A new study found that children on the threshold of obesity or overweight in the first two years of life had lower perceptual reasoning and working memory scores than lean children when tested at ages five and eight. The study also indicated that IQ scores may be lower for higher-weight children.

New research shows that using the legs, particularly in weight-bearing exercise, sends signals to the brain that are vital for the production of healthy neural cells. The groundbreaking study fundamentally alters brain and nervous system medicine -- giving doctors new clues as to why patients with motor neuron disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal muscular atrophy and […]

A new study suggests that as little as two weeks of compassion meditation training -- intentionally cultivating positive wishes to understand and relieve the suffering of others -- may reduce the distress a person feels when witnessing another's suffering. The findings may have implications for professions in which people routinely work with others who are […]

New research has found that young people with subtle hearing loss -- the kind they aren't even aware of -- are putting demands on their brains that typically wouldn't be seen until later in life.

Using male individuals has long been a tradition in scientific mice studies. But new research enforces the importance of using a balanced population of male and female mice. Scientists studying the locus coeruleus brain structure in mice unexpectedly found substantial differences in the molecular structures of this part of the brain between male and female […]

We are all familiar with the drawbacks of dehydration, but we rarely hear about the harmful effects of overhydration. Scientists have now uncovered a key piece to the puzzle of how our brains detect hyponatremia and regulate overhydration. The new study unearths the fundamental mechanism of how hyponatremia is detected in the brain.

NASA and private company SpaceX plan to send humans to Mars within the next 15 years -- but need to figure out how to protect astronauts from the dangerous cosmic radiation of deep space. Now neuroscientists have identified a potential treatment for the brain damage caused by cosmic rays -- a drug that prevents memory […]

A study of epilepsy patients with implanted electrodes provides an unprecedented view of the changes in brain activity created by electrical stimulation. These findings have the potential to improve noninvasive stimulation approaches toward the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders.

In a first-of-its-kind finding, a new stroke-healing gel helped regrow neurons and blood vessels in mice with stroke-damaged brains, researchers report.

Fetal magnetic resonance imaging can reliably spot holoprosencephaly as early as 18 gestational weeks, providing an opportunity to counsel families earlier in their pregnancy, according to new research.

Stroke researchers have confirmed that the presence of frontal cortical lesions moderated response to prism adaptation treatment after right-brain stroke.

Stem cells in the brain can divide and mature into neurons participating in various brain functions, including memory. In a new study, scientists have shown how this works. They found that ion channels play a key role in mediating force signals to the neural stem cells to activate them.

Fresh insight into how the brain responds to medically induced cooling -- routinely used to limit head injury -- could inform treatments for related conditions and help babies at risk of birthing complications.

Whether you learn to play a musical instrument or speak another language, you're training your brain to be more efficient, suggests a new study. Researchers found that musicians and people who are bilingual utilized fewer brain resources when completing a working memory task, according to recently published findings.

Researchers gain new insights into the brain mechanisms underlying the negative effects caused by long-term social isolation.