BrainASAP, Author at Brain ASAP

Neural Extracellular Matrix Remodeling Shapes Neurological Disease and Brain Plasticity

June 21, 2026 by BrainASAP

TL;DR: A 2026 review in Nature Reviews Neurology argued that neural extracellular matrix (ECM), the protein-and-glycan scaffold around central nervous system cells, is an active regulator of brain plasticity and neurological disease. Key Findings Multiple ECM forms: The review describes perineuronal nets, perisynaptic ECM, periaxonal coats, and diffuse interstitial ECM. Brain function link: Neural ECM …

Empathy for Pain Persisted Across Live and Prerecorded Video in EEG Study

June 21, 2026 by BrainASAP

TL;DR: A 2026 electroencephalography (EEG) study in Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience found that observers’ empathy-for-pain ratings and physiological coupling stayed similar whether they watched another person receive painful stimulation through a live video call or a prerecorded video, although live interaction produced an earlier frontal theta brain response. Key Findings 35 observers tested: Researchers …

E-GAT + Bi-LSTM AI Classified Emotion Across Modalities

June 20, 2026 by BrainASAP

TL;DR: A 2026 study in PLOS One reported that an artificial intelligence model combining enhanced graph attention with bidirectional long short-term memory classified emotion from text, speech, facial cues, and video benchmarks with its strongest performance on the CMU-MOSEI multimodal dataset. Key Findings Three benchmark datasets: The model was tested on SemEval-2018 text, RAVDESS speech-and-face …

Dentate Gyrus Added 385,000 Granule Neurons Despite Neuron Turnover

June 20, 2026 by BrainASAP

TL;DR: A 2026 rat study in Hippocampus found that the dentate gyrus (DG), a hippocampal memory region, gained about 385,000 granule neurons from 2 to 18 months of age even though older development-born neurons were also being lost. Key Findings 385,000-cell net gain: Total DG granule neuron counts increased by about 385,000 cells from 2 …

Dark Triad Traits Linked to Aggressive Relationship Expectations

June 20, 2026 by BrainASAP

TL;DR: A 2025 study in Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy linked higher Dark Triad traits, a personality cluster covering psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism, with more aggressive relationship expectations and greater self-reported sexual coercion in a 624-person online survey. Key Findings The survey included 624 adults: participants completed personality, attachment, relationship-expectation, and sexual-aggression questionnaires. Dark …

Prior Cocaine Use Disrupted Orbitofrontal Hidden-State Coding in Rats

June 20, 2026 by BrainASAP

TL;DR: A 2026 study in eLife found that prior cocaine self-administration disrupted how rat orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), a frontal brain region involved in task structure and flexible behavior, encoded hidden states in an odor-sequence task. Key Findings 3,881 single units: The study recorded 3,881 lateral OFC single units while rats performed a sequential odor task. …

Carbamazepine-Venlafaxine ER Overdose Caused Drug-Level Rebound and Bowel Ischemia

June 20, 2026 by BrainASAP

TL;DR: A 2026 study in Critical Care Explorations described a 45-year-old woman whose extended-release carbamazepine and venlafaxine overdose led to cardiac arrest, delayed serotonin syndrome, rebounding carbamazepine levels, bowel ischemia, and right hemicolectomy after retained gastrointestinal drug material kept releasing medication. Key Findings Extended-release overdose: The patient had altered mental status after a carbamazepine-venlafaxine ER …

MSA Drug Repurposing Review Highlighted Ubiquinol and Exenatide Signals

June 20, 2026 by BrainASAP

TL;DR: A 2026 review in Translational Neurodegeneration found that most repurposed multiple system atrophy drugs failed to show disease-slowing effects in trials, while ubiquinol produced the clearest placebo-controlled motor-progression signal. Key Findings No proven disease-modifying therapy: Multiple system atrophy remains a rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disease without an approved treatment that slows progression. Four target classes …

Bacterial Polysaccharides Activated NSM Neurons and Shifted C. elegans Feeding Behavior

June 20, 2026 by BrainASAP

TL;DR: A 2026 Current Biology study found that bacterial polysaccharides, including peptidoglycan from Gram-positive bacteria, activated the C. elegans NSM enteric sensory neuron and shifted feeding and movement behavior through acid-sensing ion channels. Key Findings NSM sensed ingested bacteria: the enteric sensory neuron NSM, which projects into the C. elegans pharyngeal lumen, responded when worms …

Adult Stressor Severity Linked to Higher Hair Cortisol in One Study

June 20, 2026 by BrainASAP

TL;DR: A 2026 study in Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology found that adulthood stressor severity was linked to higher hair cortisol in a longitudinal sample, while early-life stress, recent stress, daily phone-based stress reports, and the cortisol/DHEA ratio did not show consistent associations. Key Findings 2 aligned samples were tested: Study I included 79 adults, and Study II …

+ Load more