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Neuroscience

New evidence suggests human brain produces immature neurons throughout lifespan
Microscopic view of illuminated brain neurons.

New evidence suggests human brain produces immature neurons throughout lifespan

Work from Perelman School of Medicine and elsewhere found these neurons in significant numbers in the hippocampus. The findings pave the way for the deeper study of the role this neuron formation plays in memory, mood, behavior, and brain disorders.

A mashup of marketing and neuroscience
Four students and Elizabeth Johnson in a Wharton lab.

Elizabeth “Zab” Johnson (far right), executive director of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative, hosts a demonstration in the Wharton Behavioral Lab where students collect eye-tracking data that they later analyze for a group project. (Image: Wharton Magazine)

A mashup of marketing and neuroscience

Wharton’s Visual Marketing course examines the real-world applications of visual cognition and its influence on consumer behavior.

From Wharton Magazine

From 5 to 95: The impact of life experiences on brain health
An elderly person doing a crossword puzzle.

From 5 to 95: The impact of life experiences on brain health

Structural and social determinants of health (SSDoH) are environmental conditions in which individuals are born, live, and learn that affect health, and evidence suggests that SSDoH can help to explain similar outcomes in Alzheimer’s disease.

From Penn Memory Center

Dirk Trauner appointed Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor
Dirk Trauner.

Dirk Trauner will be the George A. Weiss University Professor, with joint appointments in the Department of Chemistry in the School of Arts & Sciences and the Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics in the Perelman School of Medicine.

Dirk Trauner appointed Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor

Trauner, one of the world’s most innovative interdisciplinary chemists, will have joint appointments in the School of Arts & Sciences and in the Perelman School of Medicine.
A new approach to nerve healing
Microscopic view of sensory neurons.

A new approach to nerve healing

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine developed an injectable microtissue that preserved muscle function in rodents with a severed nerve.  

From Penn Medicine News

The promise of transcranial magnetic stimulation
Roy Hamilton in the brainSTIM Center.

Roy Hamilton, associate professor of neurology and physical medicine and rehabilitation, and director of the brainSTIM Center. (Image: Penn Medicine News)

The promise of transcranial magnetic stimulation

Research led by Penn Medicine shows that transcranial magnetic stimulation might help stimulate brain repair by helping the brain “reorganize” signals around the damaged area.

From Penn Medicine News

Social connections influence brain structure of rhesus macaques
Three adults rhesus macaques and two infants macaques sitting on a rock in a forest located on the island of Cayo Santiago.

A grooming chain of adult female rhesus macaques on Cayo Santiago, an island off the coast of Puerto Rico. Researchers in the Platt labs have studied this group of free-ranging nonhuman primates for more than a decade. This most recent work builds on previous research aimed at understanding the link between social connections and the brain. (Image: Lauren JN Brent)

Social connections influence brain structure of rhesus macaques

Researchers from Penn, Inserm, and elsewhere observed that the number of grooming partners an individual animal had predicted the size of brain areas associated with social decision-making and empathy.

Michele W. Berger

Questioning what we know about dementia
An elderly person, seated, holds hands with a caregiver standing over them.

Questioning what we know about dementia

Penn researchers are looking into moments of sudden, clear communication in someone with progressive neurodegenerative disease for a deeper understanding of both brain science and philosophy.

From Penn Memory Center