Knight Initiative News

In what might be reassuring news to many of us, psychologist Kalanit Grill-Spector, PhD, and research associate Kevin Weiner, PhD, have found evidence of our brain’s resilience.

The psychiatrist and bioengineer is being honored for his groundbreaking work in creating a viable technique for installing light-driven “on” and “off” switches on the surfaces of nerve cells, enabling investigators to learn exactly what they do.

Stanford bioengineer, neuroscientist and practicing psychiatrist Karl Deisseroth, MD, PhD, heads a huge, prolific laboratory but also oversees a program he set up years ago to train researchers from all over the world in the use of optogenetics.

Stanford molecular bioengineer Alex Savtchenko, PhD, has devised a newfangled nanoparticle whose center is a small ball of gold. It may turn out to be an effective and safer drug for Alzheimer’s version of the disease.

A recent study, and its response, heralds a new level of self-scrutiny for this area.

With big pharma short on solutions, we talk to people pioneering new ways to beat conditions including anxiety, depression and schizophrenia.

Studies by the Wyss-Coray lab and others have shown that organ stem cells retain their regenerative capacity, but the biochemical cues that control their function change with age — causing the abandonment of tissue maintenance and repair in the elderly.

House cleaning. Working the cash register at a Chinese restaurant. Walking dogs. Running a dry cleaner.

Hormone therapy for postmenopausal women has been controversial, with some studies suggesting benefits and others not. Now, a study finds the treatment’s effect on women’s mental skills is negligible.

MDMA is a drug of abuse, but also a promising therapeutic and research tool according to Stanford brain researcher Rob Malenka, MD, PhD.

A new study reinforces the need for surgeons and physicians to monitor patients' use of painkillers following surgery and use alternative methods of pain control whenever possible.

The first time any eye-brain connections have ever been restored in a mammal — a step millions of people suffering from serious vision loss will be happy to hear about.

Broken links between retinal ganglion cells and target structures throughout the brain spell permanent vision loss. But in a new study, these long-distance connections — and partial vision — were restored.

Brain Imaging Data Structure, aka “BIDS”, is a standard way of organizing and storing MRI data. It’s kind of like telling all your colleagues to use compatible word processing software so you can share documents.

It turns out that in addition to being fascinating, neuroscience is also quite beautiful. The Stanford Neurosciences Institute recently announced the eleven finalists in their Art of Neuroscience competition.

There's something that really bothers Stanford psychiatry professor Keith Humphreys. When he thinks of all the years he has spent training the next generation of psychiatrists, the enormous investment in medical school and residency, he wants those doctor

Eleven images representing a broad cross section of neuroscience research have been chosen as finalists in the Stanford Neuroscience Institute’s Art of Neuroscience competition.

Stanford neuroscientist and bioengineer Jin Hyung Lee, PhD, and her colleagues obtained a higher-resolution map of two key brain circuits that play starring roles in Parkinson disease, and a readout of the actual real-time effects, brain-wide, of stimulat

A new Stanford Neurosciences Institute initiative called the NeuroFab, has a specific goal of helping engineers and neuroscientists speak to each other and overcome some of those cultural differences.

New tools for probing the inner workings of neurons developed through an initiative of the Stanford Neurosciences Institute will help scientists understand and heal the brain.