Neuroscience

Weill Cornell Medicine investigators have found that two genetic variants that confer high risk of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) together trigger a harmful inflammatory response in the brain’s immune cells, particularly in females, in a preclinical model.

A new study by Weill Cornell Medicine researchers helps explain why having ApoE4—the gene variant most closely linked to Alzheimer’s disease—increases the risk of neurodegeneration and white matter damage. 

Weill Cornell Medicine scientists have uncovered the first evidence that astrocyte receptors can trigger opposite effects on cognitive function in male and female preclinical models.

Investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine have assembled the most comprehensive atlas to date of messenger RNA (mRNA) variants in the mouse and human brain, which will be important in understanding brain development, neuron specialization and other brain functions.

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have demonstrated how amyloid beta, a peptide associated with Alzheimer’s disease, can interact with a protein receptor on immune cells in the brain triggering a reaction that damages blood vessels and leads to neurodegeneration. 

Weill Cornell Medicine faculty members were honored with awards for their exemplary achievements in medical research, education and care May 17-18 during Weill Cornell Medicine’s commencement activities.

Dr. David Simon, the Fernholz Foundation Research Scholar in Neuroscience and an assistant professor of biochemistry at Weill Cornell Medicine, was awarded the 2023 Pershing Square Sohn Prize for Young Investigators in Cancer Research on May 16.

People with autism spectrum disorder can be classified into four distinct subtypes based on their brain activity and behavior.

A very subtle and seemingly random type of eye movement called ocular drift can be influenced by prior knowledge of the expected visual target, suggesting a surprising level of cognitive control over the eyes.

A specific toxin-producing gut bacteria may be responsible for both triggering the onset of multiple sclerosis (MS) and ongoing disease activity.

Cigarette smoking is associated with worse cognitive performance among people 60 years and older, and that association is broadly the same whether or not individuals have hypertension or diabetes.

COVID-19 patients placed on ventilators can take a long time to regain consciousness. New research from Weill Cornell Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian, MIT, and Massachusetts General Hospital is now illustrating that these delays may serve a purpose: protecting the brain from oxygen deprivation.

Aggregates of the protein alpha-synuclein spread in the brains of people with Parkinson’s disease through a cellular waste-ejection process, suggests a new study led by Weill Cornell Medicine researchers.

The psychedelic drugs LSD and psilocybin activate serotonin receptors on brain cells in a way that reduces the energy needed for the brain to switch between different activity states, according to a study led by Weill Cornell Medicine researchers.

Six Weill Cornell Medicine postdoctoral associates, instructors and junior faculty seeking to pursue independent research careers have received 2022 JumpStart Career Development awards.

Multiple changes in brain cells during the first month of embryonic development may contribute to schizophrenia later in life.

Depression is the most common mental illness as well as the number one cause of disability among people between the ages of 15 and 44. And for millions of sufferers, antidepressants have literally saved lives that could otherwise have been lost to suicide. 

The transition from pre- to post-menopause, with its steep decline in estrogen production, involves myriad changes to brain structure, brain-region connectivity, and brain energy consumption, though many of these changes are only temporary, a study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine has found.

Women become more susceptible to hypertension as they approach menopause, and now a preclinical study led by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine’s Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute suggests that this “perimenopausal” hypertension may be driven by declines in estrogen signaling in a brain region called the hypothalamus—and may be preventable with estrogen-like treatments.