brain development

Altering the rate of respiration in mitochondria changes how fast neurons grow, making mouse neurons grow more like human ones and vice versa, a study finds.

Epigenetic events, such as methylation, during early brain development in mice occur in genomic regions associated with BMI in humans, according to a new study.

The human cells, engineered to respond to blue light, influenced rat behavior when stimulated.

Maternal infection during pregnancy may be associated with autism, as previous studies have suggested—but perhaps not in a causal way.

Before their own central clocks develop, the brains of fetal rats detect their mother’s metabolic cycle to help regulate the expression of certain genes.

Noncoding RNAs are proving to be critical players in the evolution of brain anatomy and cognitive complexity.

Neurologically important noncoding RNAs come in many shapes and sizes.

Compared with cells taken from non-autistic controls, neural precursors from autistic boys proliferated in atypical ways, a small study finds.

Low doses of continuous penicillin exposure altered mouse pups’ microbiomes and gene expression in brain areas associated with emotional and cognitive function.

Recent findings buck the traditional idea that embryos are passive agents and instead suggest that by tuning into vibrations, organisms can better prepare to enter the outside world.

By measuring various pollutants in the immediate vicinity of pregnant women and tracking brain development of their children, researchers in Barcelona aim to untangle any influence the former has on the latter.

In mice, epigenetic marks made on histones during infancy influence depression-like behavior during adulthood. A drug that reverses the genomic tags appears to undo the damage.

Overactive immune cells identified in a mouse model and in postmortem human brain tissue may offer a potential therapeutic target for cognitive delays associated with the condition, researchers report.

Scans of eight fossilized adult and infant Australopithecus afarensis skulls reveal a prolonged period of brain growth during development that may have set the stage for extended childhood learning in later hominins.

Without a brain, the frog embryo immune system doesn’t receive the signals it needs to mobilize macrophages and fight infections.

Juvenile birds learn the length of the sounds in a song from a false memory introduced via optogenetics, instead of from real interactions with a tutor bird.