Researchers have discovered a specific set of neurons in the amygdala that can trigger anxiety and social deficits when overactive. By restoring the excitability balance in this brain region, they successfully reversed these symptoms in mice. The results point toward new therapeutic targets for anxiety disorders, which could have significant implications for human mental health treatments.
Adenosine signalling is identified as the central mechanism of action of the antidepressant effects of ketamine and electroconvulsive therapy, and newly developed analogues of ketamine exhibit improved antidepressant efficacy with reduced side effects.
Structures of GDP-bound MOR–Gi conformational states combined with pharmacological assays show an inverse correlation between ligand efficacy and GDP affinity, where agonists decrease GDP affinity, promoting GTP exchange, and antagonists increase GDP affinity, dampening activation, thus providing structural and mechanistic insights into G protein activation.
A new AI-powered atlas called NextBrain allows researchers to visualize the human brain in unprecedented detail, down to hundreds of tiny subregions previously invisible on MRI scans. Built from 10,000 microscopic slices of post-mortem brains and aligned with AI, the atlas precisely maps 333 brain regions in 3D.
Virginia Tech researchers have shown that memory loss in aging may be reversible. Using CRISPR tools, they corrected molecular disruptions in the hippocampus and amygdala, restoring memory in older rats.
Research highlighting new therapeutic targets in neuroinflammation linked to Alzheimer's disease, outlining the development of small-molecule inhibitors targeting galectin-3, a protein associated with inflammatory responses in the brain.
The Fair Human-Centric Image Benchmark (FHIBE, pronounced ‘Feebee’)—an image dataset that implements best practices for consent, privacy, compensation, safety, diversity and utility—can be used responsibly as a fairness evaluation dataset for many human-centric computer vision applications.
The atlases could pinpoint pathways that determine the fate of cells linked to neurodevelopmental conditions.
Update from BioProtocols on their FACC project, validating target proteins related to aging research, potentially leading to impactful discoveries in age-related conditions and therapies.
This paper proposes FAPEX, an innovative architecture designed to improve seizure prediction across subjects by using a fractional neural frame operator for adaptive time-frequency decomposition. It shows significant performance improvements and demonstrates the model's superior handling of electrophysiological signals.
Researchers at MIT’s Picower Institute found that rotating waves of brain activity help restore focus after distractions. In animal tests, these rotations predicted performance: full rotations meant full recovery, while incomplete ones led to errors. The brain function observed could potentially inform new strategies for treating attention disorders.
Live-cell imaging of mRNA encoding secretome proteins and translated nascent peptide markers show that secretome translation occurs at endoplasmic reticulum junctions near lysosomes, requires lunapark protein and is modulated by nutrient status.
This article investigates how variations in the chain length of 2,5-dimethoxyamphetamines influence their interaction with serotonin receptors in vitro as well as their psychedelic effects in vivo.
Researchers have developed the most detailed molecular map yet of how the brain develops and reacts to inflammation, revealing that disease processes can “reawaken” genes from early life. Using a new spatial tri-omics technique, the team tracked how gene activity, epigenetic changes, and protein production interact in specific brain regions.
Scientists have built one of the most comprehensive single-cell maps of the developing human brain. The new BrainSTEM framework analyzed nearly 680,000 fetal brain cells to chart their growth and interactions, offering a detailed reference for studying neuron development.
Johns Hopkins psychiatrists point to the need for earlier, faster-acting treatments.