guiding adaptive behavior. Their new study contributes to our understandi…

Older people with early, asymptomatic Alzheimer’s at risk of falls

Older people without cognitive problems who experience a fall may have undetected neurodegeneration in their brains that puts them at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s dementia, according to a new study.

Key role of immune cells in brain infection

Researchers have identified the specific type of immune cell that induces brain inflammation in herpes simplex virus (HSV) encephalitis. Crucially, they have also determined the signalling protein that calls this immune cell into the brain from the blo…

Real neurons are noisy: Can neural implants figure that out?

Signals sent from the retina to the brain have a lot of background noise, yet we see the world clearly. Researchers show that to achieve visual clarity the brain must accurately measure how this noise is distributed across neurons when processing the s…

New dopamine sensors could help unlock the mysteries of brain chemistry

Scientists developed dLight1, a single fluorescent protein-based biosensor. This sensor allows high resolution, real-time imaging of the spatial and temporal release of dopamine in live animals. Now, the team expanded the color spectrum of dLight1 to Y…

Risk gene for Alzheimer’s has early effects on the brain

A genetic predisposition to late-onset Alzheimer’s disease affects how the brains of young adults cope with certain memory tasks. Researchers find are based on studies with magnetic resonance imaging in individuals at the age of about 20 years. The sci…

Immune system affects mind and body, study indicates

Researchers have discovered that a molecule produced by the immune system acts on the brain to change the behavior of mice.

New X-ray microscopy technique enables comprehensive imaging of dense neural circuits

A new x-ray microscopy technique could help accelerate efforts to map neural circuits and ultimately the brain itself. Combined with artificial intelligence-driven image analysis, researchers used XNH to reconstruct dense neural circuits in 3D, compreh…

Certain coping strategies can help offset pandemic’s mental health hits

The early days of the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to negative mental health effects for many in the U.S., according to new Penn State research. But the researchers also found that some coping techniques — like wearing masks and focusing on self-care…

Touch-and-know: Brain activity during tactile stimuli reveals hand preferences in people

Scientists show that it is possible to distinguish between left-handed and right-handed people by noninvasively monitoring just their brain activity during passive tactile stimulation. These results are key in haptic research (the study of sensory syst…