neuroscience

Harvard keeps lab-grown brain organoids alive for 5 years

Harvard neuroscientists have kept lab-grown human brain organoids alive for more than five years, tripling the previous record and demonstrating that these miniature models of the cerebral cortex can faithfully replicate the developmental timeline of a living human brain. The…

Study finds Alzheimer’s brain changes 7 years before plaques appear

Alzheimer's disease may leave detectable traces in the brain more than seven years before amyloid plaques — long considered the earliest measurable sign of the condition — become visible on PET scans, according to a study published this week in…

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MIT finds brain reuses same neural circuits for different tasks

Neuroscientists at MIT have discovered the first evidence that the brain employs flexible, multipurpose neural modules — clusters of neurons in the prefrontal cortex that can switch between storing sensory information and action plans in working memory, rather than relying…

Mice retain memories after losing half their brain connections, study finds

Long-term memories may not depend on the strength of individual connections between neurons, as neuroscientists have long believed. Instead, memories appear to survive through resilient clusters of synaptic architecture — a finding revealed by putting mice into artificial hibernation and…

UC San Diego finds genetic switch linking childhood and Alzheimer’s dementia

Researchers at the University of California San Diego have identified a shared cellular mechanism that drives brain degeneration in both a rare childhood disorder and Alzheimer's disease, revealing a potential new avenue for drug development targeting neurodegenerative conditions.

Brain scans show dogs process human smiles as rewards

Dogs do not just read the room — they read the face. A pair of studies published this week offer new evidence that the canine brain is wired to decode human emotional signals, shaped by thousands of years of domestication…

Zurich researchers discover brain’s hidden self-repair mechanism in mice

The adult brain can regenerate itself better than long assumed following injuries or certain autoimmune diseases, according to a study published Monday by researchers at the University of Zurich. The team discovered a specialized group of "regenerative" astrocytes that repopulate…

AI-powered bionic eye approach outperforms standard methods in blind participant

Researchers have demonstrated that artificial intelligence can make future visual cortical prostheses — devices sometimes called "bionic eyes" — more precise and adaptive, according to a proof-of-concept study published August 7 in the journal Neuron.

Vision, not frontal lobe, drove primate brain evolution, study finds

A new study published Thursday in the journal Science overturns a long-held assumption about how primates — including humans — came to have such large and complex brains. Rather than independent expansion of the frontal lobe, the region most often…

First complete marmoset genome maps 76 Alzheimer’s-linked genes

Researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz Genomics Institute have published the first gapless, telomere-to-telomere genome of the common marmoset, a milestone they say will sharpen the study of Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. The findings, published Thursday…

Roche, Recursion advance first AI-discovered drug target

Roche and its subsidiary Genentech have advanced the first neuroscience drug target to emerge from their artificial intelligence partnership with Recursion Pharmaceuticals, moving it into an early discovery program in what both companies describe as a proof point for AI-driven…

Study maps how brain stimulation alters genes in living human tissue

Researchers have for the first time mapped how deep brain stimulation alters gene expression across individual cell types in living human brain tissue, a step that could open new avenues for treating cognitive decline.

Stem cell trial shows positive results for Parkinson’s

A first-of-its-kind clinical trial has demonstrated that transplanting stem cell-derived dopamine-producing cells into the brains of people with Parkinson's disease is safe and feasible, with early signs that the grafted cells survived at least 12 months after surgery. The results,…

Human-safe drug repairs DNA damage in Alzheimer’s mouse model

Neuroscientists at King's College London have found that a drug already shown to be safe in humans can reduce multiple features of Alzheimer's disease in mice by repairing broken DNA in neurons and reducing brain inflammation, according to a study…

Anthropic finds hidden ‘workspace’ inside Claude AI

Anthropic published research on Monday identifying a small internal "workspace" inside its Claude AI model — a structure the company says the model uses to hold and manipulate ideas before expressing them, mirroring a leading neuroscientific theory of human consciousness.

Tech giants now openly researching whether AI could be conscious

Major artificial intelligence companies are dedicating growing resources to studying whether their increasingly powerful models could develop consciousness or something resembling emotions — a question that until recently was dismissed as science fiction but has now entered the corporate research…

Meta unveils brain-to-text AI that decodes thoughts without surgery

Meta on Sunday unveiled Brain2Qwerty v2, a non-invasive brain-computer interface that decodes typed sentences from raw neural signals in real time, marking what the company calls the highest-performing system of its kind. The announcement coincided with the publication of the…

New cell death mechanism found in Alzheimer’s brains

Researchers at King's College London have identified a previously unknown form of programmed cell death called karyoptosis in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia, a discovery that could reshape understanding of how neurons are lost in…

Study finds 641 new schizophrenia-linked genes

Researchers have identified 641 previously unrecognized genes associated with schizophrenia by mapping how gene networks communicate across the brain, a finding that could reshape the search for targeted treatments of one of psychiatry's most complex disorders.

Oxford study links ancient gene doublings to brain evolution

Two whole-genome duplication events that occurred roughly 520 and 500 million years ago provided the genetic raw material that enabled vertebrates to evolve their complex brains, according to research published on Wednesday in Nature.

10 scientists win 2026 Kavli Prizes for work on dark matter, twistronics, and neurons

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters on Wednesday named ten scientists as recipients of the 2026 Kavli Prize, honoring breakthroughs in astrophysics, nanoscience, and neuroscience. Each prize carries a $1 million award shared among its laureates.

Yale team builds brain-computer interface users learn in under an hour

A team of Yale University researchers has built a noninvasive brain-computer interface that allows users to control an avatar in a virtual reality game using only their brain activity — and learn to do so in under an hour. The…

Harvard, Princeton map every neuron in fruit fly nervous system

A large international team led by Harvard Medical School and Princeton University has published the first complete wiring diagram of all neuronal connections in the central nervous system of an adult fruit fly, a milestone that reveals motor control operates…

NIH-funded study triggers sleep’s benefits in awake brains

Scientists have demonstrated that the restorative benefits of sleep can be induced in localized brain regions while an animal remains fully awake, a finding that could reshape understanding of why organisms need to sleep and point toward new treatments for…

Moderate video gaming may sharpen cognitive skills

Playing video games in moderation may sharpen cognitive skills by allowing players to practice complex tasks in simulated environments, according to recent research and expert analysis.