Topic description and stories

Neuroscience has transformed our understanding of the brain and promises treatments for devastating disorders that affect millions.

Charts map rapid growth and slow decline of brains

06 April 2022

An international team of researchers has created a series of brain charts spanning our entire lifespan – from a 15 week old fetus to 100 year old adult – that show how our brains expand rapidly in early life and slowly shrink as we age. 

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Confocal micrograph showing the superior saggital sinus in the mouse. Immune cells are shown in green lining this tube, and blood vessels in red

Why it takes guts to protect the brain against infection

04 Nov 2020

The brain is uniquely protected against invading bacteria and viruses, but its defence mechanism has long remained a mystery. Now, a study in mice...

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Brain inflammation

Age and pre-existing conditions increase risk of stroke among COVID-19 patients

28 Oct 2020

Fourteen out of every 1,000 COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital experience a stroke, a rate that is even higher in older patients and those with...

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Network of fibres

Marmoset study finds single brain region linking depression and anxiety, heart disease, and people’s sensitivity to treatment

26 Oct 2020

Over-activity in a single brain region called the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sgACC) underlies several key symptoms of mood and anxiety...

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The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli, 1781

Meditation-relaxation therapy may offer escape from the terror of sleep paralysis

12 Aug 2020

Sleep paralysis – a condition thought to explain a number of mysterious experiences including alleged cases of alien abduction and demonic night-time...

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Study shows how our brains remain active during familiar, repetitive tasks

14 Jul 2020

New research, based on earlier results in mice, suggests that our brains are never at rest, even when we are not learning anything about the world...

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Mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

Antibody designed to recognise pathogens of Alzheimer’s disease

25 May 2020

Researchers have found a way to design an antibody that can identify the toxic particles that destroy healthy brain cells – a potential advance in...

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AI successfully used to identify different types of brain injuries

15 May 2020

Researchers have developed an AI algorithm that can detect and identify different types of brain injuries.

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Contaminating a fake rubber hand could help people overcome OCD, study suggests

09 Jan 2020

The famous, but bizarre, ‘rubber hand illusion’ could help people who suffer from obsessive compulsive disorder overcome their condition without the...

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Women in STEM: Stepheni Uh

24 Oct 2019

Stepheni Uh is a PhD candidate in the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit and a Gates Cambridge Scholar. Here, she tells us about her research...

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Problematic smartphone use linked to poorer grades, alcohol misuse and more sexual partners

04 Jul 2019

A survey of more than 3,400 university students in the USA has found that one in five respondents reported problematic smartphone use. Female...

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Android

Scientists identify possible source of the ‘Uncanny Valley’ in the brain

01 Jul 2019

Scientists have identified mechanisms in the human brain that could help explain the phenomenon of the ‘Uncanny Valley’ – the unsettling feeling we...

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Virtual reality can spot navigation problems in early Alzheimer’s disease

24 May 2019

Virtual reality (VR) can identify early Alzheimer’s disease more accurately than ‘gold standard’ cognitive tests currently in use, suggests new...

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