Neuroscience wrapped: as we move into a new year, let’s reflect on some notable discoveries in the field of neuroscience from 2021.
3 Notable Neuroscience Discoveries in 2021
Blood, sweat, and clusterin
New insights into the link between exercise and improved cognition
Seeing the light again
How a protein from algae might help blind patients see
Memory Suppression Genes – Team Forgetful
Part of the answer to “why can’t I remember where I put it ?!?!”
The Neuroscience of Skill
The delicate dance of building and breaking down that goes into learning a new skill
Alzheimer’s disease: What’s causing some of our neurons to die?
A recent study suggests that an Alzheimer’s disease-related protein could explain why specific neurons die first.
Can we prevent memory loss?
Scientists may have found a way to prevent age-related memory loss.
A Calming Presence
How do social interactions help us through stress?
It’s all about balance: How the brain eliminates unwanted connections
Researchers identified a protein that eliminates synapses
Can a high sugar diet change how you taste?
A recent study found that consumption of a high sugar diet had lasting effects on sweet taste perception.
The Endogenous Opioid System: Your Body’s Natural Pain Reliever?
How does your body use its natural systems to relieve pain? Might we be able to use what we know about natural pain relieving processes in order to treat chronic pain and battle the opioid epidemic?
An unexpected molecule helps mice walk again
A hyperactive form of an immune molecule helped neurons regenerate their connections after injury
What can cause our brains to forget?
Recent research suggests microglia, the immune cells in your brain, are responsible for forgetting memories.
Can intermittent fasting change how we age?
By engaging a cell-breakdown process called autophagy, fasting can clear more than the belly.
How a volcano turned a brain into glass
Researchers found perfectly preserved neurons in the remains of the Mount Vesuvius eruption
No pain… a lot to gain
Can anesthesia lead us to better pain killers?
I Got It From My Mama: Maternal Microbes Support Brain Development of Her Offspring
New research in mice shows how gut microbes affect the brain, even before birth.
Making Memories
How do we form memories, and why does this process break down in autoimmune encephalitis?
The link between smoking and diabetes
New study reveals how a certain protein plays a role in both nicotine addiction and type II diabetes
Going Under
General anesthetics are used in millions of surgeries each year, yet we still don’t know exactly how they work.
More than a bug bite
Zika and West Nile viruses cause cognitive problems when immune cells team up
The protein that makes you feel pain
Different conditions uncover how one protein is important in controlling pain
Dying to Know: how do neurotoxins work?
Did you know neurotoxins are used for research and medical treatments? But how do they work and why are they so deadly?
Why are Alzheimer’s disease drugs failing?
Targeting an important protein in the pathway of Alzheimer’s disease is not proving itself to be the cure-all people hoped for
Medical CBD
A compound found in cannabis offers a new treatment for epilepsy
Your Brain With A Migraine
Migraines are much more than just headaches, so what exactly is going on in the brain to cause them?
Stimulants in the brain
How similar is coffee to other drugs?
PennNeuroKnow 