Brain News and Research

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The human brain is the center of the human nervous system and is a highly complex organ. Enclosed in the cranium, it has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times as large as the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size.

Research Reevaluates Crucial Microtubule Stabilizing Protein in Dementia Progression

A protein named tau, which has been highly implicated in the world's No. 1 cause of dementia - Alzheimer's disease - and several other neurodegenerative disorders, may spur these diseases in a way that differs greatly from the pathological pathway usually ascribed to it.

7 Aug 2026

Emerging m6A RNA Biology Explains Brain Vulnerability to Environmental Hazards

A growing understanding of RNA biology is reshaping how scientists view the relationship between environmental toxicants, brain development, and neurodegenerative disease.

7 Aug 2026

Living Organisms Depend on Bacterial Production of Critical Vitamin B12

All living organisms need a little bit of it to form red blood cells and DNA, as well as to build and support brain and nerve cells. But it's hard to come by: Humans don't make it. Animals don't make it. Plants don't make it.

7 Aug 2026

Blood Immune Cells Cross Protective Barriers to Transform Aging Brains

The brain's immune system has long been thought to exist independently from the rest of the body, complete with its own specialized immune cells and a blood-brain barrier that limits what can travel into the brain.

6 Aug 2026

Macrophages Release Brain Protein Beacon Drawing Nerves Into Breast Tumors

New research from the University of Oklahoma demonstrates how an aggressive form of breast cancer co-opts the body's own immune system to attract nerves that fuel tumor growth.

5 Aug 2026

Mapping Spatial Genome Architecture Unlocks Hidden Biological Mechanisms Behind Genetic Risk

Much of how genetic risk leads to disease has remained hidden. In many cases, genetic variants linked to disease do not act on nearby genes along the chromosome. Instead, they influence genes located far away along the DNA sequence.

5 Aug 2026

Researchers Develop Efficient Method to Deliver Mitochondria Into Target Cells

Inside almost every cell in our body are tiny structures called organelles that keep us alive and functioning.

3 Aug 2026

Joint Research Team Demonstrates New Cell Sequencing Strategy for Glioblastoma

A joint research team led by Professor Sungsu Park of Sungkyunkwan University and Professor Sun-Ha Paek of Seoul National University College of Medicine has demonstrated for the first time that the sequence in which immune cells interact with cancer cells can critically influence the therapeutic response in glioblastoma.

3 Aug 2026

Researchers Identify Neurons Responsible for Regulating Motivated Behavior

What enables us to sustain effort toward goals, even when the task becomes increasingly difficult? A recent study by researchers at Nagoya University in Japan revealed the underlying brain mechanism, showing that orexin neurons play a crucial role in driving and regulating motivated behavior.

3 Aug 2026

Innovative SenMayo Gene Set Consistently Identifies Diverse Senescent Cells

A series of seven Mayo Clinic studies is helping reshape scientists' understanding of senescent, or "zombie," cells - aging cells that no longer divide but remain metabolically active and release inflammatory molecules that contribute to age-related diseases.

31 Jul 2026

New Base Editing Strategy Rewrites Genetic Code to Minimize Huntington's Symptoms

A gene editing tool designed to precisely rewrite the gene that causes Huntington's disease reduced toxic protein fragments and symptoms associated with the disease in mice, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign report.

30 Jul 2026

New Imaging Workflow Tracks Nanoplastics Distribution in Neonatal Mouse Brains

Nanoplastics-plastic particles smaller than one micrometer-are generated through the degradation and abrasion of plastic products and are increasingly detected in food, drinking water, air, and biological tissues.

30 Jul 2026

University of Oklahoma Study Uncovers Internal Recycling System in Photoreceptors

For decades, scientists believed that photoreceptors in the retina relied primarily on neighboring support cells, known as the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), to remove waste. While the RPE is still responsible for clearing away the worn-out tips of photoreceptors each day, new findings from the University of Oklahoma reveal that photoreceptors also perform much of their own internal housekeeping.

30 Jul 2026

Study Provides New Insights for the Development of Novel Antifungal Drug Targets

This study was conducted by the research group of Professor Liao Guojian from the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Southwest University. Candidate genes potentially involved in lysine synthesis in C. neoformans were identified and knocked out.

29 Jul 2026

Scientists Discover How Brain Cells Overcome the Effects of a Disease-Causing Genetic Deletion

Scientists at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC have discovered how an experimental therapy can help brain cells overcome the effects of a disease-causing genetic deletion.

29 Jul 2026

New Framework Uses Genetic Variant Data to Recall Biobank Participants

Clinical biobanks that combine genomic data with electronic health records (EHRs) have become powerful resources for discovering genetic variants associated with disease.

28 Jul 2026

Study Uncovers Two Distinct Embryonic Macrophage Populations with Different Repair Abilities

In leukemia's most aggressive forms, the blood cell factories in our bone marrow falter. Instead of dividing and multiplying at their usual prolific pace, generating hundreds of billions of new cells daily, some precursor cells stall out at an immature stage.

27 Jul 2026