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.

The hormone, which is well known for regulating appetite, appears to influence neuronal development—a finding that could shed light on disorders such as autism that involve dysfunctional synapse formation.

A new study suggests that growing in a stressful environment prevents “brains-in-a-dish” from growing in the same way as their in vivo counterparts.

A number of epidemiological studies support a link between air quality and poor health outcomes, and researchers are searching for explanations in the lab.

An analysis of the contours of more than 600 kids’ brains points to links between cerebral surface area and heritability in regions of the brain important in cognition.  

Inflammation may be a strong contender for the connection between mom’s weight and children’s neurodevelopment, according to lab studies on animals.

Scientists are making use of Xenopus tadpoles to study autism risk genes. 

Scientists identified a schizophrenia-risk gene, ZNF804A, that influences the birth and movement of new neurons within the developing brain. 

Bacterial strains in mice’s gut microbiomes mediated their pups’ risk for developing abnormal behaviors.

Young neurons in the adult human brain are likely critical to its function.

Fixing impaired pruning and autophagy signaling in neurons eases the symptoms of autism in a mouse model of the disorder.

Researchers are piecing together the devilishly complex sets of genetic alterations underlying schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.