Sleep evolved before brains did, study finds
Our brains need sleep to work properly. But it turns out you don’t need a brain to sleep. In a new study, researchers identified a sleep-like state in a tiny, freshwater animal called a hydra, which has a simple anatomy and lacks a brain. “We now have strong evidence that animals must have acquired the […]
NIH study uncovers blood vessel damage & inflammation in COVID-19 patients’ brains but no infection
IMAGE: In an in-depth study, NIH researchers consistently found blood vessel damage in the brains of COVID-19 patients but no signs of SARS-CoV-2 infections. Here is a high-resolution scan of a… view more Credit: Courtesy of NIH/NINDS. In an in-depth study of how COVID-19 affects a patient’s brain, National Institutes of Health researchers consistently spotted hallmarks […]
How PTSD messes with your brain’s memory centers
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is characterized, in part, by unwanted recollections and vivid emotional responses. This means PTSD subjects often suffer from intrusive and distressing memories that go hand in hand with confusing emotional states to unexpected stimuli. These are known as flashbacks in most instances. Additionally, people with PTSD often report difficulty responding to […]
Scientists discover how our brains track where we and others go
IMAGE: Scientists used a special backpack to study for the first time how a person’s brain navigates space and tracks the location of others. The study was funded by the NIH’s… view more Credit: Courtesy of Suthana lab, UCLA. For the first time, scientists have recorded how our brains navigate physical space and keep track of […]
How our brains track where we and others go
As COVID cases rise, physically distancing yourself from other people has never been more important. Now a new UCLA study reveals how your brain navigates places and monitors someone else in the same location. Published Dec. 23 in Nature, the findings suggest that our brains generate a common code to mark where other people are […]
Astrocytes eat connections to maintain plasticity in adult brains — ScienceDaily
Developing brains constantly sprout new neuronal connections called synapses as they learn and remember. Important connections — the ones that are repeatedly introduced, such as how to avoid danger — are nurtured and reinforced, while connections deemed unnecessary are pruned away. Adult brains undergo similar pruning, but it was unclear how or why synapses in […]
Astrocytes eat connections to maintain plasticity in adult brains
IMAGE: A 3-D animated image showing our synapse phagocytosis reporter in mouse hippocampus. Presynapses in green, astrocytes in white, and microglia in blue. Phagocytosed presynapses by glia were shown in red…. view more Credit: KAIST Developing brains constantly sprout new neuronal connections called synapses as they learn and remember. Important connections — the ones that are […]
Study suggests our brains may be more in tune with each other than we think — ScienceDaily
As COVID cases rise, physically distancing yourself from other people has never been more important. Now a new UCLA study reveals how your brain navigates places and monitors someone else in the same location. Published Dec. 23 in Nature, the findings suggest that our brains generate a common code to mark where other people are […]
Survival of the thickest: Big brains make mammal populations less dense
IMAGE: A Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus) in Gibraltar view more Credit: Manuela Gonzalez-Suarez/University of Reading Mammals with big brains tend to be less abundant in local areas than those with smaller brains, new research has shown. The University of Reading led an international team of scientists in considering the effect of brain size for the first […]
Researchers reveal how our brains know when something’s different
IMAGE: NIH scientists discovered how a set of high frequency brain waves may help us unconsciously set expectations of the world around us and know when something’s different by comparing memories… view more Credit: Courtesy of Zaghloul lab, NIH/NINDS. Imagine you are sitting on the couch in your living room reading. You do it almost every […]
