https://medicalxpress.com/neurology-news/ en-us Latest medical news and research in Neurology How does the brain make sense of what we see, hear and feel, and transform these separate signals into a coherent perception of the world? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-logic-sensory-vertebrate-brains.html Sat, 01 Aug 2026 11:00:04 EDT news704556424 During ketamine anesthesia, the brain's nerve cells fall silent—as consciousness returns, they begin to reconnect. For the first time, researchers at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) have shown that immune cells in the brain play a critical role in this process—with differences between female and male brains. The findings were published in Science Advances. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-microglia-reveal-sex-specific-brain.html Fri, 31 Jul 2026 14:00:08 EDT news704554981 Alzheimer's disease is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder affecting millions of people worldwide. Scientists have long known that two hallmarks of the disease are beta-amyloid (Aβ) plaques and neurofibrillary tangles, which damage and kill brain cells over time. A University of Minnesota research team has identified a type of plaque that represents a potential new therapeutic target for Alzheimer's disease. The findings were recently published in Nature Neuroscience. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-newly-mitochondrial-plaques-potential-therapeutic.html Fri, 31 Jul 2026 12:20:01 EDT news704717521 Lysosomes, the cell's recycling hubs, are best known for their role in a group of rare inherited conditions called lysosomal storage disorders, where harmful molecules build up inside these compartments. But scientists are increasingly realizing that these organelles play a much broader role in health and disease: Problems with lysosome function are also seen in more common, age-related conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-qa-aging-affects-cells-recycling.html Fri, 31 Jul 2026 10:40:05 EDT news704711041 We all hunger for information. Sometimes this drive leads us to a tangible reward, such as looking up reviews to find the perfect restaurant. But often we seek knowledge as an end unto itself, as when Galileo pointed his telescope at the night sky or Alice followed the rabbit down its hole. How do our brains lead us on such curiosity-driven quests for information? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-mice-advance-knowledge-rewards.html Thu, 30 Jul 2026 17:40:03 EDT news704648761 A new study from Reichman University has found that a short, three-week digital training program, combined with standard drug treatment for Parkinson's disease, led to significant improvements in patients' motor function and measurable changes in the brain's motor circuits. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-week-digital-linked-motor-gains.html Thu, 30 Jul 2026 13:00:03 EDT news704632622 Neurons transmit information to the next cell by converting electrical signals into chemical signals. A critical step in this process is the influx of calcium ions into the cell through voltage-gated calcium channels. A research team led by Professor Byung Chang Suh of the Department of Brain Sciences has, for the first time, uncovered a molecular mechanism that regulates the N-type voltage-gated calcium channel (CaV2.2), which plays a critical role in neural signal transmission. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-molecular-lever-neuron-treatments-epilepsy.html Thu, 30 Jul 2026 12:40:08 EDT news704630641 Memory is not a perfect record. Some memories fade, while others remain hidden and can be brought back by reminders. But reminders can also distort what is remembered, and scientists still know little about how the brain accurately recovers memories or forms false ones. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-forgotten-memories-silent-brain.html Thu, 30 Jul 2026 12:00:09 EDT news704630101 A joint research team led by professors Sungsu Park of Sungkyunkwan University and 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. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-tumor-chip-method-reveals-factor.html Thu, 30 Jul 2026 11:40:02 EDT news704629801 Sleep is a crucial physiological process that supports recovery, clears metabolic waste products from the brain, regulates metabolism and supports the functioning of the immune system. Sleep is also known to play a key role in consolidating different types of memories, ranging from memories of past events and memorized facts to newly acquired skills or habits (i.e., procedural memories). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-replay-skills-independently-hippocampus-mouse.html Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:40:24 EDT news704550515 A team of CNRS scientists has pinpointed the brain mechanisms behind the famous "Proust's madeleine" phenomenon, in which smells bring back vivid, emotional memories. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-proust-madeleine-neuroscience.html Thu, 30 Jul 2026 09:20:01 EDT news704621578 Researchers at Kennedy Krieger Institute and Penn Engineering have developed an advanced artificial intelligence system that measures a child's ability to imitate simple body movements using ordinary video recordings. The Computerized Assessment of Motor Imitation, or CAMI-2DNet, brings researchers one step closer to a scalable, objective method for evaluating imitation, which is an important behavioral marker associated with autism. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-ai-autism-screening-accessible.html Thu, 30 Jul 2026 07:00:10 EDT news704604601 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. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-gene-tool-huntington-toxic-protein.