Neuroscience | Penn Today

A radical new model of the brain illuminates its wiring

Danielle Bassett of the School of Engineering and Applied Science spoke about how neuroscience has led to a greater understanding of the brain’s networks and how to treat a variety of conditions. “Hopefully, with an understanding of the individual differences in the brain, we will have a better lever on how to predict human responses to a particular intervention,” she says, “and then not have to have people go for a year through different kinds of medication before we find one that works for them.”

Three renderings of illustrated brains, one is an abstract scribble, one looks cloudy and ephemeral, one looks like plant matter.

New genetic cause of an inherited neuropathy discovered

A discovery by Penn researchers in siblings may hold answers to new gene therapies for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.

Uncovering the neurological connections to COVID-19

A variety of research efforts across Penn are working to uncover the neurological implications of COVID-19, including stroke, neuroinflammation, and loss of smell.

One person stands before two computer monitors while two people stand behind them, all in lab garments or white coats, one computer has brain scans on the screen

Rooting out systemic bias in neuroscience publishing

An interdisciplinary research team has found statistical evidence of women being undercited in academic literature. They are now studying similar effects along racial lines.

an abstract depiction of a brain in multi-colors

Sensory neurons outside the brain drive autistic social behaviors

A new study from Penn Medicine lends further evidence that the social behaviors tied to autism spectrum disorders (ASD) emerge from abnormal function of sensory neurons outside the brain.

nocred

New database aims to make Alzheimer’s diagnosis easier and earlier

A five-minute online session will allow neural health to be tracked across time, so that doctors can make an earlier diagnosis and researchers can evaluate medications and other treatments.

a graph showing connected circles for characters in king lear, othello, and macbeth

What do ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ ‘Macbeth,’ and a list of Facebook friends all have in common?

To an English scholar or avid reader, the Shakespeare Canon represents some of the greatest literary works of the English language. To a network scientist, Shakespeare’s 37 plays and the 884,421 words they contain also represent a massively complex communication network.

Your eyes may betray what decision you are about to make

Michael Louis Platt and Feng Sheng of the Wharton School comment on their research on the sight-brain connection when making decisions.

A person in a suit and button-down shirt sitting on a stairwell landing, smiling. The intricate white stairwell and a brick wall behind it are to the person's right.

Gaze and pupil dilation can reveal a decision before it’s made

These two biomarkers may offer clues into the underlying biological processes at play in decision making, according to research from neuroscientist Michael Platt.

two color-coded networks with nodes and edges arranged into a series of three stars on the left and a large pentagon on the right

To err is human, to learn, divine

Researchers develop a new model for how the brain processes complex information: by striking a balance between accuracy and simplicity while making mistakes along the way.

Filters