Neuroscience News

Brain cells called microglia keep brains young by eliminating accumulations of protein debris. But their garbage-colllection ability fades with age.

Each time you get a reward, your brain's internal spatial map warps just a bit in a way that makes it easier for you to get back to wherever you got it.

Through a combination of biometric tracking, simulated modeling and medical imaging, researchers detail how hits to the side of the head cause concussion.

New science tells us how to better manage our addictions.

Male mice are hardwired to recognize the sex of other mice, a new study shows. Females' circuitry guiding that decision differs from males.

The discovery, by Stanford researchers, of neurons that drive mice’s innate ability to identify the sex of other mice highlights the importance of biological influences on sex-specific behaviors.

Brain cells called oligodendrocytes supply insulation by wrapping neurons in multiple layers of fatty extensions, preserving signal strength and markedly speeding up transmission. But studying these cells in culture has been virtually impossible -- until

Studying human oligodendrocytes, which provide insulation for nerve cells, has been challenging. But a new way of generating stem-cell-derived, three-dimensional brain-cell cultures is paying off.

Researchers studying mouse brains identified the cells that encode pain's unpleasantness.

Humans have relied on plants for millennia to treat a variety of neurological ailments. Now, researchers are using microscopic worms to better understand how plant molecules shape behavior – and perhaps develop better new drugs.

Pain sensation and the emotional experience of pain are not the same, and now, in mice, scientists at Stanford have found the neurons responsible for the latter.

A study in Nature details a discovery with potential clinical significance for treating eating disorders such as anorexia. To make that discovery, Stanford researchers had to develop a "first-time-ever" way of teasing apart two separate but closely intert

Researchers at Stanford demonstrated that direct stimulation of fewer than two dozen neurons linked to social interaction was enough to suppress a mouse’s drive to feed itself.

Researchers led by Daniel Palanker have discovered that an imaging technique known as interferometry could be used to monitor neuron behavior.

Stanford scientists are making efforts to create high-resolution simulated versions of the human brain, bells and whistles and warts and all.

Why a defective gene is tied so strongly to Parkinson’s disease has baffled researchers. Now, a study led by Stanford scientists appears to have pieced together a major part of the puzzle.