Brain

Research from Teru Nakagawa, professor of molecular physiology and biophysics, describes intricacies of normal brain function with implications for our understanding of brain injury and recovery: A decrease in pH can modify a neurotransmitter receptor’s structure, thereby modulating its location and kinetics. Read More

Vanderbilt researchers report that when people who are having their brains scanned by fMRI perform a task, like wiggling their fingers, certain signals increase in white matter throughout the brain, which has long been thought to play a lesser role the more the brain's more energetic gray matter. Read More

Hoffman will use new immersion and brain recording technology to test memory circuits in the brain that are known to play a role in healthy aging, neurodegenerative disease, brain trauma and the most common type of seizures. Read More

A Thursday, Aug. 25, discussion will connect how childhood trauma impacts brain development and behavior, its intersection with the justice system, and how we can integrate this understanding in prevention, diversion and restorative efforts.   Read More

A team comprising Assistant Professor of Psychology André Bastos, Associate Professor of Psychology and Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Alexander Maier and Ph.D. candidate Jacob A. Westerberg is among three international research teams that have won the opportunity to pursue their exploration of brain function at the Allen Brain Observatory. Read More

Collaboration across seven laboratories, in five institutions, across three countries and led by Vanderbilt researchers addresses fundamental questions about the organization and evolution of the human brain. Est. reading time: 1.75 mins. Read More

Mikail Rubinov, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, computer science, psychiatry and psychology, has been awarded a four-year, $1.1 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to better understand the development and organization of brain networks, as well as their change in development and aging. Read More

Stressful events can rapidly modify how the brain responds to its environment and guides behaviors. These processes are relevant for neurotypical brain function and for the development of affective disorders and other psychiatric diseases, yet we have much to learn regarding the underlying molecular mechanisms. In this paper, researchers utilized pharmacologic, transgenic, and optogenetic tools to evaluate changes in brain function related to stress. Read More

The microstructure of white matter in the brain could be an important risk marker for psychosis, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered. Read More

Perfecting MRI images with deep learning, Vanderbilt and VUMC researchers have created a technique that corrects image distortions, which provides more accurate information for researchers, radiologists and neuroscientists to better interpret brain scans. The work by Bennett Landman, professor of electrical engineering and computer science and radiology and radiological sciences, and Kurt Schilling, research assistant... Read More

Histamine — commonly associated with allergies — also has a signaling role in the brain’s reward center and may offer a novel target for treating addiction. Read More

Older depressed adults show accelerated brain aging, according to a new study from Vanderbilt researchers, who suggest that the effects of depression may speed the decline in cognitive functions in older individuals. Read More

The brain’s response to low oxygen — growth and remodeling of blood vessels — involves certain cell types and molecular pathways, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered. Read More

The insula, a small region of the brain involved in diverse brain functions had widespread dysconnectivity in schizophrenia, Vanderbilt researchers found. Read More

Vanderbilt investigators have linked genetic mutations in a single receptor to epilepsy, autism and intellectual disability. Read More

A protein with important functions in astrocytes — star-shaped brain support cells — may alter neuronal excitability and contribute to seizure activity, Vanderbilt researchers report. Read More

Innovative thinking in the digital age, women in the civil rights movement and acting for opera are among the winter 2019 classes offered by Vanderbilt’s Osher Institute for Lifelong Learners. Read More

A Vanderbilt University Medical Center-led research team has shown that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can detect changes in resting-state spinal cord function in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Read More

The Affective Neuroscience Lab in the Department of Psychology at Vanderbilt University is currently recruiting healthy male adults, 50–65 years old, for a multiday study that attempts to understand the relation between brain chemistry and decision-making. Read More

The first study to actually count the number of cortical neurons in the brains of a number of carnivores, including cats and dogs, has found that dogs possess significantly more of them than cats. Read More