Researchers Discover Human-Specific Gene for Building a Bigger Brain
The human brain owes its characteristic wrinkled appearance to its outer layer, the cerebral cortex. During human evolution, the neocortex, the evolutionarily youngest part of…
Neurology
Genomic Analysis Reveals Roots of Neuropsychiatric Diseases
The most comprehensive genomic analysis of the human brain ever undertaken has revealed new insights into the changes it undergoes through development, how it varies…
Study Shows Connection Between Brain Size and Cognitive Performance
Using a larger dataset than all previous studies on the subject combined, researchers found a small but significant connection between brain size and cognitive performance….
Alcohol Dependence and Psychiatric Disorders Share Genetic Links
Gene variants associated with alcohol dependence are also linked to the risk of psychiatric disorders and other drug use, a massive study of more than…
Neuroscientists Identify Brain Activity Pattern Linked to Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia, a brain disorder that produces hallucinations, delusions, and cognitive impairments, usually strikes during adolescence or young adulthood. While some signs can suggest that a…
New Research Explains How LSD Changes Perception
Psychedelic drugs such as LSD have a profound impact on human consciousness, particularly perception. Researchers at Yale and the University of Zurich provide new insight…
Dendrites Help Explain the Unique Computing Power of Our Brain
Neurons in the human brain receive electrical signals from thousands of other cells, and long neural extensions called dendrites play a critical role in incorporating…
Protein ASTN2 Provides New Insight Into Autism and Other Brain Disorders
In the brain, as in business, connections are everything. To maintain cellular associates, the outer surface of a neuron, its membrane, must express particular proteins—proverbial…
Yale Scientists Detect Early Warning Sign of Psychosis
Brains of people at risk of psychosis exhibit a pattern that can help predict whether they will go on to develop full-fledged schizophrenia, a new…
Physical Exercise Improves Cognition in Alzheimer’s Disease
A study by a Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) research team finds that neurogenesis — inducing the production of new neurons — in the brain structure…
Scientists Discover Protein Responsible for Hearing and Balance
Scientists at Harvard Medical School say they have ended a 40-year-quest for the elusive identity of the sensor protein responsible for hearing and balance. The…
New Study Shows Dehydration Alters Human Brain Shape and Activity
When dehydration strikes, part of the brain can swell, neural signaling can intensify, and doing monotonous tasks can get harder. With the help of brain…
New Test for Alzheimer’s Disease Directly Measures Synaptic Loss
Yale researchers have tested a new method for directly measuring synaptic loss in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. The method, which uses PET imaging technology to…
New Genetic Study Links Stem Cell Mutations to Hydrocephalus
Hydrocephalus is characterized by a dangerous buildup of pressure on the brain caused by excessive amounts of fluid. Researchers have long believed that the condition,…
Neurologists Discover Mechanism That Helps Brain Cells Communicate
The nervous system depends upon the tightly regulated spatial and temporal communication that occurs between neurons at specialized connections called synapses. Chemical signals called neurotransmitters,…
Neuroscientists Discover Fundamental Rule of Brain Plasticity
Our brains are famously flexible, or “plastic,” because neurons can do new things by forging new or stronger connections with other neurons. But if some…
New Technique Fine-Tunes Treatment for Epilepsy Patients
One of three epilepsy patients experience no relief from drugs and are candidates for surgery. An advance by researchers at Yale and the Cleveland Clinic…
Scientists Identify Possible Neurobiological Home for Spiritual Experiences
Yale scientists have identified a possible neurobiological home for the spiritual experience — the sense of connection to something greater than oneself. Activity in the…