Athletes often face the risk of concussions during their careers. These injuries can lead to changes in the brain that aren't always visible right away. This is where the concept of subclinical neural alterations comes in. These are changes in the brain that don't show up on standard tests but can still affect how an athlete thinks and feels. To understand t...
Migraines aren't just headaches; they're a complex neurological condition. Researchers have been using fMRI scans to learn more about what's happening in the brain during a migraine. Studies have shown different things. Looming limitations come from the mixed bag of variables and methods used. This makes it hard to compare results across different e...
The default mode network (DMN) plays a crucial role in complex thinking and behavior. Scientists studied brain tissue from deceased individuals and used advanced brain imaging to understand the DMN's structure and function. They discovered that the DMN has diverse brain cell types, specialized for different tasks like processing sensory information, combining inputs ...
Meet Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), a common virus that can sometimes cause brain inflammation, or encephalitis. In a recent case, EBV managed to trick doctors by mimicking another brain infection caused by the herpes virus. This isn't as uncommon as you might think, but it sure is interesting! When a young patient rushed to the hospital with symptoms like fever, headach...
Ever wondered how autism affects the brain differently in boys and girls? Let's dig into a study that used a fancy tool called FOCA (FOur-dimensional Consistency of local neural Activities) to check out the brain activity of 64 boys and 64 girls with autism, plus the same number of boys and girls without autism. The study found some interesting stuff in the precuneus...
Multiple sclerosis (MS) causes increasing disability due to long-term inflammation in the brain and spinal cord. This ongoing inflammation, called smoldering neuroinflammation, is tough to treat with current medications. Chronic active white matter lesions are a big part of this problem. Initially, these lesions were only seen in autopsies. But now, we have advanceme...
Do you know that Tourette Syndrome (TS) might be linked to changes in a specific part of the brain called the basal ganglia? Scientists have been trying to figure this out for a while now. The problem is, there aren't many studies on this, and the ones that exist often don't agree with each other. This can make it hard to understand what's really going on. So, what ...
Imagine diving into the human brain with an ultra-powerful microscope. That’s essentially what 7-Tesla (7T) magnetic resonance imaging does. With its ability to capture detailed images of the brain’s structure and activity, 7T diffusion imaging is revolutionizing neuroscience research. One of the biggest challenges with this high-field strength is managing shorter t...
As people grow older, they often face challenges in both their physical and mental abilities. But how these changes happen over time and how they're connected isn't fully understood. Researchers from the Gothenburg H70 study decided to look into this by grouping older adults into different categories based on their physical and mental health. They then explored how t...
Ever wondered how childhood trauma affects the brain, even in people who seem perfectly healthy? Researchers have started to look into this. They know that childhood trauma can lead to mental health issues, and the brain region that controls emotions and memories, called the limbic system, might be impacted. Most studies have focused on people with psychiatric disord...