ScienceDaily: Mind & Brain News


Impairments found in neurons derived from people with schizophrenia and genetic mutation

Posted: 13 Jul 2021 03:43 PM PDT

A scientific team has shown that the release of neurotransmitters in the brain is impaired in patients with schizophrenia who have a rare, single-gene mutation known to predispose people to a range of neurodevelopmental disorders.

Rats prefer to help their own kind; humans may be similarly wired

Posted: 13 Jul 2021 01:53 PM PDT

A decade after scientists discovered that lab rats will rescue a fellow rat in distress, but not a rat they consider an outsider, new research pinpoints the brain regions that drive rats to prioritize their nearest and dearest in times of crisis. It also suggests humans may share the same neural bias.

'Long COVID': More than a quarter of COVID-19 patients still symptomatic after 6 months

Posted: 13 Jul 2021 01:53 PM PDT

In a new study of adults from the general population who were infected with COVID-19 in 2020, more than a quarter report not having fully recovered after six to eight months.

Long-term memory setup requires a reliable delivery crew

Posted: 13 Jul 2021 11:58 AM PDT

Neural plasticity depends on a reliable delivery team of Kinesin protein KIF5C to carry goods like RNA from cell body to synapse, a new study finds.

Species of gut bacteria linked to enhanced cognition and language skills in infant boys

Posted: 13 Jul 2021 11:58 AM PDT

Infant boys with a higher composition of a particular gut microbiota show enhanced neurodevelopment, according to a new study.

Air pollution exposure linked to poor academics in childhood

Posted: 13 Jul 2021 11:58 AM PDT

Children exposed to elevated levels of air pollution may be more likely to have poor inhibitory control during late childhood and poor academic skills in early adolescence, including spelling, reading comprehension, and math skills. Difficulty with inhibition in late childhood was found to be a precursor to later air pollution-related academic problems. Interventions that target inhibitory control might improve outcomes.

What you say in the first minute after a vaccine can be key in reducing a child's distress

Posted: 13 Jul 2021 11:58 AM PDT

New pain research finds what you say in the first minute after a vaccine can be key in reducing a child's distress.

Recent study identifies 11 candidate genetic variants for Alzheimer's disease

Posted: 13 Jul 2021 08:08 AM PDT

A recently published study identifies 11 rare candidate variants for Alzheimer's disease. Researchers found 19 different families in Utah that suffered from Alzheimer's disease more frequently than what is considered normal.

The rat's whiskers: Multidisciplinary research reveals how we sense texture

Posted: 13 Jul 2021 08:08 AM PDT

Two very different teams of scientists have worked together to reveal important insights into how we sense texture by looking at the whiskers of a rat.

'Hydrogel-based flexible brain-machine interface'

Posted: 13 Jul 2021 06:36 AM PDT

A research team revealed a newly developed hydrogel-based flexible brain-machine interface.

Childhood lead exposure may adversely affect adults' personalities

Posted: 12 Jul 2021 12:19 PM PDT

A study sampled more than 1.5 million people in 269 U.S. counties and 37 European nations. Researchers found that those who grew up in areas with higher levels of atmospheric lead had less adaptive personalities in adulthood -- lower levels of conscientiousness and agreeableness and higher levels of neuroticism.