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Scientist hunched over a lab workbench in exhaustion
Neurotransmitter Buildup May Be Why Your Brain Feels Tired
Performing complex cognitive tasks leads to glutamate accumulating in a key region of the brain, a study finds, which could explain why mental labor is so exhausting.
Neurotransmitter Buildup May Be Why Your Brain Feels Tired
Neurotransmitter Buildup May Be Why Your Brain Feels Tired

Performing complex cognitive tasks leads to glutamate accumulating in a key region of the brain, a study finds, which could explain why mental labor is so exhausting.

Performing complex cognitive tasks leads to glutamate accumulating in a key region of the brain, a study finds, which could explain why mental labor is so exhausting.

neuroanatomy

illustration of multiple clocks arranged in the shape of a brain
How Early-Morning Light Exposure Makes Mice Less Depressed
Bianca Nogrady | Jul 22, 2021 | 4 min read
A light-sensitive gene involved in regulating the body clock may also influence mood, mediating the effect of light.
Flexible Synapse Strength May Underpin Mammal Brain’s Complexity
Asher Jones | Mar 24, 2021 | 3 min read
Neural connections in the mouse neocortex can release multiple packages of neurotransmitters per electrical impulse, a study finds.
New Cell Type Discovered in Human Brains
Catherine Offord | Aug 28, 2018 | 2 min read
Rosehip neurons are not found in rodents. Perhaps they offer clues about what separates our brains from those of other animals.
Image of the Day: A Shrimp and a Cockroach
The Scientist and The Scientist Staff | Oct 2, 2017 | 1 min read
In the mantis shrimp brain, scientists uncover mushroom bodies—learning and memory structures typically found in the brains of insects. 
Another Neural Circuit that Controls Breathing Found
Catherine Offord | Oct 31, 2016 | 1 min read
This third excitatory network helps to regulate postinspiration.
Opinion: Brain Scans in the Courtroom
Andreas Kuersten | Nov 23, 2015 | 5 min read
Advances in neuroimaging have improved our understanding of the brain, but the resulting data do little to help judges and juries determine criminal culpability.
The First Neuron Drawings, 1870s
Amanda B. Keener | Oct 1, 2015 | 3 min read
Camillo Golgi’s black reaction revealed, for the first time, the fine structures of intact neurons, which he captured with ink and paper.
The Neuron Doctrine, circa 1894
Chris Palmer | Nov 1, 2013 | 3 min read
Santiago Ramón y Cajal used a staining technique developed by Camillo Golgi to formulate the idea that the neuron is the basic unit of the nervous system.
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