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Automated detection of sleep states from olfactory brain waves

Scientists have developed a completely automated technique for real-time detection of sleep/wake states in freely moving mice.

Culture may explain why brains have become bigger

A theory called the cultural brain hypothesis could explain extraordinary increases in brain size in humans and other animals over the last few million years, according to a new study.

Can stimulating the brain treat chronic pain?

For the first time, researchers have shown they could target one brain region with a weak alternating current of electricity, enhance the naturally occurring brain rhythms of that region, and significantly decrease symptoms associated with chronic lowe…

Neurons that fire together, don’t always wire together

As the adage goes ‘neurons that fire together, wire together,’ but a new article demonstrates that, in addition to response similarity, projection target also constrains local connectivity.

Brain learns to recognize familiar faces regardless of where they are in the visual field

A new study finds that recognition of faces varies by where they appear in the visual field and this variability is reduced by learning familiar faces through social interactions. The findings suggest that repeated social interactions may tune populati…

Unraveling the neural code of the anxious brain

By measuring the brain activity of participants across a series of days, scientists have encountered the neural signature of low mood in anxious brains.

One type of brain cell might hold key to inflammation after head injury

By eliminating one type of immune cell in the brain, researchers were able to erase any evidence of inflammation following traumatic brain injury, according to a new study.

Tiny molecule has big effect in childhood brain tumor studies

A very small molecule under study is able to kill a childhood brain cancer, and the lead researcher said it may be possible to reduce by 90 percent the amount of chemotherapy and radiation required to kill such tumors.

Singing may reduce stress, improve motor function for people with Parkinson’s disease

Singing may provide benefits beyond improving respiratory and swallow control in people with Parkinson’s disease, according to new data. The results from the pilot study revealed improvements in mood and motor symptoms, as well as reduced physiological…

Ultrasound releases drug to alter activity in targeted brain areas in rats

Scientists have developed a noninvasive way of delivering drugs to within a few millimeters of a desired point in the brain. The method, tested in rats, uses focused ultrasound to jiggle drug molecules loose from nanoparticle ‘cages’ that have been inj…