Odors are encoded in rings in the brain of migratory locusts
The migratory locust Locusta migratoria is an economically important crop pest that is said to have come to Egypt in the Old Testament as the eighth of the ten biblical…
New metric for blood circulation in brain to better understand dementia
Each time the heart beats, it pumps blood through the brain vessels, causing them to expand slightly and then relax, much like the rise and fall of the blood pulsing…
Lighting up the brain: What happens when our ‘serotonin center’ is triggered?
Using mice, scientists at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) and their collaborators from Keio University School of Medicine have studied the main source of serotonin in the…
Protecting brain cells with cannabinol
One in every 10 individuals above the age of 65 develops an age-related neurological disorder like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, yet treatment options remain sparse for this population. Scientists have begun…
How the brain translates motivation into goal-oriented behavior, according to new study
Hunger can drive a motivational state that leads an animal to a successful pursuit of a goal — foraging for and finding food. In a highly novel study published in…
Lack of focus doesn’t equal lack of intelligence — it’s proof of an intricate brain
Imagine a busy restaurant: dishes clattering, music playing, people talking loudly over one another. It’s a wonder that anyone in that kind of environment can focus enough to have a…
Neurons help flush waste out of brain during sleep
There lies a paradox in sleep. Its apparent tranquility juxtaposes with the brain’s bustling activity. The night is still, but the brain is far from dormant. During sleep, brain cells…
Continued cocaine use disrupts communication between major brain networks
A collaborative research endeavor by scientists in the Departments of Radiology, Neurology, and Psychology and Neuroscience at the UNC School of Medicine have demonstrated the deleterious effects of chronic cocaine…
First-in-humans discovery reveals brain chemicals at work influencing social behavior
In a study in today’s (Monday Feb. 26) Nature Human Behavior, scientists delve into the world of chemical neuromodulators in the human brain, specifically dopamine and serotonin, to reveal their…
The brain processes speech and its echo separately
Echoes can make speech harder to understand, and tuning out echoes in an audio recording is a notoriously difficulty engineering problem. The human brain, however, appears to solve the problem…