Male mice are hardwired to recognize the sex of other mice, a new study shows. Females' circuitry guiding that decision differs from males.
Brain cells called oligodendrocytes supply insulation by wrapping neurons in multiple layers of fatty extensions, preserving signal strength and markedly speeding up transmission. But studying these cells in culture has been virtually impossible -- until now.
A study in Nature details a discovery with potential clinical significance for treating eating disorders such as anorexia. To make that discovery, Stanford researchers had to develop a "first-time-ever" way of teasing apart two separate but closely intertwined sets of identical-appearing neurons in the brain.
New research has confirmed that an antigen in some variants of the flu virus and vaccine can, in rare cases, trigger an autoimmune response leading to narcolepsy.
Stanford scientists are making efforts to create high-resolution simulated versions of the human brain, bells and whistles and warts and all.
In a drive to reduce high cervical-cancer rates in Nigeria, a nonprofit organization co-founded by Stanford oncology researcher Ami Bhatt, MD, PhD, has enlisted the imaginative assistance of an educational comic book.
In a study, paralyzed people with tiny brain implants were able to directly operate a tablet just by thought.
With age comes wisdom: mostly true. But a new study helps explain why one part of us - our immune system - gets decidedly dumber with age.
Studies have associated low zinc levels with autism spectrum disorder. But why this should be the case has been unclear. Now, scientists may have an explanation for the link.
Genetic mutations affecting a single gene called LRRK2 play an outsized role in Parkinson's disease, but nobody's been able to say what the connection is between the genetic defect and the brain-cell die-off that characterizes the condition. Here's a clue.
Stanford researchers have shown in rats that pharmacologically active amounts of a fast-acting anesthetic drug could be released from nanoparticle "cages" in small, specified brain areas at which the scientists had aimed a beam of focused ultrasound. In principle, the same approach could work for many drugs with widely differing pharmacological actions and psychiatric applications, and even for some chemotherapeutic drugs used to combat cancer.
Your trillions-strong ecosystem of gut microbes, in addition to its many other responsibilities, operates as a homespun pharmaceutical factory.
Much of what we know about the immune system comes from experiments conducted on mice. But lab mice are not little human beings. The two species are separated by both physiology and lifestyles. Stanford immunologist Mark Davis is calling on his colleagues to shift their research focus to people.
A workaround avoids a common, dangerous side effect of gene therapy: an autoimmune reaction to the normal protein, which could improve gene therapy.
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is caused by various genetic mutations that cause heart muscle to contract with too much force. New research suggests why.
An electrochemical on/off switch in the brain may spell the difference between sociability and social awkwardness, scientists have learned.
