Neuroscience | Penn Today

Psilocybin targets brain circuits to relieve chronic pain, depression

Penn Medicine researchers offer new insights into psilocybin’s ability to break the pain-depression cycle.

2 min. read

Good conversations don’t require everybody to agree, neuroscience shows

Emily Falk of the Annenberg School for Communication explains how brain imaging is illuminating the patterns linked to productive, positive dialogue.

The Neuroscience of decision-making

Emily Falk of the Annenberg School of Communication discusses her new book, “What We Value: The Neuroscience of Choice and Change.”

Exposure to air pollution worsens Alzheimer’s disease

New research from Penn Medicine finds living in areas with high concentration of air pollution is associated with increased buildup of amyloid and tau proteins in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, accelerating cognitive decline.

2 min. read

Does sleeping on a problem really work?

Alyssa Sinclair of the Annenberg School for Communication says sleeping on a difficult task can help people make more level-headed decisions the next day.

Two medical personnel looking at an fMRI image on a computer.

A new understanding of brain activity when we ‘read the minds’ of others

Penn psychologists Anna Jenkins and Dilara Berkay show the role of uncertainty in engagement of the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex. Their findings pave the way for a broader understanding of autism and social anxiety.

3 min. read

A microscopic rendering of a neuromuscular junction.

Gene therapy may slow loss of motor function in ALS

Researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia used RNA interference to silence a key protein that causes ALS, showing promise for treating the devastating neurodegenerative disease.

Tackling brain conditions, says psychology professor Nicole Rust, requires thinking about the brain not as a domino chain but as a complex dynamical system with feedback loops.

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Q&A

‘Elusive Cures: Why Neuroscience Hasn’t Solved Brain Disorders—and How We Can Change That’

The first book from psychology professor Nicole Rust of the School of Arts & Sciences dives into why research on conditions like Alzheimer’s and depression hasn’t translated more effectively into better treatments.

5 min. read

Does the color purple really exist?

Elizabeth (Zab) Johnson of the Wharton School says that color is entirely the process of human neural machinery.

The human brain as though it is being scanned.

Dual-target CAR T-cell therapy slows growth of aggressive brain cancer

Researchers from Penn Medicine have demonstrated encouraging tumor reductions rarely seen in recurrent glioblastoma following phase I clinical trials.