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Category: neuroscience – Page 143

Quantum enhancement discovery could improve medical technologies

Technologies such as biomedical imaging and spectroscopy could be enhanced by a discovery in research that involved several institutions, including the University of Glasgow. Scientists have found that two-photon processes, which have applications in the study of Alzheimer’s disease and other nervous system disorders, can be strengthened by quantum light at far higher levels than previously thought possible.

The processes normally require high-intensity light but this can cause samples to be damaged or bleached.

It was suggested many years ago—and has since been demonstrated—that entangled could overcome this limitation. However, it has been widely believed that this quantum enhancement only survives for very faint light, raising doubts about the usefulness of the approach.

A signal that never repeats—how the brain creates bookmarks to map time

The brain doesn’t merely register time—it structures it, according to new research from the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience published in Science.

The research team led by NTNU’s Nobel Laureates May-Britt and Edvard Moser, from the Kavli Institute for Systems Neuroscience, is already known for their discovery of the brain’s sense of place.

Now they have shown that the brain also weaves a tapestry of time: The brain segments and organizes events into experiences, placing unique bookmarks on them so that our lives don’t become a blurry stream, but rather a series of meaningful moments and memories we can revisit and learn from.

Steering brain cells with magnetic nanoparticles to rebuild lost connections

A collaborative study led by Professor Vittoria Raffa at the University of Pisa and Assistant Professor Fabian Raudzus (Department of Clinical Application) has unveiled a novel approach that uses magnetically guided mechanical forces to direct axonal growth, aiming to enhance the effectiveness of stem cell-based therapies for Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other neurological conditions.

Parkinson’s disease is characterized by the progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the (SN), which project to the striatum (ST) via the nigrostriatal pathway. The loss of these connections leads to dopamine deficiency and the onset of motor symptoms.

While cell replacement therapies using human stem cell-derived dopaminergic progenitors have shown encouraging results in , a key limitation remains: the inability to guide the axons of transplanted cells over long distances to their appropriate targets in the adult brain.

Brain’s Memory Center Never Stops Making Neurons, Study Confirms

Though it’s now clear humans continue to grow new brain cells throughout their entire lives, debate persists over whether this applies to specific areas involved with memory.

Previous studies have made the case for and against the existence of neurogenesis in hippocampus beyond childhood. A new study now offers some of the clearest evidence yet that this crucial memory-forming region does form fresh neurons well into adulthood.

The study is the work of researchers from the Karolinska Institute and the Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, and looks specifically at the dentate gyrus section of the hippocampus, the part of the brain that acts as a key control center for emotions, learning, and storing episodic memories.

Diabetes drug cuts migraines in half by targeting brain pressure

A common diabetes drug may be the next big thing for migraine relief. In a clinical study, obese patients with chronic migraines who took liraglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, experienced over 50% fewer headache days and significantly improved daily functioning without meaningful weight loss. Researchers believe the drugs ability to lower brain fluid pressure is the key, potentially opening a completely new way to treat migraines. The effects were fast, sustained, and came with only mild side effects.

A diabetes medication that lowers brain fluid pressure has cut monthly migraine days by more than half, according to a new study presented today at the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) Congress 2025.

Researchers at the Headache Center of the University of Naples “Federico II” gave the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist liraglutide to 26 adults with obesity and chronic migraine (defined as ≥15 headache days per month). Patients reported an average of 11 fewer headache days per month, while disability scores on the Migraine Disability Assessment Test dropped by 35 points, indicating a clinically meaningful improvement in work, study, and social functioning.

Scientists reverse Parkinson’s symptoms in mice — Could humans be next?

Scientists at the University of Sydney have uncovered a malfunctioning version of the SOD1 protein that clumps inside brain cells and fuels Parkinson’s disease. In mouse models, restoring the protein’s function with a targeted copper supplement dramatically rescued movement, hinting at a future therapy that could slow or halt the disease in people.

Why Different Neuron Parts Learn Differently?

To try everything Brilliant has to offer—free—for a full 30 days, visit https://brilliant.org/ArtemKirsanov. You’ll also get 20% off an annual premium subscription.

Socials:
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My name is Artem, I’m a graduate student at NYU Center for Neural Science and researcher at Flatiron Institute. In this video we explore a recent study published in Science, which revealed that different compartments of pyramidal neurons (apical vs basal dendrites) use different plasticity rules for learning.

Link to the paper:
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ads4706

Outline:
00:00 Introduction.
01:23 Synaptic transmission.
06:09 Molecular machinery of LTP
08:40 Hebbian plasticity.
11:21 Non-Hebbian plasticity.
12:51 Hypothesis.
14:42 Experimental methods.
17:10 Result: compartmentalized plasticity.
19:30 Interpretation.
22:01 Brilliant.
23:08 Outro.

Music by Artlist.

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