Neuroscience | Penn Today

a large group of people in front of the Franklin Institute building with a science demonstration (with smoke and the aftermath of an explosion that caused colored balls to fly into the air) in the foreground

Philadelphia: The new city of science

Penn researchers will be involved in a weeklong series of interactive activities and events across the city as part of the Philadelphia Science Festival.

A man in a blue plaid coat, pink shirt and purple tie standing in front of a blurry building.

Brain regions linked to memory and emotion help humans navigate smell

The work points to the existence of a grid-like hexagonal structure in olfactory-related brain areas, similar to mapping configurations previously found to support spatial navigation in animals.

therapist writing on clipboard while client sits on couch with hand to their forehead

Childhood trauma has lasting effect on brain connectivity in patients with depression

A study led by Penn Medicine researchers found that childhood trauma is linked to abnormal connectivity in the brain in adults with major depressive disorder.

illustration of rows of face and head profiles with one brain highlighted

How companies are increasing neurodiversity in the workplace

Wharton’s Peter Cappelli discusses how companies are increasing efforts to employ adults with autism, but doing so requires a lot of support and training.

This physicist is trying to make sense of the brain’s tangled networks

Danielle Bassett of the School of Engineering and Applied Science was profiled.

Abnormal levels of a protein linked to C.T.E. found in N.F.L players’ brains, study shows

John Trojanowski of the Perelman School of Medicine spoke about his research on traumatic brain injury in “football players, rugby players, [and] some people who fell off bikes.”

To improve memory, tune it like an orchestra

Michael Kahana of the School of Arts and Sciences commented on a study that “suggests that age-related impairment in one particular form of short-term memory largely reflects a failure of synchronization.”

A model of the internal brain hemisphere under a glass skull.

Researchers discover the source of new neurons in brain hippocampus

The findings extend the understanding of how a continuous supply of neurons throughout life is connected with learning and memory.

Elementary school students with model brains

From Play-Doh to Slinkies, an engaging introduction to the basics of the brain

The Kids Judge! Neuroscience Fair brought West Philadelphia fourth graders and Penn neuroscience students together for a morning of hands-on fun.

Two adolescents walking on the top structure of a bridge, a third sits, while people are on the walkway beneath the top of the bridge.

Do adolescents have a natural tendency to engage in more risk-taking than children?

An article published in Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences coming out of the Annenberg Public Policy Center reviews research into whether adolescents are actually more likely to take risks than children, as some neuroscience theories have suggested.

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