Subscribe

Are those who perform before the public—hundreds, thousands, even millions of spectators at a time—at heightened risk of mental illness? It’s complicated.

The 2021 Brain Prize went to four people whose independent research led to useful treatments for a disorder affecting a billion people.

After receiving his degree in neurobiology, Daniel Roy decided to pursue a career as a magician, a profession that requires a unique understanding of how the mind works.

A sampling of work by Dana Simmons, Ph.D., a neuroscientist who created works of art from the beauty she saw through the use of microscopy to study autism.

So far, the story of the new drug Aduhelm, intended to treat signs of Alzheimer’s disease, is “buyer beware.”

A psychiatrist falls seriously ill, and considers anew the dogma not to share details of one’s life with one’s patients.

By Tanya T. Nguyen, Ph.D., and Dilip V. Jeste, M.D.

Does the brain improve with age? Our authors, who study successful aging and mental illnesses, address the often debated, complicated question that many of us have long wondered about.

By Lisa Feldman Barrett, Ph.D., and Karen S. Quigley, Ph.D.

Our authors, who co-direct the Interdisciplinary Affective Science Laboratory at Northeastern University, explain how sensations created inside our bodies connect to the mind and brain.

Why is narcissistic personality disorder, which has been recognized by the American Psychiatric Association since 1980, under-researched and rarely treated?

Since 2014, stunning imagery inspired by brain research has launched an annual art exhibition during Brain Awareness Week at the Icahn School of Medicine in NYC.

A young clinician who uses a wheelchair has found that sharing his experience and showing vulnerability helps many kinds of patients.

New stem cell-based brain models may yield insights into development and function, disease and possible therapies. But as the power of the models advances, so do the ethical concerns they raise.

Dilip V. Jeste, M.D, author and senior associate dean for healthy aging at the University of California, San Diego, talks about his Cerebrum magazine cover story, “Ageism: The Brain Strikes Back.”

By Mark Shelhamer, Sc.D.

Our author, former chief scientists for the NASA Human Research Program and a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, lays out how spaceflight relates to brain function, cognitive performance, and mental abilities

By Peter Campochiaro, M.D.

A retired patient visits our author, who is professor of ophthalmology and neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, for help with his failing vision and learns why but a single treatment option exists for macular degeneration, a condition that affects 200 million people worldwide.

Experts weigh in on the impact mask-wearing may have on children’s education, mental health, and brain development.

One year on, science has discovered much about the effects on the brain, but there is still much to learn.

Greg Dunn was on his way to a Ph.D. in neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania when he realized that bringing the brain’s beauty to life was a more suitable role for him than lab work.

Reading about Covid-19, while ill with the virus herself, child psychiatrist Angela Reierson thought back to a former study, and identified a drug that could potentially reduce hospitalizations and death due to Covid.

The chief risk in sharing data is that, if it escapes from the research realm or falls into the wrong hands, it can harm the individual whose data has been shared.

By Catherine S. Woolley, Ph.D.

New research shows robust sex differences at a much deeper level than structure, and where no one expected them: in molecular interactions that regulate neural activity. Our author—an acclaimed neuroendocrinologist at Northwestern—tells us what we know and why we don’t know more.

By Vince Calhoun, Ph.D.

Knowledge gleaned from big data and advances in neuroimaging have provided new insights into the workings of the brain. Our author, founding director of the Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science, traces the evolution of these two evolving fields.

New research suggests drugs like psilocybin may help treat neuropsychiatric conditions ranging from depression to opioid addiction. But what do we really know about how psychedelics influence the brain?

Science is increasingly unpacking the ways that diet influences cognitive function and emotional well-being. Growing evidence suggests that the right diet may in fact mitigate some of the ill effects of stress on the brain, while the wrong diet may worsen the effects.

How can the new field of environmental neuroscience, which is is aimed at analyzing the use of physical and social spaces, help architects, urban planners, and policy makers improve psychological and physiological states?

Any ethical evaluation of marijuana policies should consider the latest scientific understanding of marijuana’s effects on cognitive abilities on adolescents and its potential downstream impacts on education, employment, job performance, and income.

Focused ultrasound is a relatively new, non-invasive treatment in which an array of 1,000 sound-emitting elements send signals that converge on a single target within the brain. For one patient, it meant the difference between a scrawl and a signature.

By Ilina Singh, Ph.D.

Our author—Professor of Neuroscience & Society at the University of Oxford and codirectorof the Wellcome Trust Center for Ethics and Humanities—reflects on efforts to grow recognition of neuroscience in low- and middle-income countries.

By Frank R. Lin, M.D., Ph.D.

As a practicing otologic surgeon with a Ph.D. in epidemiology, our author tells us what we’ve learned and what we still need to know about the relationship between hearing loss and cognitive decline in older adults.

Schools have had no choice but to embrace virtual learning. But the question remains: How does it work when compared to traditional, face-to-face instruction?

Many experts have sounded the alarm for an approaching tsunami of psychological maladies that could sink an already overburdened mental healthcare system.

Showcasing the works and stories of talented, under-the-radar artists with developmental disabilities.

The Black Lives Matter protests have triggered an intense bout of soul-searching and frantic efforts to erase all vestiges of racism from institutions around the nation.

Every day, hospitalized patients ask when they can go home, and Jane was no different. Inherent in home is the past life before illness and back to the familiar, writes Michael P.H. Stanley, M.D. Our new Clinical Corner column, written by practicing clinicians

The impact has been sudden and unprecedented, shifting brain science research priorities, and sending shock waves through academia and the global research community.

Scientists hope to uncover why the coronavirus sometimes presents neurological symptoms. But how similar is it to other viruses that can invade the nervous system?

By Gérard Karsenty, M.D., Ph.D.

Geneticist Gérard Karsenty at Columbia University Medical center turned to neuroscience to learn why our bones do much more than provide protection and support.

By Marc Brackett, Ph.D., and Christina Cipriano, Ph.D.

Marc Brackett and Christina Cipriano at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence trace the formation of a young field and its growing impact on education and personal development.

While the mobilization of the world’s scientific community to understand Covid-19 is unprecedented in history, keep in mind that more than 4,000 papers—known as preprints—have yet to be peer-reviewed.

By Gregory Berns, M.D., Ph.D.

Curious about a dog’s perception of the world and how a pooch’s brain works? Gregory S. Berns uses brain scanning and other strategies to find answers.

By Lee Alan Dugatkin, Ph.D.

Three years after a best-selling book, a co-author explains how the silver fox-domestication experiment continues to help us better understand genetics and evolution.

Research that began three-quarters of a century ago has led to one of the first new drugs to treat depression in 60 years—and the potential to treat much more.

Two leading theories that are diametrically opposed are part of a new $20 million international research program to explore how consciousness arises and correlates in the brain.

Our neuroethics columnist addresses a concerning new trend of reporting brain research results through the popular media rather than in peer reviewed journals.