Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder associated with difficulties in interacting with others, repetitive behaviors, restricted interests and other symptoms that can impact academic or professional performance. People diagnosed with ASD can...
Neuroscience
Study unveils neural processes underpinning the re-emergence of consciousness after anesthesia
Before undergoing surgeries and other invasive medical procedures, patients typically undergo anesthesia. Anesthesia consists in giving patients a class of drugs (i.e., anesthetics) that cause them to lose feeling in specific areas of the body (i.e., local anesthesia)...
Using deep neural networks to predict how natural sounds are processed by the brain
In recent years, machine learning techniques have accelerated and innovated research in numerous fields, including neuroscience. By identifying patterns in experimental data, these models could for instance predict the neural processes associated with specific...
The functional organization of cells in the retina is shaped by natural panoramic environments
Existing neuroscientific models of the visual system suggest that it represents the visual world just as a camera would, encoding the positions of different objects similarly. An animal's surrounding environment, however, constantly changes, and these changes could...
Serotonin gates the transfer of visual information from the eyes to the thalamus
Humans are known to perceive the environment around them differently based on the situation they are in and their own feelings and sensations. Internal states, such as fear, arousal or hunger can thus affect the ways in which sensory information is processed and...
Study unveils the distinct activation patterns of glutamatergic projection neurons in the cortex of living mice
The cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the mammalian brain, is known to play a key role in numerous higher-level processes, including language, memory and decision-making. While countless studies have explored its structure and function, imaging its neuronal dynamics...
Exploring the integration of audiovisual information in the primate amygdala and adjacent regions
Humans and other primates can jointly make sense of different types of sensory information, including sounds, smells, shapes and so on. By integrating sensory stimuli in the brain, they can better understand the world around them, detecting potential threats, food and...
Exploring the neural mechanisms behind how social networks shape our decisions
Over the past decade or so, social scientists have been trying to understand how social networks can influence people's beliefs and behavior. Despite the many studies on this topic, currently very little is known about how the human brain makes decisions in networked...
Perivascular cells could induce microglial malfunction associated with Alzheimer’s disease
Microglia are primary immune cells that safeguard the mammalian brain, partly by devouring or 'phagocytosing' pathogens and toxic debris. Recent genetic studies have consistently highlighted the role of microglia in the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and...
Study hints at the promise of non-hallucinogenic LSD for treating mood disorders
Mood disorders are mental health conditions characterized by persistently dysregulated moods, such as recurring feelings of depression or euphoria. According to statistics by the National Institutes of Health, approximately 1 in 5 people in the United States will...