Neuroscience

Neuroscience

Two distinct neural pathways may make opioids like fentanyl so addictive

A study in mice looked at how feelings of reward and withdrawal that opioids trigger play out in two separate circuits in the brain.

Neuroscience

The heart plays a hidden role in our mental health

Deciphering the messages that the heart sends to the brain could lead to new anxiety treatments and even unlock the secrets of consciousness.

Neuroscience

How smart was T. rex?

A debate over how to count neurons in dinosaurs is raising questions about how to understand extinct animals’ behavior.

Neuroscience

Lampreys have ‘fight or flight’ cells, challenging ideas about nervous system evolution

The discovery of sympathetic nervous system cells in lampreys draws a closer tie between the animal and complex vertebrates — such as humans.

Neuroscience

Rat cells grew in mice brains, and helped sniff out cookies

When implanted into mouse embryos, stem cells from rats grew into forebrains and structures that handle smells.

Neuroscience

These windpipe cells trigger coughs to keep water out of the lungs

Neuroendocrine cells can sense substances on the way to the lungs and prompt reactions such as coughing and swallowing, experiments in mice show.

Neuroscience

Tiny treadmills show how fruit flies walk

A method to force fruit flies to move shows the insects’ stepping behavior and holds clues to other animals’ brains and movement.

Science & Society

In ‘Get the Picture,’ science helps explore the meaning of art

Journalist Bianca Bosker infiltrates the secretive art world to understand the science and psychology of why art matters to the human experience.

Neuroscience

Chickadees use memory ‘bar codes’ to find their hidden food stashes

Unique subsets of neurons in a chickadee’s memory center light up for each distinct cache, hinting at how episodic memories are encoded in the brain.

Neuroscience

Here’s how magnetic fields shape desert ants’ brains

Exposure to a tweaked magnetic field scrambled desert ants’ efforts to learn where home is — and affected neuron connections in a key part of the brain.

Neuroscience

Dogs know words for their favorite toys

The brain activity of dogs that were expecting one toy but were shown another suggests canines create mental concepts of everyday objects.

Neuroscience

Ancient viruses helped speedy nerves evolve

A retrovirus embedded in the DNA of some vertebrates helps turn on production of a protein needed to insulate nerve cells, aiding speedy thoughts.