Brain Research

Just like electrical stimulation of heart muscles can restore a regular heartbeat, new research led by Thilo Womelsdorf suggests that "electroceutical" intervention in the brain can improve memory and other cognitive functions wrought by behavioral health disorders and diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Womelsdorf, professor of psychology and biomedical engineering at the Vanderbilt Brain Institute, said, “For these cognitive disabilities, brain-computer interfaces promise to become next-generation electroceutical treatment options.” Read More

Fat and protein molecules are essential to human brain health, and there are microscopic transport hubs that make sure the right molecules get to the right cells. If the proteins aren’t interacting properly, they can wind up in the wrong places—a problem that’s been linked to diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and ALS. Research in Associate Professor Lauren Jackson’s lab has uncovered how those proteins interact. Read More

Vanderbilt psychiatrists are probing brain circuit hyperactivity implicated in schizophrenia, with the idea that normalizing the hyperactivity may improve cognitive processes. Read More

Vivian Gama, assistant professor of cell and developmental biology, and Leon Bellan, associate professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering, have won a $2.3 million, three-year grant from the National Institutes of Health Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative. Vivian Gama Leon Bellan (Vanderbilt University) The researchers will be developing three-dimensional brain organoids and... Read More

Vivian Gama, assistant professor of cell and developmental biology, and Leon Bellan, associate professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering, have won a $2.3 million, three-year grant from the National Institutes of Health Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative. Vivian Gama Leon Bellan (Vanderbilt University) The researchers will be developing three-dimensional brain organoids and... Read More

Brain imaging studies have implicated the connection between two brain regions in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Read More

Terunaga Nakagawa, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, has received a two-year, $100,000 grant from the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation to continue his studies of the molecular underpinnings of autism and other brain disorders. Read More

During development, neural circuits are remodeled – some synapses are eliminated and others are strengthened – to produce a mature, functional nervous system. Read More

The brains of children who are obese function differently from those of children of healthy weight, and exhibit an “imbalance” between food-seeking and food-avoiding behaviors, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center have found. Read More

What do you do when your only child is murdered in a brutal, sensationalized act of violence? Read More

Jeremy Richman, Ph.D., a neuroscientist and founder of a foundation named for his daughter, Avielle, who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, will lecture Nov. 16 at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Read More

Functional magnetic resonance imaging has revealed faulty circuits between the thalamus – a central hub of brain activity – and other brain regions. Read More

A particular neuronal cell population is involved in the pathogenesis of a rare neurological disorder, Vanderbilt researchers have discovered. Read More

Reporting last week in the journal Cell, researchers from Oregon Health and Science University, Harvard Medical School and Vanderbilt University describe the first “four-dimensional” picture of a brain receptor that plays a key role in learning and memory. Read More

Vanderbilt University’s Danny Winder, Ph.D., professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, is among 15 scientists nationwide to receive NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Grants this fall for their “cutting-edge” research. Read More