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.

Ancient Brainstem Neurons That Help The Brain Ignore Distractions

The PLTi circuit in the brainstem plays a key role in spatial attention, enabling target selection by suppressing distractions without affecting vision.

2 Jul 2026

New Study Defines Molecular Features That Guide the Oncogenic Enzyme Called NSUN2

An RNA-modifying enzyme linked to cancer and neurological disorders selects its targets by recognizing specific RNA shapes and sequences, according to a study by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers. The findings, published in Nature, define the molecular features that guide the enzyme, NSUN2, to the RNAs it modifies and could help researchers investigate how abnormal RNA modification contributes to disease.

1 Jul 2026

Wearable Device Restores Touch And Hand Movement

The SensoExo system enhances hand function through robotic support and electrical nerve stimulation, offering new hope for those with neurological impairments.

1 Jul 2026

Researchers Identify Crucial Cell Death in Down Syndrome

Researchers at the Alzheimer's Center at Temple have identified evidence of a new form of cell death known as necroptosis in the brains of individuals with Down Syndrome, with the corresponding biomarkers providing new clues to potential treatment also for Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

1 Jul 2026

EPFL Study Reveals Mice Actively Seek Better Visual Infotaxis

Animals don't experience the world passively. A hawk tilts its head to track prey. A person leans forward to read a sign. Scientists call this "active sensing": moving the body to gather better information.

1 Jul 2026

Sleep helps neural networks recover adaptive performance after absorbing daily life shocks

Every animal that has ever been studied closely, from the fruit fly to the philosopher, surrenders each day to a state that looks, from the outside, like a small rehearsal for death.

1 Jul 2026

University of Utah Study Identifies Arc Protein as Alzheimer's Driver

Alzheimer's disease is driven by a buildup of a toxic protein called Tau that kills neurons. As toxic Tau spreads to new regions of the brain, symptoms become worse and ultimately fatal.

30 Jun 2026

Three Hundred Million Year Old Fish Brain Overturns Paleontology Assumptions

Over 300 million years ago, a minnow-sized fish died and fell to the bottom of the prehistoric swamp near the village of Trawden, Lancashire, in northwest England.

30 Jun 2026

Researchers Develop Non-Toxic Way to Generate the Symptoms of Parkinson's Disease

Scientists usually use animal models when studying Parkinson's disease because these models mimic the disease well.

30 Jun 2026

Researchers Analyze Dopamine Dynamics Governing Human Learning and Memory

Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC neuroscientist Read Montague is heading to Braitenberg 100 at Germany's Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, joining the researchers who helped build modern computational neuroscience.

29 Jun 2026

Salk Institute Decodes Molecular Timeline of Age-Related Neurodegeneration

Neurodegenerative diseases affect tens of millions of people worldwide.

26 Jun 2026

Open-Source Genomic Tool Accelerates Diagnoses for Rare Diseases

A newly developed open-source tool designed for rigorous reanalysis of genomic data is highly effective at detecting new rare disease diagnoses.

26 Jun 2026

New Karyoptosis Mechanism Linked to Alzheimer's and Frontotemporal Dementia

Markers of a new mechanism for cell death, called karyoptosis, have been found in brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia (FTD).

26 Jun 2026

Scientists Decode 3D Structure of Vision Proteins to Fight Blindness

They allow us to see the world in thousands of colors: red strawberries, green leaves, the blue sky.

26 Jun 2026

Researchers Discover Molecules Targeting Vital Cell Signaling Proteins

To function normally, nearly every cell in the human body relies on G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) to receive and send signals. That's why GPCRs are targeted by roughly one-third of all FDA‑approved drugs.

25 Jun 2026

Early Visual Experiences Reshape the Retina and Change Behavior

King's College London neuroscientists examined the fish over the first five days of their lives to see if the visual characteristics of their upbringing had an impact on the development of the eye's cells.

24 Jun 2026

Immune Pathway Breakthrough Reveals Critical Sex Differences in Female Glioblastoma

Researchers have identified a critical biological difference in how glioblastoma develops in male and female laboratory models, pinpointing an immune pathway that fuels tumor growth only in females.

24 Jun 2026

Scientists Move Beyond Individual Genes to Decode Schizophrenia’s Complex Genetic Network

Scientists have long known that schizophrenia runs in families, but pinpointing exactly which genes contribute to risk has been like searching for needles in a haystack. Now, researchers at the Lieber Institute for Brain Development and a consortium of collaborators from the University of Bari, Italy, and over 60 psychiatric hospitals all over the world, have developed a groundbreaking approach that looks beyond individual genes.

23 Jun 2026

Scientists Discover Hidden Brain Development Signaling Pathway

The cytoskeleton gives cells their shape and helps them move. Researchers at Helmholtz Munich and the Ludwig Maximilian University now show that, in neural stem cells, proteins of the cytoskeleton are also found in the cell nucleus, where they can influence developmental programs.

23 Jun 2026

Penn Study Uses AI to Discover Prion-Based Antibiotics

New antibiotic candidates for drug-resistant bacteria may reside inside prions, mis-folded protein in the brain best known for rare and fatal degenerative brain diseases.

22 Jun 2026