Miniature models of the brain have revealed a “previously unappreciated” role of microglia, a type of cell found within the organ. The finding could help unpack how disorders such as autism arise.
Category: neuroscience – Page 9
Prefrontal cortex astrocytes modulate distinct neuronal populations to control anxiety-like behavior
Whether and how prefrontal astrocyte Ca2+ signaling modulates different neuronal populations in aiding or inhibiting anxiety-like behavior remains not fully understood. Here authors show that prefrontal astrocytes encode anxiogenic cues and modulate excitatory and inhibitory neurons differently. Silencing prefrontal astrocytes heightens anxiety-like behavior and induces proteomic changes in astrocytes and neurons.
This Incredible Brain Implant Can Decode Inner Thoughts Into Speech
Scientists are making significant strides forward in brain-computer interface (BCI) technology, and a newly developed system can translate our thoughts into text or sound.
It’s essentially an inner speech decoder, developed by researchers from institutions across the US. In tests on four volunteers with severe paralysis, the decoder hit an accuracy rate of up to 74 percent in translating thoughts into audible speech.
The potential here is for a BCI that can help those with speech or motor impairments to communicate more effectively than ever before, though there’s still work to be done improving how accurate and personalized the system is.
Tiny protein dismantles the toxic clumps behind Alzheimer’s
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. (2025, August 23). Tiny protein dismantles the toxic clumps behind Alzheimer’s. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 23, 2025 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/08/250822073817.htm.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “Tiny protein dismantles the toxic clumps behind Alzheimer’s.” ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/08/250822073817.htm (accessed August 23, 2025).
Hemoglobin’s antioxidant role in brain cells points to new therapeutic avenue
Hemoglobin, long celebrated for ferrying oxygen in red blood cells, has now been revealed to play an overlooked—and potentially game-changing—antioxidant role in the brain.
In neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and aging, brain cells endure relentless damage from the aberrant (or excessive) reactive oxygen species (ROS). For decades, scientists have tried to neutralize ROS with antioxidant drugs, but most failed: they couldn’t penetrate the brain effectively, were unstable, or indiscriminately damaged healthy cells.
This new study, led by Director C. Justin Lee of the Center for Cognition and Sociality within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in Daejeon, South Korea, set out to identify the brain’s own defenses against a particularly harmful form of ROS—hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The study has been published in Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy.
