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Neuroscience
Undergraduates help songbird research project take flight
Through the PURM internship program, Julia Youngman and Eric Tao had the opportunity to work in neuroethologist Marc Schmidt’s lab studying the neural basis of courtship behaviors in songbirds.
Navigating travel with someone who has dementia
With the right planning, and proper expectations, Penn Medicine experts say a family vacation can accommodate the needs of individuals with dementia.
Can nature-inspired designs affect cognition and mood?
A team from the Center for Neuroaesthetics created a biophilic room to test the idea. Preliminary findings from a small pilot show promise, but also spur many questions about how to best use such a space.
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
Wharton’s Visual Marketing course examines the real-world applications of visual cognition and its influence on consumer behavior.
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.
Both nature and nurture contribute to signatures of socioeconomic status in the brain
In the first study of its kind, Penn researchers and an international team of collaborators found that genetics and environmental factors contribute to how socioeconomic status shapes the architecture of the brain.
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
Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine developed an injectable microtissue that preserved muscle function in rodents with a severed nerve.
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.
In the News
Too often, ER docs don’t spot migraines in minority kids
A study by Marissa Maliakal Anto of Penn Medicine finds that Black and Hispanic children seen in ERs are more likely to have their migraines go undiagnosed.
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When does your brain think something is worth the wait?
Research by Joe Kable of the School of Arts & Sciences and colleagues finds that subjects with damage to certain regions of the prefrontal cortex are less likely to wait things out.
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‘Brains and Beauty’ exhibit explores how the mind processes art and aesthetic experiences
Anjan Chatterjee of the Perelman School of Medicine says that the aesthetic triad is a mental system for engaging with an artwork.
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Scientists unveil 16+ distinct nerve cell types behind human touch
A study by Wenqin Lo of the Perelman School of Medicine and colleagues used detailed analyses of the genes used by individual nerve cells to identify 16 distinct types of nerve cells in humans.
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Free West Philly community clinic, which provided care to hundreds, is closed
Penn Medicine resident Noor Shaik and Michael Rubenstein of the Perelman School of Medicine discuss a West Philadelphia clinic that became a model for collaborations between academic health systems and community organizations.
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Alzheimer’s patients and their families hear a new word: Progress
Jeffrey Maneval of the Perelman School of Medicine classifies two new drug treatments for Alzheimer’s as “a double, not a home run.”
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