News from

Neuroscience

Reset All Filters
346 Results
One step closer to a clinical fix for the side effects of monovision
A person sitting in front of a computer and a machine that tests vision.

The lab of neuroscientist Johannes Burge (above) focuses on how the human visual system processes the images that fall on the back of the eye. This line of work, closely related to a 100-year-old illusion called the Pulfrich effect, could have serious public safety and public health implications.

One step closer to a clinical fix for the side effects of monovision

Monovision counters the deterioration of the ability to see up close but also causes dramatic visual distortions. New research confirms that a solution that successfully works with trial lenses—the special lenses used by eye doctors—also succeeds with contact lenses.

Michele W. Berger

Creative storytelling through TimeSlips
Abstract watercolor of a person playing guitar on a bench.

Creative storytelling through TimeSlips

Through the TimeSlips program at the Penn Memory Center, older individuals are engaged through visual prompts to not just remember, but engage creatively with stimuli.

From Penn Memory Center

Crowd-sourcing optogenetics data to tackle neurological diseases
Two people in front of two computer monitors. The person moving the mouse is sitting. The other person stands watching.

Sébastien Tremblay (front), a postdoctoral fellow in the Platt Labs, works in a specialized field of neuroscience called optogenetics, which shows clinical promise for treating conditions like epilepsy. To foster the open exchange of information, Tremblay spearheaded a crowd-sourced, free database that includes data from 45 labs in nine countries. (Pre-pandemic image: Kevin Monko)

Crowd-sourcing optogenetics data to tackle neurological diseases

The specialized field of neuroscience, optogenetics, shows clinical promise for conditions like epilepsy and Parkinson’s. But before human trials can get fully underway, the field must better understand a crucial intermediate step, aided by 45 labs in nine countries sharing information.

Michele W. Berger

Localizing epilepsy ‘hotspots’
Scan of a brain

Localizing epilepsy ‘hotspots’

Student interns worked this summer with the Davis Lab in the Penn Epilepsy Center to research improvements to epilepsy diagnosis using the tools of machine learning and network analysis.
Researchers discover a rare genetic form of dementia
Microscopic view of abnormal neurofibrillary tangles.

Abnormal neurofibrillary tangles—a buildup of tau protein in parts of the brain—helped Edward Lee and other Penn scientists uncover this new form of dementia.

Researchers discover a rare genetic form of dementia

A buildup of tau protein in parts of the brain helped Edward Lee, an assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, and other Penn scientists uncover this new form of dementia.

Melissa Moody

Elon Musk to show off working brain-hacking device

Elon Musk to show off working brain-hacking device

Ari Benjamin, a doctoral student in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, said the biggest stumbling block for brain-to-machine interface technology is the complexity of the human brain. "Once they have the recordings, Neuralink will need to decode them and will someday hit the barrier that is our lack of basic understanding of how the brain works, no matter how many neurons they record from,” he said. "Decoding goals and movement plans is hard when you don't understand the neural code in which those things are communicated."

MTL deterioration can lead to impulsive decisions
A golden-hued brain model suspended in air

MTL deterioration can lead to impulsive decisions

A study highlighting episodic memory and decision making finds that individual differences in decision making are driven by episodic memory function, and that a deteriorating medial temporal lobe may impact the ability to delay gratification.

From Penn Memory Center

A radical new model of the brain illuminates its wiring

A radical new model of the brain illuminates its wiring

Danielle Bassett of the School of Engineering and Applied Science spoke about how neuroscience has led to a greater understanding of the brain’s networks and how to treat a variety of conditions. “Hopefully, with an understanding of the individual differences in the brain, we will have a better lever on how to predict human responses to a particular intervention,” she says, “and then not have to have people go for a year through different kinds of medication before we find one that works for them.”