Summary: Autistic adults show reduced availability of a key glutamate receptor, mGlu5, across widespread brain regions. This difference supports the theory that an imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory signaling may…
Category: Neuroscience
Is Your Oral Bacteria Influencing Multiple Sclerosis?
Summary: High levels of the periodontal bacterium Fusobacterium nucleatum may be associated with more severe disability in people with multiple sclerosis. Researchers analyzed tongue-coating samples and found that MS patients…
Stroke Weakens How the Brain Integrates Speech Sounds
Summary: A new study comparing stroke survivors with healthy adults reveals that post-stroke language disorders stem not from slower hearing but from weaker integration of speech sounds. While patients detected…
Doubting Your Doubts Can Boost Motivation
Summary: When people facing uncertainty about an important identity goal are nudged to question the validity of their own doubts, their commitment to that goal actually increases. The research demonstrates…
AI Brain Model Shows How Neurons Learn, and Where They Fail
Summary: A biologically grounded computational model built to mimic real neural circuits, not trained on animal data, learned a visual categorization task just as actual lab animals do, matching their…
Engineered Protein Reveals Hidden Incoming Signals Between Neurons
Summary: Researchers have engineered a next-generation glutamate sensor, iGluSnFR4, capable of detecting the faintest incoming synaptic signals between neurons—signals that, until now, have been nearly impossible to record in living…
Numbers in Vision Can Shift How We Perceive Space
Summary: New research reveals that numbers in our visual field can subtly distort how we judge spatial positions, showing that perception is shaped by both numerical magnitude and object-based processing.…
Working Nights May Increase Cancer Risk
Summary: Chronic circadian disruption — such as night-shift work, irregular schedules, or frequent jet lag — accelerates the development and spread of aggressive breast cancer. Researchers found that disrupted internal…
Consciousness May Require a New Kind of Computation
Summary: A new theoretical framework argues that the long-standing split between computational functionalism and biological naturalism misses how real brains actually compute. The authors propose “biological computationalism,” the idea that…
Cues Can Hijack Decision Making in Some People
Summary: Some individuals rely heavily on visual and sound cues when making decisions, and this sensitivity can lead to persistent maladaptive choices. When cue–outcome associations shift, these individuals struggle to…
