ScienceDaily: Mind & Brain News


Meningitis: Researchers find possible treatment strategy without antibiotics

Posted: 18 Oct 2021 02:22 PM PDT

Meningitis is a very serious brain infection with limited treatment options. In a new study performed in rats, researchers present an alternative treatment based on immune cells that helps rinse away toxins that accumulate during the infection.

Researchers identify brain circuitry in rodents that may be responsible for negative emotional aspects of pain

Posted: 18 Oct 2021 02:22 PM PDT

A new study has uncovered neuronal circuitry in the brain of rodents that may play an important role in mediating pain-induced anhedonia -- a decrease in motivation to perform reward-driven behaviors. Researchers were able to change the activity of this circuit and restore levels of motivation in a pre-clinical model of pain tested in rodents.

Neuroinflammation protein linked to worse survival in men with glioblastoma

Posted: 18 Oct 2021 12:06 PM PDT

Scientists have discovered a new link that could bring the scientific and medical community closer to understanding why glioblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor, is deadlier in males than females.

People love the billionaire, but hate the billionaires’ club

Posted: 18 Oct 2021 12:06 PM PDT

Americans may respect and admire how individual billionaires -- think Oprah Winfrey or Bill Gates -- made their billions, even as they rage against the "top 1%" as a group, new research finds.

A new treatment for glaucoma?

Posted: 18 Oct 2021 11:17 AM PDT

A new study in mice has identified new treatment targets for glaucoma, including preventing a severe pediatric form of glaucoma, as well as uncovering a possible new class of therapy for the most common form of glaucoma in adults.

How the brain navigates cities

Posted: 18 Oct 2021 08:25 AM PDT

A study suggests our brains are not optimized to calculate the shortest possible route when navigating on foot. Instead, pedestrians use vector-based navigation, choosing 'pointiest' paths that point most directly toward their destination, even if the routes are longer.

Mammalian motivation circuits: Maybe they’re born with it

Posted: 18 Oct 2021 08:24 AM PDT

Are animals born to seek rewards or avoid punishment? Researchers found that mice have pre-programmed neurons and circuits that process 'positive' and 'negative' stimuli. Their findings may be useful for studying neurological and psychiatric disorders in humans.

Developing a treatment for vision loss through transplant of photoreceptor precursors

Posted: 18 Oct 2021 07:59 AM PDT

A recent study examining the therapeutic potential of photoreceptor precursors, derived from clinically compliant induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), has demonstrated the safety and therapeutic potential of clinically compliant iPSC-derived photoreceptor precursors as a cell replacement source for future clinical trials.

Our brains have a 'fingerprint' too

Posted: 15 Oct 2021 03:42 PM PDT

An EPFL scientist has pinpointed the signs of brain activity that make up our brain fingerprint, which -- like our regular fingerprint -- is unique.