News

What if every cell in your brain had its own unique genome that permanently records its history, its sibling cells, its age, the effects of disease, and its struggle for survival? How would that change the way we think about aging and degeneration in the brain? Christopher Walsh discusses these questions in light of two new studies from his lab and collaborating groups.

Host-microbe interactions are essential for neurological function. Valentina Lagomarsino shares new research from the Rao Lab showing how microbes play a vital role in regulating the neuroendocrine axis and activity of motor circuits in the colon.

Amar Sahay shares his lab’s discovery that many ultra-high confidence risk genes for autism, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and epilepsy may be regulators of experience-dependent plasticity of inhibitory neurons in the hippocampus of adult mice. Proof-of-concept experiments reveal that targeting one of these regulators can improve cognition and suppress seizures in a common mouse model of neurodevelopmental disorder risk.

Male veterans of the U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard had higher rates of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal nervous system disease, compared to veterans of the Army, according to a new study from Marc G. Weisskopf, Andrea Roberts, and colleagues.

For decades, neuroscientists have been able to record which parts of the brain show increased electrical activity during a behavior, such as when we form a memory or make a decision. But scientists haven’t been able to determine how those regions are communicating with and influencing one another, nor identify which regions serve as the main orchestrators. A new artificial intelligence framework called Current-Based Decomposition, or CURBD, can now make that distinction.

Round up of awards and honors earned by the HBI community.