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Neuroscience news

Neuroscience

People's sniffing behaviors predict what they are smelling, study shows

Humans and other animals actively sense their surrounding environment. This entails the deliberate adjustment of motor behavior involved in sensory sampling (i.e., movements of the eyes, ears and hands) in line with the stimulus ...

Health

Five ways microplastics may harm your brain

Microplastics could be fueling neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, with a new study highlighting five ways microplastics can trigger inflammation and damage in the brain.

Neuroscience

Tricking the brain to make exercise feel easier

Why do some people find a short jog exhausting, while others seem to run effortlessly? Of course, part of the answer lies in training and muscle strength. But the brain also plays a role, particularly in how we perceive effort.

Neuroscience

Single enzyme failure found to drive neuron loss in dementia

Researchers at Helmholtz Munich, the Technical University of Munich and the LMU University Hospital Munich uncovered a mechanism that protects nerve cells from premature cell death, known as ferroptosis. The study provides ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

Breathe in, breathe out: How respiration shapes remembering

First and foremost, we breathe in order to absorb oxygen—but this vital rhythm could also have other functions. Over the past few years, a range of studies have shown that respiration influences neural processes, including ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

How the brain prioritizes bodily signals in conscious awareness

A new study shows that visual and tactile impressions that are related to our own body are prioritized for reaching conscious awareness. This helps us understand how we develop the feeling that the body is our own—through ...

Neuroscience

Recent trial reveals promising therapy for aggressive brain cancer

Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah (the U) participated in a clinical trial that found that a new combination treatment plan helped people with recurring grade 3 astrocytoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, ...

Genetics

Hidden cellular layers revealed in brain's memory center

Researchers at the Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute (Stevens INI) at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have identified a previously unknown pattern of organization in one of the brain's most important ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

Neural activity linked to self-preoccupied thinking

People tend to be self-preoccupied. Self-interest is good when it ensures that one's needs are met, but it can also be maladaptive; research shows that the tendency to self-focus promotes the occurrence of depression and ...

Neuroscience

Apitegromab improves motor function in spinal muscular atrophy

For patients with nonambulatory type 2 or type 3 spinal muscular atrophy, apitegromab, a monoclonal antibody that inhibits myostatin activation, improves motor function versus placebo, according to a study published online ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

How—and when—emotional responses to music influence memory

Listening to music while doing something can make that activity more enjoyable. But listening to music after an experience or activity can make it more memorable if you have the optimal emotional response while listening ...

Genetics

A new genetic link to pain provides a promising drug target

Chronic pain is life-changing and considered one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, making daily life difficult for millions of people around the world, and exacerbating personal and economic burdens. Despite ...

Psychology & Psychiatry

First mechanism for cognitive disorders in schizophrenia found

Schizophrenia is a debilitating mental disorder affecting around 1% of the population worldwide, and is notoriously difficult to treat. Current medications for schizophrenia can ameliorate positive symptoms, such as hallucinations ...