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TL;DR: A 2026 mouse study in The Journal of Neuroscience found that the HIV-1 protein gp120 amplified pain signaling through α2δ-1-bound NMDA receptors in spinal excitatory neurons, and blocking that receptor coupling reversed pain-like hypersensitivity. Key F…
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TL;DR: A 2026 study in Brain, Behavior, & Immunity – Health reported that Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV), a mouse neurotropic virus, infected substantia nigra dopamine neurons and produced Parkinson’s-like motor deficits in mice. Key Findings…
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TL;DR: A 2026 study in Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy built a Parkinson’s visual hallucination mouse model and found that a combined behavior map identified hallucination-like episodes better than any single movement measure. Key Findings Model: Rese…
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TL;DR: A 2026 study in Biochemistry and Biophysics Reports found that cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1R) undergoes autophagy-linked degradation in mouse cortical neurons, but p62 deficiency did not make CB1R the main driver of obesity and low activity in p62 knocko…
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TL;DR: A 2026 mouse study in Psychopharmacology found that repeated dexamethasone, a synthetic glucocorticoid steroid, disrupted light-phase sleep and increased orexin-neuron activity, a wake-promoting hypothalamic signal, during sleep-to-wake transitions. Key…
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TL;DR: A CAR-style therapy aimed at astrocytes turned brain support cells into amyloid cleaners, preventing plaque development and cutting existing plaque burden by about half in mice. Key Findings Plaque-free prevention arm: Young mice treated before plaques…
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Mediodorsal Thalamus Activity Restored Belief Updating TL;DR: A Nature Neuroscience mouse study linked a schizophrenia-risk Grin2a mutation to weaker mediodorsal thalamus activity, impaired belief updating, and behavioral rescue when researchers reactivated th…
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How Gene Therapy Mimicked Morphine for Chronic Pain TL;DR: A Nature study identified opioid-sensitive neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex and used a synthetic mu-opioid receptor promoter to silence them, producing morphine-like relief of chronic pain unpl…
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