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 15:40:08 EDT news704552413 A single IV injection of a microRNA-based biologic developed by Guangping Gao, Ph.D., Robert H. Brown Jr., DPhil, MD, Jun Xie, Ph.D., and Zuoshang Xu, MD, Ph.D., suppressed production of the mutant SOD1 protein that causes amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), delayed disease onset by 60 days and extended lifespan by 100 days—more than tripling the average survival time—in mouse models of the disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-scientists-microrna-based-gene-therapy.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 14:20:02 EDT news704551862 Scientists in Britain and Spain have discovered critical windows after glioblastoma surgery when the brain's defenses falter, creating a rare chance to deliver powerful treatments exactly where needed. If doctors time treatment within two narrow postoperative windows identified by the researchers, existing lipid nanoparticle medicines—already approved and routinely used in oncology hospitals today—could be redeployed to deliver early, precision-targeted therapy to the brain. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-surgery-bloodbrain-disruption-windows-glioblastoma.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 14:00:07 EDT news704452104 Sugar restriction during the first 1,000 days after conception may significantly reduce a person's risk of developing Alzheimer's by up to 46%. Those are the findings of a new study published in the journal npj Aging that examined the long-term effects of early-life nutrition on brain aging and lifelong mental health. The findings also suggest that some benefits may begin before birth. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-sugar-early-life-alzheimer.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 10:40:08 EDT news704539618 A cell therapy called deramiocel could slow muscle weakening in boys and young men with advanced Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and may also slow heart damage in those who already have heart muscle disease, a Phase III clinical trial published in The Lancet has found. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-bloodstream-cell-therapy-muscle-decline.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 10:00:06 EDT news704535302 Riding a bike, reading a book or folding laundry while watching TV can feel effortless, almost like your brain does it on autopilot. This ease comes from repetition, built through practicing the same task again and again. The prefrontal cortex (PFC), responsible for flexible thinking and decision-making, plays a role in this process, but it also creates a bottleneck. Although highly flexible, it can generally handle only one decision at a time, making multitasking difficult. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-skill-automatic-brain-rewires-bypass.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 09:40:08 EDT news704536216 An overactive immune response in the brain may play a role in Dravet syndrome, a rare and severe genetic epilepsy that typically begins in infancy, according to Weill Cornell Medicine researchers. Children with the condition experience frequent seizures that are often difficult to control with medication and may also face developmental, cognitive and behavioral challenges. Until now, most research has focused on how a mutation in the SCN1A gene disrupts electrical signaling in the brain. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-inflammation-dravet-syndrome-potential-treatment.html Wed, 29 Jul 2026 09:00:07 EDT news704533501 Glioblastoma is a malignant brain tumor and is among the most aggressive cancers in humans. Despite multimodal therapy with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, there is still no cure. A major reason is the tumor's invasive behavior: Glioblastoma cells migrate far beyond the visible tumor into healthy brain tissue. These infiltrating cells cannot be completely removed and seed tumor recurrence—often within just a few months. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-human-tissue-tracks-glioblastoma-invasion.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 18:40:03 EDT news704470742 Scientists at Virginia Tech's 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. Instead of repairing the deletion and its immediate consequences, the therapy redirects brain development by helping at-risk neurons grow and connect more normally. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-brain-cells-healthy-growth-disease.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 17:40:01 EDT news704469422 Researchers at Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins Medicine have discovered that memory consolidation during sleep depends on coordinated activity among three brain regions, and disruptions to this activity can impair memory performance. This is the first human study to directly link interactions between the orbitofrontal cortex, thalamus and hippocampus to memory, offering new insight into how the brain strengthens memories and how epilepsy can affect the sleep-memory system. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-kind-reveals-memory-epilepsy-disrupt.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 14:40:05 EDT news704463182 New blood tests that detect early changes associated with Alzheimer's disease are making diagnosis easier and more accessible to patients because they are less invasive than the brain scans or spinal taps typically used for a definitive diagnosis. Identifying the condition in its earlier stages means drugs that slow progression may have a greater chance to provide benefit. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-early-markers-alzheimer-effective-understudied.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 12:00:23 EDT news704451986 Children with a rare and often fatal genetic condition may benefit from early treatment with vitamin B3, halting significant deterioration, according to a new study. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-vitamin-b3-treatment-halt-severity.html Tue, 28 Jul 2026 10:20:06 EDT news704450841