GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic have become the most effective anti-obesity medications ever developed, producing sustained weight loss far beyond what older appetite suppressants could manage. But the exact reason they work so well, and keep working over the long term,... Continue Reading →
Do we need words to think? For centuries, philosophers and linguists have leaned toward yes, the idea that language is the scaffolding of reasoning itself. A new study from MIT's McGovern Institute for Brain Research says otherwise: logical reasoning and... Continue Reading →
A new evolutionary review argues that the vertebrate retina — and even the brain's pineal gland — trace back to a single median eye on a tiny, cyclops-like ancestor nearly 600 million years ago.
For decades, scientists have known that a single high dose of psilocybin — the psychoactive compound in "magic mushrooms", can leave people feeling better for weeks or months afterward. What they haven't been able to show is what changes in... Continue Reading →
Every neuron in your brain is constantly drinking in its surroundings, pulling in nutrients, chemical signals, and bits of its own outer membrane in a process called endocytosis. It's how brain cells learn, remember, and stay maintained day to day.... Continue Reading →
A newly engineered protein called iGluSnFR4 lets researchers watch glutamate — the brain's main chemical messenger — arrive at individual synapses in real time. It may change everything we know about how neurons decide to fire.
In a new study published in The Lancet Digital Health, scientists at the USC Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute (Stevens INI) have discovered that the brains of people who experience severe physical impairment after a stroke may reorganize themselves... Continue Reading →
Stanford Medicine scientists investigating the neurological basis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have found that hyperactivity in a specific brain region could drive behaviors commonly associated with the disorder. Using the Cntnap2 knockout mouse model, the researchers, led by John Huguenard, PhD,... Continue Reading →
Microgravity is known to alter the muscles, bones, the immune system and cognition, but little is known about its specific impact on the brain. To discover how brain cells respond to microgravity, Scripps Research scientists, in collaboration with the New... Continue Reading →