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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Mammalian cell stained with fluorescence polymeric thermometers and falsely-coloured based on temperature gradients.

Alzheimer’s disease causes cells to overheat and ‘fry like eggs’

31 May 2022

Researchers have shown that aggregation of amyloid-beta, one of two key proteins implicated in Alzheimer’s disease, causes cells to overheat and ‘fry...

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Nurse taking care of elderly sick woman in wheelchair

‘Stressed’ cells offer clues to eliminating build-up of toxic proteins in dementia

06 May 2022

It’s often said that a little stress can be good for you. Now scientists have shown that the same may be true for cells, uncovering a newly-...

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Alarm clock at night

Seven hours of sleep is optimal in middle and old age, say researchers

28 Apr 2022

Seven hours is the ideal amount of sleep for people in their middle age and upwards, with too little or too much sleep associated with poorer...

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Boy using a smartphone

Scientists find that the impact of social media on wellbeing varies across adolescence

28 Mar 2022

Girls and boys might be more vulnerable to the negative effects of social media use at different times during their adolescence, say an international...

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Older couple walking

Study suggests lithium may decrease risk of developing dementia

17 Mar 2022

Researchers have identified a link which suggests that lithium could decrease the risk of developing dementia, which affects nearly one million...

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Bike Under Car During Road Traffic Accident

Largest ever study on traumatic brain injury highlights global inequality in causes and treatment

16 Mar 2022

Neurosurgery experts from Cambridge have led the largest ever study examining the surgical management of traumatic brain injuries, highlighting...

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Law books and justice statue

Autistic defendants are being failed by the criminal justice system

15 Mar 2022

The criminal justice system (CJS) is failing autistic people, argue researchers at the Autism Research Centre, University of Cambridge, after a...

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X-Ray Showing Pacemaker

Drug incorporated into silicone coating reduces ‘foreign body reaction’ to implants

14 Mar 2022

Long-term use of implantable electronic medical devices – such as pacemakers and cochlear implants – is hampered by the body’s reaction to foreign...

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Elderly couple

Dementia patients struggle to cope with change because of damage to general intelligence brain networks

08 Mar 2022

People with dementia struggle to adapt to changes in their environment because of damage to areas of the brain known as ‘multiple demand networks’...

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Tennis match

For the brain, context is key to new theory of movement and memory

24 Nov 2021

Mathematical model could help in physical therapy and shed light on learning more generally.

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SumaLateral Whole Brain Image

Scientists identify the cause of Alzheimer’s progression in the brain

29 Oct 2021

For the first time, researchers have used human data to quantify the speed of different processes that lead to Alzheimer’s disease and found that it...

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Mini brain organoids showing cortical-like structures

Lab-grown ‘mini brains’ hint at treatments for neurodegenerative diseases

21 Oct 2021

Cambridge researchers have developed ‘mini brains’ that allow them to study a fatal and untreatable neurological disorder causing paralysis and...

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