New research revealed today highlights the power of animal studies to explore mechanisms of opioid addiction, withdrawal, and relapse to inform new prevention strategies and treatments for people. 

Sleep disruptions are associated with many brain disorders, including anxiety, dementias, and traumatic brain injury. While these disruptions are sometimes viewed as a side effect of brain disorders, new findings presented today suggest that aberrant sleep-wake cycles can also drive brain pathology.

Studies that link breakdowns in the brain’s blood vessels to Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia were presented today at Neuroscience 2018, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world’s largest source of emerging news about brain science and health.

Sheets of fetal cells integrate into the retina and generate nearly normal visual activity in the brains of blind rats, reports new research published in JNeurosci.

New studies reveal that small, membrane-bound particles transported between cells have wide-ranging and long-term effects in the brain and throughout the body, from helping neurons communicate to passing the effects of stress onto the next generation.

Advances in understanding adolescent brain development may aid future treatments of mental illness and alcohol and substance use disorders. The findings were presented at Neuroscience 2018, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world’s largest source of emerging news about brain science and health. 

Promising findings from preclinical animal studies show the potential of gene therapy for treating incurable neurological disorders. In new research presented today, scientists successfully used gene therapy to slow the progression and improve symptoms of disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.

Neuroscientists are developing a clearer picture than ever before of how the animal brain processes social information, from status and competitive advantage in a group to the calls and vocalizations of peers.

While solitary confinement is an extreme example affecting a relatively small portion of the population, social isolation and persistent loneliness are a growing problem in the United States.

Excessive stress during fetal development or early childhood can have long-term consequences for the brain, from increasing the likelihood of brain disorders and affecting an individual’s response to stress as an adult to changing the nutrients a mother may pass on to her babies in the womb.