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TL;DR: In sleeping mice, blood volume in the brain rose sharply during REM sleep, yet the energy molecule ATP inside neurons dropped. It bounced back as soon as the mice woke, suggesting REM sleep spends energy faster than blood supply alone can explain. Key F…
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TL;DR: A 2026 mouse study in Nature Communications found that deleting ankyrin-2 (Ank2) from hippocampal astrocytes left recent memory intact but weakened remote memory, pointing to astrocyte structure as part of how memories stay stable over time. Key Finding…
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TL;DR: A 2026 review in the Journal of Neuroinflammation argued that several parasitic infections may affect behavior and cognition through converging microbiota, immune, barrier, and glial pathways. Key Findings Protozoa and helminths reviewed: The review cov…
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TL;DR: A 2026 mouse study in Nature found that the astrocyte glucocorticoid receptor pathway helped mature visual cortex circuitry and restricted ocular dominance plasticity, linking light exposure, stress-hormone input, and astrocyte-driven circuit closure. K…
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TL;DR: A 2026 Reviews in the Neurosciences review argues that glycolysis, the cell pathway that turns glucose into usable energy and lactate, is a disease-shaping process across Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, Huntington’s disease, Wilson diseas…
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TL;DR: A 2026 Scientific Reports study mapped astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, Bergmann glia, and microglia in the camel cerebellum, showing that glial support cells are distributed very differently across cerebellar layers. Key Findings 10 mature camels: Researc…
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TL;DR: A 2026 study in Nature Neuroscience from Baylor College of Medicine showed that boosting Sox9, a transcription factor that regulates aging astrocytes, improved astrocytes’ ability to clear amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s mouse models and preserved cognit…
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How Astrocytes Help the Amygdala Store Fear Memories TL;DR: Amygdala astrocytes were not passive support cells: their calcium signals tracked learned fear states and were required for neuronal fear-memory representations in mice. Key Findings In vivo BLA imagi…
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Astrocyte BMP Suppression Eased Fragile X Signals TL;DR: In a fragile X mouse model, suppressing BMP signaling specifically in astrocytes reduced sound-triggered seizure severity and partially restored synaptic activity in the auditory cortex, a sound-processi…
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Researchers have uncovered novel details about a specific population of brain cells that regulate obesity. Their findings provide increased understanding of the intricate neural circuits controlling energy balance and point to potential new therapeutic targets…
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