Neuroscience News

The Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute is elevating three research programs to become the flagship Big Ideas collaborations focusing on brain rejuvenation, neurotechnology and decision-making.

Astrocytes, the brain’s most abundant cells, are essential to the survival and healthy function of nerve cells. But aberrant astrocytes may be driving brain disorders.

Stanford researchers used a rodent model to discover that shifting the firing pattern of a particular set of brain cells is all it takes to initiate, or to terminate, an absence seizure.

New research finds that small regions of the brain cycle in and out of sleep, even when awake. The cycles shift toward “awake” when that part of the brain pays attention to a task.

In a Q&A, the neuroscientist discusses the reasons for continued basic and clinical research on an illegal drug scientists call 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA, and partiers call Ecstasy.

Robert Malenka, the Nancy Friend Pritzer Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, is famous for his discoveries on how neurons in our brain make and store new memories. He is also a pioneer in the field of addiction research

Inconsistency among countries about what constitutes a "standard drink" and definitions of low-risk drinking hampers international research and confuses people attempting to drink responsibly.

Whether a person will place a risky bet comes down to a newly discovered tract of neurons spanning two brain regions. The findings could help understand and treat gambling or addiction disorders.

A new study shows that a circuit in a brain structure called the thalamus acts like a radio, with different stations operating at different frequencies and appealing to different “listening audiences.”

Cells pull themselves through the world with the help a complex internal protein scaffold called the cytoskeleton. Given the ubiquitous role of that structure in cell movement – particularly a protein called actin – it seemed likely those same proteins wo

If you wanted to reverse-engineer a piece of electronics, the first thing you'd investigate is how the various parts are connected. In the brain, that means tracing the paths of 100 billion neurons.

A computer model of brain function helps explain a 20-year-old finding that the way a single noisy neuron fires in the brain can predict an animal's decisions. It turns out neurons without noise can't learn. The type of learning the group modeled reflects

Bio-X scientists have improved on their original technique for peering into the intact brain, making it more reliable and safer. The results could help scientists unravel the inner connections of how thoughts, memories or diseases arise.