neuroscience

By directing ultrasound to a specific area of the brain, scientists at the University of Washington have succeeded in inducing a state very similar to hibernation in rats and mice. This state, called "torpor", involves a reduction in metabolism and body temperature to save energy. According to the authors, who publish their results in the journal Nature Metabolism, if it could be applied to humans it could be used in space travel or in medicine, to increase the chances of survival in life-threatening situations such as heart attacks or strokes.

A commentary published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour discusses the scientific evidence for why rape victims are often involuntarily paralysed, unable to defend themselves or express themselves without consent, and the implications this has for the world's legal systems.

A drug in gel form cured 100 percent of mice with a very aggressive brain tumor. The authors hope that this is a first step towards helping human patients with glioblastoma, one of the most dangerous brain tumors in humans. The article is published today in PNAS.

Researchers have presented the first connectome - a diagram of neural connections - of the whole brain of an insect, a vinegar fly larva (Drosophila melanogaster). The work, which the authors say will inspire new studies of neural circuits and machine learning architectures, is published today in Science.

A Swedish research team has successfully 'grown' a soft, electrically conductive polymer in various zebrafish and leech tissues, as well as in isolated mammalian muscle tissues, without damaging those tissues. The research is published in Science.

Constant checking of social media activity in early adolescence is associated with changes in the brain's sensitivity to rewards and punishments. This is the conclusion of a study involving 169 12- and 13-year-old students in the United States with Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat profiles, according to JAMA Pediatrics.

Research published in the journal Nature identifies the neurons that enabled nine paralysed patients to walk again after electrical stimulation of the spinal cord.

A single amino acid change in a protein (TKTL1) may have given modern humans an advantage over their older contemporaries, such as Neanderthals, by allowing greater neocortical neuronal formation, according to research published in Science.

Researchers have tested a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) therapy in mouse models and in males (in a pilot clinical trial) with Down's syndrome. The results, published in the journal Science, suggest improved cognitive function.

A study published in Cell Reports shows that air pollution and stress during pregnancy disrupt the brain wiring of developing male and not female mice, causing autism-like social behavior in them.