neuroscience, cell & molecular biology

Two independent studies in rats find grid cells, which form the brain’s map, are more plastic than thought and are subject to the influence of reward.

A new set of engineered receptors responds to an FDA-approved drug to provide the most potent chemogenetic toolkit to date.

Children born to moms who smoked or ingested marijuana during pregnancy suffer higher rates of depression, hyperactivity, and inattention.

From cellular self-digestion to the effects of exercise on the brain, our features editor picks her favorite art custom-made for the magazine.

Studying how neural crest cells journey through the embryo, this Caltech developmental biologist has revealed how they form major cell types, including peripheral neurons, bone, and smooth muscle.

Originally intended for basic neuroscience research, the drugs were ultimately hijacked for illicit recreational use.

A pair of mouse studies describes neuronal subpopulations not identified before and some of their functions.

Contrary to prior evidence, a study finds receptor density is the same among people without and without the disorder, although GABA signaling still appears to be impaired.

Human eye organoids could help scientists develop therapies for colorblindness.

In a condition called mechanical allodynia, when everyday activities exact misery, the same neurons that ordinarily transmit normal touch are involved in feelings of pain.

Boosting both neurogenesis and a brain-derived growth factor can mimic the cognitive benefits of exercise in a mouse mode of Alzheimer’s disease.

Immune cells travel through these passageways to get to injured tissue quickly, researchers say.

A double gene-transfer therapy transformed the non-neuronal cells into rod photoreceptors in the retinas of animal models of congenital blindness.

Levels of tau, amyloid-β 42, and IL-10 extracted from extracellular vesicles that started out in the brain were higher in military personal suffering head injuries compared with healthy soldiers.

Moderate ultraviolet light exposure boosts the brainpower of mice thanks to increased production of the neurotransmitter glutamate.  

Injecting molecules from a sea slug that received tail shocks into one that didn’t made the recipient animal behave more cautiously. 

Unsuccessful attempts to reproduce the results of a 2015 study reporting that C. elegans orient themselves by Earth’s magnetic field spark debate among researchers.

The neuronal coverings that mediate synaptic changes are involved in everything from memory to psychiatric disorders, affecting autism, Alzheimer’s, and addiction.

The pre-peer review assessment finds the compound has “minimal effects,” but endocrinologists and others say key data have yet to come out.