Neurons News and Research

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Discovery Reveals Spinal Neurons as Active Players in Sexual Behavior

For decades, it was thought that while the brain orchestrated male sexual behavior – arousal, courtship, and copulation – the spinal cord merely executed the final act: ejaculation. But a study from the Champalimaud Foundation (CF) challenges that tidy division.

25 Sep 2025

Astrocytes Found to Integrate Signals from Multiple Neurons

A collaborative French-Swiss study reveals a previously unknown role for astrocytes in the brain's information processing.

25 Sep 2025

Cryo-EM Study Uncovers Hidden Steps in NMDA Receptor Activation

When it comes to brain proteins, small changes can make a dramatic difference. Researchers studying NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptors, which are essential for learning, memory and moment-by-moment consciousness, know that even slight changes in their activity level can mean the difference between normal function and serious neurological disorders.

25 Sep 2025

Honeybee Food-Sharing Genes Linked to Human Social Behavior

The study links genetic variation to honeybee sociability, revealing insights into food-sharing behavior and its evolutionary significance in social networks.

25 Sep 2025

Understanding Proprioception and Motor Control in Fruit Flies

In a fruit fly, nerve cells that detect limb movement are silenced when the insect walks or grooms. This on-off switch may help the nervous system to shift between two states: one helps keep the body steady and the other readies it to move.

22 Sep 2025

Metastatic Lung Cancer Cells Cozy Up to Neurons and Form Synapses

Small cell lung cancer cells that metastasize to the brain cozy up to neurons and form working electrical connections, called synapses, according to an upcoming study led by Stanford Medicine researchers.

11 Sep 2025

PhoBITs Enable Unprecedented Control of Cellular Pathways with Blue Light

Imagine being able to flip a light switch to control disease pathways inside a living cell. A team of visionary researchers at the Texas A&M University Health Science Center (Texas A&M Health) is making this dream a reality with their groundbreaking genetic tools known as photo-inducible binary interaction tools, or PhoBITs.

10 Sep 2025

Researchers Develop New Technique to Detect Causality in Neural Spike Trains

Understanding the brain's functional architecture is a fundamental challenge in neuroscience. The connections between neurons ultimately dictate how information is processed, transmitted, stored, and retrieved, thus forming the basis of our cognitive functions.

10 Sep 2025

Stress Reshapes Brain Cells and Alters Activity in Mice

Canadian researchers show that stress modifies the morphology of brain cells in mice, directly influencing the rodents' level of physical activity.

5 Sep 2025

Researchers Uncover Toggle Switch Guiding Stem Cell Fate in Olfactory Neurons

Cellular differentiation of stem cells into specialized cells requires many steps, including division, to create more cells; fate determination, which is a commitment to a specific lineage or developmental path; and migration, to integrate the cell into its final location.

29 Aug 2025

Study Uncovers Connection Between Neuronal Overactivation and Parkinson’s Disease

Certain brain cells are responsible for coordinating smooth, controlled movements of the body. But when those cells are constantly overactivated for weeks on end, they degenerate and ultimately die.

28 Aug 2025

PV Interneurons Regulate Social Behavior and Empathy in Mice

A special set of neurons directs mice's attention to or away from their peers, depending on the situation. The Kobe University discovery has implications for finding causes for neuropsychiatric conditions such as autism spectrum disorder or schizophrenia.

27 Aug 2025

Genetic Signatures of Neural Progenitor Cells Uncovered in the Adult Brain

For much of the 20th century it was thought that the adult brain was incapable of regeneration. This view has since shifted dramatically and neurogenesis – the birth of new neurons – is now a widely accepted phenomenon in the adult brain, offering promising avenues for treating many neurological conditions.

22 Aug 2025