News from

Neuroscience

Reset All Filters
358 Results
Eva Dyer is listening to the brain’s code with a little help from AI
Eva Dyer

Eva Dyer is the Rachleff Associate Professor in Bioengineering and in computer and information science at the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

(Image: Courtesy of Penn Engineering)

Eva Dyer is listening to the brain’s code with a little help from AI

Penn professor Eva Dyer merges her background in music and audio engineering with artificial intelligence to help uncover brain signals and explore how the brain processes information.

Melissa Pappas

2 min. read

A built-in ‘off switch’ to stop persistent pain

Collaborative research on the neural basis of chronic pain led by neuroscientist J. Nicholas Betley finds that a critical hub in the brainstem, has a built-in “off switch” to stop persistent pain signals from reaching the rest of the brain. Their findings could help clinicians better understand chronic pain. (Pictured) Flurorescence imaging reveals hunger neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus labeled in maroon with nuclei shown in blue.

(Image: J. Nicholas Betley)

A built-in ‘off switch’ to stop persistent pain

J. Nicholas Betley has led collaborative research seeking the neural basis of long-term sustained pain and finds that a critical hub in the brainstem holds a mechanism for stopping pain signals from reaching the rest of the brain. Their findings could help clinicians better understand chronic pain and lead to new, more efficacious treatments.

4 min. read

Exposure to air pollution worsens Alzheimer’s disease
Emissions from a power plant.

Image: Pencho Chukov via Getty Images

Exposure to air pollution worsens Alzheimer’s disease

New research from Penn Medicine finds living in areas with high concentration of air pollution is associated with increased buildup of amyloid and tau proteins in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, accelerating cognitive decline.

Kelsey Geesler

2 min. read

Gene therapy may slow loss of motor function in ALS
A microscopic rendering of a neuromuscular junction.

Image: Koto_Feja via Getty Images

Gene therapy may slow loss of motor function in ALS

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia used RNA interference to silence a key protein that causes ALS, showing promise for treating the devastating neurodegenerative disease.

Kelsey Geesler

‘Elusive Cures: Why Neuroscience Hasn’t Solved Brain Disorders—and How We Can Change That’
Cover of Elusive Cures book next to headshot of Nicole Rust.

Tackling brain conditions, says psychology professor Nicole Rust, requires thinking about the brain not as a domino chain but as a complex dynamical system with feedback loops.

nocred

  • Q&A

    • ‘Elusive Cures: Why Neuroscience Hasn’t Solved Brain Disorders—and How We Can Change That’

    The first book from psychology professor Nicole Rust of the School of Arts & Sciences dives into why research on conditions like Alzheimer’s and depression hasn’t translated more effectively into better treatments.

    5 min. read