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…
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…
A study by a Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) research team finds that neurogenesis — inducing the production of new neurons — in the brain structure…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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,…
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…
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…
Yale scientists have identified a possible neurobiological home for the spiritual experience — the sense of connection to something greater than oneself. Activity in the…
Planning a trip to Mars? You’ll want to remember your anti-radiation pills. NASA and private space companies like SpaceX plan to send humans to the…
Our cerebral cortex, a sheet of neurons, connections and circuits, comprises “ancient” regions such as the hippocampus and “new” areas such as the six-layered “neocortex”,…
Soon after an individual’s initial infection with HIV, damage to brain volume and cortical thickness progressively worsens until anti-retroviral treatment is started, a new study…
A computer-aided network shows how ion channels in the membrane of neurons are able to control such wide-ranging abilities as short-term memory and brain waves….
New research has shown how an unusual gene is needed for brain development in young mice. Since the human genome was first sequenced in 2001,…
Scientists have identified several genes that when mutated can cause children to be born with microcephaly, or abnormally small heads. But exactly how these genes…
Searching the entire genome, a Yale research team has identified a gene that when eliminated can spur regeneration of axons in nerve cells severed by…