Researchers have shown in mice how immune cells in the brain target and remove unused connections between brain cells during normal development. This research, supported by the National Institutes of Health, sheds light on how brain activity influences brain development, and highlights the newly found importance of the immune system in how the brain is wired, as well as how the brain forms new connections throughout life in response to change.
Stress
Reverse engineering epilepsy’s ‘miracle’ diet
For decades, neurologists have known that a diet high in fat and extremely low in carbohydrates can reduce epileptic seizures that resist drug therapy. But how the diet worked, and why, was a mysteryso much so that in 2010, The New York Times Magazine called it “Epilepsy’s Big, Fat Miracle.”
Dementia patients reveal how we construct a picture of the future
(Medical Xpress) — Our ability to imagine and plan our future depends on brain regions that store general knowledge, new research shows.
Brain research shows visual perception system unconsciously affects our preferences
When grabbing a coffee mug out of a cluttered cabinet or choosing a pen to quickly sign a document, what brain processes guide your choices?
Well-connected brains make you smarter in older age
Brains that maintain healthy nerve connections as we age help keep us sharp in later life, new research funded by the charity Age UK has found.