neuroscience

If a small stroke in one corner of the brain can tip a previously healthy person into mania or set off obsessions and compulsions where none existed before, then the circuit connected to that lesion is telling us something rare in psychiatry.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the effect of high-frequency transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) targeting multiple brain regions on the recovery of consciousness in patients with minimally conscious state (MCS).MethodsA retrospective analysis was conducted on MCS patients between August 2022 and March 2024. Some patients received only conventional rehabilitation treatment, while oth…

IntroductionMusic-induced analgesia (MIA) has significant clinical value for patients with fibromyalgia (FM) and serves as a key model for understanding the complex neural mechanisms underlying the effects of music on physical and mental states. However, previous research offers limited interpretation of the broader neural network characteristics underlying pain regulation through music, particul…

Scientific Data, Published online: 05 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41597-026-07356-3 A dataset of EEG and ECG recordings around the onset of NREM sleep from infancy to adolescence

A common recessive NDD caused by RNU2-2 mutations disrupts brain development and opens paths for diagnosis and therapy. Scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York have identified a newly recognized recessive neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) that may be the most common of its kind discovered so far. The condition is [...]

Nature Biomedical Engineering, Published online: 24 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41551-026-01667-x DeepDrugDiscovery is an AI-powered screening platform incorporating ADMET and blood–brain barrier penetrability predictions to successfully identify mTOR-independent autophagy enhancers that can cross the blood–brain barrier for Alzheimer’s disease therapy.

Nature Biomedical Engineering, Published online: 27 April 2026; doi:10.1038/s41551-026-01664-0 Embedding cortical geometric eigenmodes into the EEG/MEG inverse problem enables precise, biologically grounded reconstructions of whole-brain activity, enhancing mapping of dynamics, connectivity and clinical targets.

Finding may lead to new treatments and preventive measures for cognitive disease

The hippocampus plays a central role in converting short-term into long-term memory and is particularly vulnerable to inflammatory injury. Cognitive impairment is a recognized sequela of bacterial meningitis. Isolated loss of memory formation due to bilateral hippocampal destruction is rare.

As people grow older, keeping memory and thinking skills strong becomes very important. Many families worry about memory loss and conditions like dementia. While age is one factor, researchers now understand that emotional and social experiences also play a major role in how the brain changes over time. A new study from Rutgers Health has […] The post Hidden stress may quietly cause memory loss i…

IntroductionMalodors in the human body can diminish comfort in living and working environments, potentially increasing stress and dissatisfaction levels. Therefore, there is a growing need to objectively characterize the properties of human body malodor. The brain extracts various types of information from odor stimuli. Although the central processing pathways of the human olfactory system are no…

Doug Whitney has a genetic mutation that means he should have developed Alzheimer’s disease decades ago, but his long-term work in hot engine rooms may have protected him in a similar way to sauna therapy

In a Perspective published today in the inaugural issue of Brain Health (https://doi.org/10.61373/bh026p.0006), an international team of investigators argues that the human microplastic burden has crossed the threshold from environmental concern to brain health emergency. The article appears alongside the launch of Brain Health, a new peer-reviewed journal from Genomic Press dedicated to the scie…

A Mississippi State University faculty member and undergraduate researcher are using eye-tracking technology at MSU-Meridian to study how students see, process and respond in high-pressure training scenarios, helping reshape how future healthcare professionals are educated.

In a new study, researchers from North Carolina State University show that itch sensations in the face are perceived differently from those in the body due to differences in signaling between trigeminal (located in the brain) and spinal pain pathways.

Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 04 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41593-026-02309-w Decades of male bias in animal research have left female biology critically understudied. Prematurely phasing out animal research would lock this inequity into future biomedicine, disproportionately harming women.

Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 04 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41593-026-02286-0 Liu et al. show in mice that microglia are recruited to the soma and dendritic processes of fear engram neurons during extinction learning and that they weaken fear memories by temporarily silencing and remodeling the engram neurons.

Nature Neuroscience, Published online: 04 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s41593-026-02278-0 Stereotyped dendritic arbors arise from stochastic growth and selective stabilization of dendritic branches. Two pools of guidance receptor are required. Ligand-free receptors drive stochastic growth while ligand-bound receptors stabilize branches.

Scientists have identified a protective brain pathway that may help slow the progression of Parkinson's disease by strengthening the brain's own dopamine‑producing neurons, but the positive effect was only observed in females.

Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University investigators are bringing their stem cell expertise to a collaboration with two other academic medical centers with the goal of clarifying the connection between pesticide exposure and Parkinson's disease.