The brain is constantly mapping the external world like a GPS, even when we don't know about it. This activity comes in the form of tiny electrical signals sent between neurons—specialized cells that ...

New experiments reveal how astrocytes tune neuronal activity to modulate our mental and emotional states. The results suggest that neuron-only brain models, such as connectomes, leave out a crucial ...

Picture a star-shaped cell in the brain, stretching its spindly arms out to cradle the neurons around it. That's an astrocyte ...

Age can make memory feel like something that only moves in one direction. A name slips away. A route you know well turns ...

The brain’s rules seem simple: Fire together, wire together. When groups of neurons activate, they become interconnected. This networking is how we learn, reason, form memories, and adapt to our world ...

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The attractiveness of a reward decreases with delay — a phenomenon known as temporal discounting. Humans and other animals typically devalue short-term rewards more steeply than those further in the ...

Researchers have developed a new type of pipette that can deliver ions to individual neurons without affecting the sensitive extracellular milieu. Controlling the concentration of different ions can ...

Our thoughts are specified by our knowledge and plans, yet our cognition can also be fast and flexible in handling new information. How does the well-controlled and yet highly nimble nature of ...

The activity of certain neurons may influence our endurance for exercise, and these could be targeted to help us run faster ...