Neurons News and Research

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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

MIT Researchers Unlock the Hidden Features of Protein Language Models

Within the past few years, models that can predict the structure or function of proteins have been widely used for a variety of biological applications, such as identifying drug targets and designing new therapeutic antibodies.

20 Aug 2025

Missing Microexons Disrupt Synapse-Related Proteins in Pediatric Glioma

A new study, led by researchers at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), identified tiny pieces of messenger RNA that are missing in pediatric high-grade glioma tumors but not in normal brain tissues.

19 Aug 2025

Fruit Fly Courtship Behavior Transferred Through Single Gene Manipulation

Researchers in Japan have genetically transferred a unique courtship behavior from one fruit fly species to another.

18 Aug 2025

New Clues Emerge on What Makes the Human Brain Unique

Research from scientists at University of California San Diego School of Medicine have shed new light on an age-old question: what makes the human brain unique?

14 Aug 2025

Microbes Help Shape the Developing Brain Before and After Birth

New research from Michigan State University finds that microbes play an important role in shaping early brain development, specifically in a key brain region that controls stress, social behavior, and vital body functions.

14 Aug 2025

New Imaging System Reveals Cellular Activity at Unprecedented Depths

Both for research and medical purposes, researchers have spent decades pushing the limits of microscopy to produce ever deeper and sharper images of brain activity, not only in the cortex but also in regions underneath such as the hippocampus.

8 Aug 2025

Microglia Replacement Therapy Offers Hope for Genetic Disorders Affecting the Brain

Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff diseases, genetic disorders affecting the brain, have no effective treatment and are typically fatal within the first years of life.

7 Aug 2025

Parkinson’s Gene Mutation Blocks Vital Neuroprotective Signals

GBA1 mutations impair ciliary Hedgehog signaling in Parkinson's disease, reducing neuroprotective factors and highlighting a shared pathogenic pathway.

7 Aug 2025

Case Western Researchers Use Stem Cells to “Shut Off” Nerve Cell Strain

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), sometimes known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is an incurable neurological disease that affects motor neurons, which are nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that regulate voluntary muscle movement and breathing.

6 Aug 2025

Cancer Cells Trigger Instant Energy Surge When Squeezed

Cancer cells mount an instant, energy‑rich response to being physically squeezed, according to a study published in the journal Nature Communications.

31 Jul 2025

Thalamus Found to Modulate Cortical Sensitivity to Touch

The cerebral cortex processes sensory information via a complex network of neural connections. How are these signals modulated to refine perception? A team from the University of Geneva (UNIGE) has identified a mechanism by which certain thalamic projections target neurons and modify their excitability.

31 Jul 2025