Neuroscience

Animals

Dolphins and whales may squeal with pleasure too

Dolphins and whales squeal after a food reward in about the same time it takes for dopamine to be released in the brain.

Neuroscience

Neurons in silk scaffold mimic behaviors of a real brain

Proteins of silkworm cocoons can form the scaffold for a three-dimensional model of a brain.

Neuroscience

Prosthesis uses swinging arms to tell legs when to step

Device creates artificial neural connection that could help paralyzed people walk.

Neuroscience

Busy neurons don’t always draw blood

Study of mice suggests caution in inferring the activity of the brain’s neurons from functional MRI results.

Neuroscience

Music soothes the aging brain in film ‘Alive Inside’

A social worker highlighted in a new documentary goes on a quest to bring tunes to nursing homes.

Neuroscience

For neurons, birthday matters

How brain cells make their connections during development still isn’t well understood. A new study shows that in the eye, a neuron’s birthday makes a difference in how it finds its targets.

Computing

Brain-inspired computer chip mimics 1 million neurons

By processing data in parallel, computer chips modeled after the human brain could perform certain tasks, such as pattern recognition, faster and more energy-efficiently than traditional computers.

Health & Medicine

New tests screen for lethal prion disease

Urine and nasal swabs can detect small amounts of the abnormal prions that cause Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

Psychology

Addiction showcases the brain’s flexibility

People with substance abuse disorders are not just chasing a high. Their brains are adapting to the presence of drug, evidence of humans’ impressive neural plasticity.

Neuroscience

Part of brain’s pleasure network curbed in mice with chronic pain

Part of brain’s pleasure network is muffled in mice with chronic paw injuries, a new study finds.

Neuroscience

Study linking narcolepsy to autoimmunity retracted

Data linking disorder to immune cells couldn’t be replicated, scientists say.

Neuroscience

Hippocampus may help homing pigeons explore

When researchers remove pigeons’ hippocampi, birds fly straighter on early parts of journey home.