Science News About Basic Research
- Researchers Develop Method to Study Brain Connectivity, Functionality
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Scientists have developed a research method that allows for a much more detailed examination of the brain processes involved in some neurological and mental disorders.
- New Experiences Enhance Learning by Resetting Key Brain Circuit
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A study of spatial learning in mice shows that exposure to new experiences dampens established representations in the brain’s hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, allowing the mice to learn new navigation strategies.
- Gene Readouts Contribute To Distinctness of Mental Disorders
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A new study conducted by researchers at NIMH suggests that differences in the expression of gene transcripts – readouts copied from DNA that help maintain and build our cells – may hold the key to understanding how mental disorders with shared genetic risk factors result in different patterns of onset, symptoms, course of illness, and treatment responses.
- NIH-funded Study Sheds Light on Abnormal Neural Function in Rare Genetic Disorder
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A genetic study has identified neuronal abnormalities in the electrical activity of cortical cells derived from people with a rare genetic disorder called 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.
- Study Shows Highly Reproducible Sex Differences in Aspects of Human Brain Anatomy
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A scientific analysis of more than 2,000 brain scans found evidence for highly reproducible sex differences in the volume of certain regions in the human brain.
- Brain Cells Can Harbor and Spread HIV Virus to the Body
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Researchers funded by NIMH have found that astrocytes, a type of brain cell, can harbor HIV and then spread the virus to immune cells that traffic out of the brain and into other organs.
- New NIMH Strategic Plan Paves the Way for Advances in Mental Health Research
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The Strategic Plan for Research advances the Institute’s mission and helps guide future mental health research efforts.
- Fast-Fail Trial Shows New Approach to Identifying Brain Targets for Clinical Treatments
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An innovative NIMH-funded trial shows that a receptor involved in the brain’s reward system may be a viable target for treating anhedonia (or lack of pleasure), a key symptom of several mood and anxiety disorders.
- Reading the Brain’s Map: Coordinated Brain Activation Supports Spatial Learning and Decision-Making
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NIH-supported study finds that spatial “replay” in neurons may help rats learn how to navigate toward goals.
- New BRAIN Initiative Awards Accelerate Neuroscience Discoveries
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The NIH has announced its continued support for the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative by funding more than 180 new BRAIN Initiative awards, bringing the total 2019 budget for the program to more than $424 million.
- NIH BRAIN Initiative Tool May Transform How Scientists Study Brain Structure and Function
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Researchers have developed a high-tech support system that can keep a large mammalian brain from rapidly decomposing in the hours after death, enabling study of certain molecular and cellular functions.
- Ketamine Reverses Neural Changes Underlying Depression-Related Behaviors in Mice
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Researchers have identified ketamine-induced brain-related changes that are responsible for maintaining the remission of behaviors related to depression in mice — findings that may help researchers develop interventions that promote lasting remission of depression in humans.
- Mega Docking Library Poised to Speed Drug Discovery
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Researchers have launched an ultra-large virtual docking library expected to grow to more than 1 billion molecules by next year. It will expand by 1000-fold the number of such “make-on-demand” compounds readily available to scientists for chemical biology and drug discovery.
- Puerto Rico’s “Fear Lab” Mentors Neuroscience Rigor amid Diversity
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A lineage of young neuroscientists from diverse backgrounds trace their scientific roots to a “fear lab” in Puerto Rico that the National Institutes of Health has been supporting for two decades.
- New Findings Reveal Surprising Role of the Cerebellum in Reward and Social Behaviors
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A new study in rodents has demonstrated, for the first time, that the brain’s cerebellum plays a role in controlling reward and social preference behavior—findings that shed light on the brain circuits critical to the affective and social dysfunction seen across multiple psychiatric disorders.