Slicing up and analyzing real, living, three-dimensional brain tissue comes with some obvious complications – as in, it tends to be needed by its owner. But scientists are now closer than ever to being able to grow realistic brain tissue models in the lab to experiment on instead.

A team of researchers led by the University of California, Riverside (UCR) have created a tiny scaffolding some 2 millimeters (0.08 inches) wide, on which donated neural stem cells can be attached and develop into full neurons.

The scaffolding is called BIPORES – or the Bijel-Integrated PORous Engineered System – and it’s made mostly of the common polymer polyethylene glycol (PEG). The researchers modified the PEG to make it ‘sticky’ for brain cells, without needing the usual coatings that can interfere with the reliability of the science.

While our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease is far from complete, the latest therapies, and others in more than 100 clinical trials, offer new hope.

A new clinical trial shows that deep brain stimulation (DBS) improved symptoms in half of adults with treatment-resistant depression, with one-third reaching remission.

The term intimate partner violence (IPV) refers to physical, sexual or psychological abuse perpetrated by an individual on their romantic partner or spouse. Victims of IPV who are violently attacked and physically abused on a regular basis can sometimes present injuries that have lasting consequences on their mood, mental processes and behavior.

Common types of injuries observed in IPV victims who are periodically attacked physically include mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) and disruptions in the flow of blood or oxygen to the brain emerging from non-fatal strangulation (NFS). Both these have been linked to inflammation in the brain and a hindered ability to form new connections between neurons or change older connections (i.e., neuroplasticity).

Researchers at Monash University, Vancouver Island University and University of Victoria recently carried out a study involving rats aimed at assessing the potential of the psychedelic compound psilocybin for reversing the chronic effects of IPV-related brain injuries. Their findings, published in Molecular Psychiatry, suggest that psilocybin could in fact reduce inflammation and anxiety, improve memory and facilitate learning following brain injuries caused by repeated physical trauma.

Researchers have created functional brain-like tissue without relying on any animal-derived materials, marking a major step toward more ethical and reproducible neurological research.

For more than a decade, Xiaoting Jia, an electrical and computer engineering professor at Virginia Tech, has been developing neural implant fibers — hair-thin, flexible tubes through which she can run electronics and deliver drug therapy to treat those devastating neurological conditions.