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Neuroscience
Gift to Penn Medicine and CHOP establishes Center for Epilepsy and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
This $25M gift will bolster the efforts of an interdisciplinary group of clinicians and scientists at Penn and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, led by director Benjamin Prosser, to accelerate research in genetic therapies for neurodevelopmental disorders.
Black older Americans age faster than white counterparts
According to a new Penn study, inequities in socioeconomic resources is the main cause of biological aging as measured by DNA methylation.
New approach for brain cell immunotherapy
Penn Medicine researchers have developed a selective medicine to get rid of old microglia, while also replenishing them with transplanted surrogate cells in their place, suggesting future potential for treating and even preventing neurodegenerative disorders.
Eight Penn professors elected 2022 AAAS Fellows
Researchers from the School of Arts & Sciences, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Perelman School of Medicine, and School of Veterinary Medicine join a class of scientists, engineers, and innovators spanning 24 scientific disciplines.
Through the lens: A digital depiction of dyslexia
Artist-in-residence and visiting scholar Rebecca Kamen has blended AI and art to produce animated illustrations representing how a dyslexic brain interprets information.
How ketamine acts as ‘switch’ in the brain
Penn researchers find that the anesthetic and fast-acting antidepressant switches natural patterns of neuronal activity in the cerebral cortex.
A link between social environment and healthy brains in wild rhesus macaques
Research from Penn, Arizona State University, the National Institute of Mental Health, and elsewhere finds that on the island of Cayo Santiago, female monkeys with a higher social status had younger, more resilient molecular profiles.
During sleep, one brain region teaches another, converting novel data into enduring memories
Using a neural network model, Penn neuroscientist Anna Schapiro and colleagues found that as the body moves between REM and slow-wave sleep cycles, the hippocampus and neocortex interact in ways that are key to memory formation.
Defining neural ‘representation’
Neuroscientists frequently say that neural activity ‘represents’ certain phenomena, PIK Professor Konrad Kording and postdoc Ben Baker led a study that took a philosophical approach to tease out what the term means.
Exploring the depth of smell through art
With “RE_______,” a fall exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Sissel Tolaas, a Norwegian artist, chemist, and linguist, the galleries put smell front and center.
In the News
Neuroscience explains why Bill Gates’ weird reading trick is so effective
A study by Penn researchers working in physics, neuroscience, and bioengineering found that people instinctively seek patterns and similarities in the data they absorb.
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What happens to human brain at all stages of life? Studies have pretty cool answers
Postdoc Jakob Seidlitz of the Perelman School of Medicine says that brain development changes as people age, with different parts of the brain reaching their own milestones at different points in life.
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Concussions on the rise among older Americans
Ramon Diaz-Arrastia of the Perelman School of Medicine says that concussions are happening more often as the U.S. population continues to age.
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Traumatic brain injury survivor helps others through Mind Your Brain Foundation
With the help of Penn Medicine, Chester County resident Candace Gantt founded the Mind Your Brain Foundation to support fellow traumatic brain injury survivors.
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How Havana syndrome helps us rethink the brain
A team at Penn Medicine found MRI results consistent with a major brain injury in patients suffering from Havana syndrome.
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Penn study shows signs of Alzheimer's disease prevention
A study by Roy Hamilton of the Perelman School of Medicine and colleagues suggests that the drug lecanemab may slow the progression of Alzheimer’s or forestall its effects before they occur.
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