Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)Â researchers have used a form of artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze anatomical changes in the brain and predict Alzheimer’s disease with nearly 93% accuracy. Their research, published in the journal Neuroscience, also revealed that the anatomical changes, involving loss of brain volume, differ by age and sex. Early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s … Read more
From alpha brain waves to amygdala activity, scientists map how forests, wetlands, and even immersive virtual nature can recalibrate the brain, revealing why stepping outside may be one of the most powerful tools for mental resilience. Study: Your brain on nature: A scoping review of the neuroscience of nature exposure. Image credit: PeopleImages/Shutterstock.com A recent … Read more
Past studies in animals have shown that a highly processed diet is linked to memory problems and inflammation in the aged brain – and the effect can happen fast, after just three days of poor eating. A new study suggests another dietary pitfall could have a similar damaging effect in a similarly short amount of … Read more
When running a fever during infection, we often feel chills, which prompt us to take action to warm ourselves, such as turning on a heater or adding layers of clothing. Increased body temperature helps inhibit pathogen growth and boosts immune cell activity. A recent rat study by a Nagoya University team identified the neural mechanism … Read more
You check into a hotel and toss and turn all night, but your sleep improves the following night. Scientists at Nagoya University wanted to understand why this happens. Working with mice, they have identified a group of neurons that become active when an animal enters a new environment. These neurons release a molecule called neurotensin … Read more
Babies of every species from mouse to human rapidly forget things that happen to them-an effect called infantile amnesia. A type of brain immune cell called microglia might control this type of forgetting in young mice, according to a study published January 20th in the open-access journal PLOS Biology by Erika Stewart, from Trinity College … Read more
New research from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience maps the similarities and differences between the three most common brain disorders. Insomnia, depression, and anxiety are the most common mental disorders. Treatments are often only moderately effective, with many people experiencing returning symptoms. This is why it is crucial to find new leads for treatments. Notably, … Read more
By pinpointing how neuroestrogen directly boosts appetite-suppressing receptors in the brain, scientists are laying the groundwork for precision therapies that could tackle obesity from within the central nervous system. Study: Estrogen synthesized in the central nervous system enhances MC4R expression and reduces food intake. Image Credit: r.classen / Shutterstock A study led by researchers at the Fujita … Read more
Are there areas of the brain, which regulate prosocial, altruistic behavior? Together with colleagues from the universities in Lausanne, Utrecht and Cape Town, researchers from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) have studied a very special group of patients and established that the “basolateral amygdala” (part of the limbic system) plays an important role in this. … Read more
A new brain imaging study reveals how ultra-processed foods reshape appetite circuits, raising concerns that these everyday products could be rewiring our eating habits from the inside out. Study: Ultra-processed food consumption affects structural integrity of feeding-related brain regions independent of and via adiposity. Image Credit: Rimma Bondarenko / Shutterstock A team of researchers at McGill University … Read more