For decades, a landmark brain study fed speculation about whether we control our own actions. It seems to have made a classic mistake.

Scientists at the University of California, San Diego, have used stem cells to create miniature lab-grown brains that produce brain waves resembling those of preterm babies. The team created cerebral organoids i.e. a scaled-down model of the human brain, about the size of a pea. Furthermore, in July this year, NASA packed these organoids and sent them to International Space Station to test out how these mini-brains develop in zero gravity.

The same brain regions are activated when both reading and listening to stories, a new study says. It's a new insight into how our brains process semantic meaning.

Back in 2017, neuroscientists used a classic branch of maths in a totally new way to peer into the structure of our brains.

Scientists have identified a specific gene they believe could be a key player in the changes in brain structure seen in several psychiatric conditions, such as schizophrenia and autism. The team from Cardiff University’s Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute has found that the deletion of the gene CYFIP1 leads to thinning of the insulation that covers nerve cells and is vital for the smooth and rapid communications between different parts of the brain.

Has an earworm crawled into your head and started gnawing on your brain, looping a specific song until you go crazy?

It’s usually pretty easy to figure out what someone like Elon Musk is up to. Simply check this high-profile thought leader’s social platform where he updates the world on his latest ventures, opinions on science and tech and what prompted him to send his Tesla Roadster into space. But for the past three years, Musk has been tight-lipped about his neuroscience-based startup, Neuralink — until now.

Being socially active in 50s and 60s linked to lower risk of illness later in life, researchers say

Our brains are perhaps the final privacy frontier.

In a world made for right-handed people, life can sometimes be frustrating if you are among the 10% or so who are “adextral” — that is, left-handed or ambidextrous. Now a new grievance can be added to the list. Brain imaging researchers are systematically excluding adextrals from participating in their studies, according to an analysis of recent research papers published in top neuroimaging journals.

What’s creepier than a snake robot? Answer: A snake robot that’s designed to crawl through the blood vessels in your brain. That’s exactly what researchers at MIT are working to develop. But, don’t worry, it’s here to help. Here's why it could one day help save someone's life.

Mesh implants could help treat diseases and change how we age

Two proteins central to the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease act as prions – spreading through tissue like an infection by forcing normal proteins to adopt the same misfolded shape. 

What makes movies that are sad or scary so popular? For that matter, why do people enjoy roller-coasters, bungee jumping, or any of the countless other activities that seem to serve no purpose except to make people feel terrified, however briefly? Is there a positive benefit to exposing yourself to these kinds of intense negative experiences? According to recent studies, there may be.

Cannabis use is associated with reduced brain volumes in a region involved in facial emotion processing, according to a new study in Psychiatry Research

Summary: Using the Big Five model of personality traits, researchers found smokers were more likely to experience an increase in neuroticism over time.

A research team at the University of California, Riverside, has found that electronic cigarettes, often targeted to youth and pregnant women, produce a stress response in neural stem cells, which are critical cells in the brain. Present throughout life, stem cells become specialized cells with more specific functions, such as brain cells, blood cells, or bone. Far more sensitive to stress than the specialized cells they become, stem cells provide a model to study exposure to toxicants, such as cigarette smoke. 

In experiments on pig organs, scientists at Yale made a discovery that could someday challenge our understanding of what it means to die.

Exercise-induced changes to synaptic function may increase brain connectivity. 

In a search for clues to what may delay or prevent Alzheimer’s disease, Johns Hopkins Medicine scientists report that smarter, more educated people aren’t protected from the disease, but do get a cognitive “head start” that may keep their minds functioning better temporarily.