Brain

Blinking isn’t just about keeping eyes moist. New research suggests we blink less when listening becomes hard, with each pause reflecting increased focus. The findings hint that blinking may track how hard our brains are working to listen among noise.

In the first long-term and real-world reflective study of its kind, scientists have uncovered new detrimental health impacts of the artificial sweetener aspartame that echoes those found in shorter research.

A new study shows that briefly and reversibly anesthetizing the retina of the amblyopic eye for just a few days can restore the brain's visual responses to that eye, even in adults.

In a breakthrough, scientists have discovered that a variant in one gene can cause mental illnesses – something previously believed to only be the result of several variants working together. What's more, these conditions often develop in childhood.

In a new study, researchers discovered that the human brain has four pivotal periods when it goes through marked changes, sparking five "epochs" that last for years. The adolescent phase, for example, was found to extend into our early 30s.

In a major brain science breakthrough, researchers discovered a nerve signaling mechanism that takes place outside the cell, flipping on a 'pain switch.' This could shed light on a path to safer pain medication without the usual side effects.

Scientists have failed to show that weight-loss wonder drug semaglutide can also slow the progress of Alzheimer's disease (AD), as two two-year clinical trials end in disappointment for patients, medical scientists and drugmaker Novo Nordisk.

Scientists have made history with a device that successfully eavesdrops on the neuronal chatter between the brain and the gut, furthering our understanding of its intrinsic interconnectedness – and how it drives health and disease throughout the body.

Scientists have, for the first time, developed functional, brain-like tissue without relying on animal-derived materials or biological coatings. The innovation offers a new, fully synthetic platform for neural tissue engineering.

Groundbreaking research has uncovered three gene variants that increase the risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder by up to 15 times. It's a remarkable finding, considering that thousands of mutations only come with a nominal elevated risk.

One of the brain’s biggest benefits from exercise – the birth of new neurons – may not even require any movement. Instead, the beneficial “packages” circulating in the blood after working out can be successfully transferred to others.

Boosting levels of a certain molecule that declines with age restored the function of hundreds of brain genes and reversed memory loss in Alzheimer’s disease models, fixing the RNA splicing errors that drive damage to critical neurons.