Neuroscience
- Animals
A researcher reveals the shocking truth about electric eels
A biologist records the electrical current traveling through his arm during an electric eel’s defensive leap attack.
- Neuroscience
Brain chemical lost in Parkinson’s may contribute to its own demise
A dangerous form of the chemical messenger dopamine causes cellular mayhem in the very nerve cells that make it.
- Science & Society
Learning is a ubiquitous, mysterious phenomenon
Acting Editor in Chief Elizabeth Quill talks about the science of learning and how our brains process new knowledge.
- Neuroscience
Learning takes brain acrobatics
Brains that learn best seem able to reconfigure themselves on the fly, a new line of research suggests.
- Neuroscience
How an itch hitches a ride to the brain
Scientists have figured out how your brain registers the sensation of itch.
- Animals
Readers fascinated by critters’ strange biology
Readers responded to fish lips, monkey brains, sunless tanner and more.
- Neuroscience
Mice with a mutation linked to autism affect their littermates’ behavior
Genetically normal littermates of mutated mice behave strangely, suggesting that the social environment plays a big role in behavior.
- Health & Medicine
Most football players who donated their brains to science had traumatic injury
A self-selected sample of 202 deceased football players, the largest to date, finds that the majority suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
- Neuroscience
There’s a long way to go in understanding the brain
Neuroscientists offer multiple “perspectives” on how to plug gaps in current knowledge of the brain’s inner workings.
- Animals
Ravens pass tests of planning ahead in unnatural tasks
Clever birds may have evolved their own broad powers of apelike thinking about the future.
- Neuroscience
Brain activity helps build an alpha male
In mice, nerve cells in the prefrontal cortex influence whether an individual is dominant or submissive.
- Neuroscience
Just one night of poor sleep can boost Alzheimer’s proteins
Deep sleep may prevent the buildup of Alzheimer’s proteins.
