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What Causes Alzheimer’s? Scientists Are Rethinking the Answer.
After decades in the shadow of the reigning model for Alzheimer’s disease, alternative explanations are finally getting the attention they deserve.
The Brain Uses Calculus to Control Fast Movements
Researchers discover that to sharpen its control over precision maneuvers, the brain uses comparisons between control signals — not the signals themselves.
The Gut Microbiome Helps Social Skills Develop in the Brain
New research in fish suggests that gut microbes can have a crucial early influence on the brain’s social development.
How Supergenes Fuel Evolution Despite Harmful Mutations
Supergenes that lock inherited traits together are widespread in nature. Recent work shows that their blend of genetic benefits and risks for species can be complex.
Ocean Bacteria Reveal an Unexpected Multicellular Form
Marine bacteria normally seen as single cells join together as a “microscopic snow globe” to consume bulky floating carbohydrates.
How Genes Can Leap From Snakes to Frogs in Madagascar
The discovery of a hot spot for horizontal gene transfer draws attention to the possible roles of parasites and ecology in such changes.
Human Brains Are Hard to Study. He Grows Useful Substitutes.
With stem cell technology and lab-grown brain organoids, Sergiu Paşca seeks the causes of autism and other neuropsychiatric conditions.
Lab-Grown Human Cells Form Working Circuits in Rat Brains
Letting human brain organoids grow in animal brains could be an ethical new option for experimental studies of neurological disorders.
Machine Learning Highlights a Hidden Order in Scents
Efforts to build a better digital “nose” suggest that our perception of scents reflects both the structure of aromatic molecules and the metabolic processes that make them.