Despite a long-held scientific belief that much of the wiring of the brain is fixed by adolescence, a new study shows that changes in sensory experience can cause massive rewiring, even as one ages. The study also found this rewiring involves fibers that supply the primary input to the cerebral ...

Researchers have shown in mice how immune cells in the brain target and remove unused connections between brain cells during normal development. This research sheds light on how brain activity influences brain development, and highlights the newly found importance of the immune system in how the brain is wired, as ...

When brain cells called neurons start oozing an Alzheimer's related protein, the brain's helper cells, called astrocytes, kill them off.

Researchers have developed a map of the human brain that shows great promise as a new guide to the inner workings of the body's most complex and critical organ.

Scientists have discovered a protein that appears to play an important regulatory role in deciding whether stem cells differentiate into the cells that make up the brain, as well as countless other tissues. This finding could eventually shed light on developmental disorders as well as a variety of conditions that ...

Brett Smith for RedOrbit.com Male songbirds use a versatile part of the brain to learn their father’s song during the early stages of development, according to a report published yesterday in the online version of Nature. Researchers at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) found that Bengalese finch males use ...

In an advance that may someday provide health benefits for soldiers and athletes, a team of researchers has discovered a mechanism that could be the cause of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in blast-exposed soldiers.

Treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in children normalizes disturbances in the neuronal network responsible for attention and executive function, according to a new study.

To learn its signature melody, the male songbird uses a trial-and-error process to mimic the song of its father, singing the tune over and over again, hundreds of times a day, making subtle changes in the pitch of the notes. To accomplish this feat, the Bengalese finch's brain must receive ...

Preliminary results from an ongoing, large-scale study shows that oxytocin -- a naturally occurring substance produced in the brain and throughout the body -- increased brain function in regions that are known to process social information in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

Researchers have developed an MRI-based method to detect and monitor pH changes in living brains. The new technique provides the best evidence so far that pH changes do occur with normal function in the intact human brain. The team hopes to use the method to investigate the role of pH ...

Findings suggest that the effects of exercise on memory depend on the age of the exerciser; underlying genetic mechanisms matter, too.