the brain
- The Hebrew University
- No comments
A longitudinal study of 123 mothers during the first months of the October 2023 war found that the link to child difficulties was primarily related to the burnout of the parent caring for the home, and not just the spouse's deployment to active duty.
- Avi Blizovsky
- No comments
- Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University study: Neural recordings in alert turtles showed that the dorsal cortex responds strongly to unexpected changes in the environment even when the turtle moves its head or eyes, and almost completely filters out changes caused by movement.
- Avi Blizovsky
- No comments
Exosomes loaded with siRNA against PTEN, developed at the Technion and Tel Aviv University, are designed to reduce inflammation and encourage regeneration in the central nervous system – an area that is also relevant to myelin damage such as in multiple sclerosis.
- Tel Aviv University
A pilot study published in the journal Brain Stimulation found that fMRI-based personalized TMS therapy, administered immediately after traumatic memory activation during the reconsolidation phase, reduced flashbacks and intrusive thoughts in ten participants.
- Avi Blizovsky
- 3 תגובות
Experiments indicate higher-than-expected tactile sensitivity; humans achieved 70.7% accuracy, and researchers see potential for robotics, assistive technologies, and searching in limited visibility conditions
- Weizmann Institute
In a study published in PNAS, T cells were engineered to recognize amyloid proteins in the brain; the injections reduced the extent of deposits and markers of brain inflammation—offering a new direction for degenerative brain diseases
- Ben-Gurion University
- No comments
Researchers from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, led by Dr. Idan Cohen and Prof. Roy Gazit, have shown that ZNF750 in epithelial cells synchronizes the development of the skin barrier with immune defense, in part by increasing IL34, which is necessary for development.
- Avi Blizovsky
- No comments
A study in Nature Communications reveals that Toxoplasma gondii cysts are not a dormant reservoir but a diverse system of subtypes, which may explain why there is currently no treatment that eradicates the cysts.
- Avi Blizovsky
- No comments
In a randomized, double-blind trial, no benefit in visual acuity was found after 30 days, and serious bleeding events were recorded in the treatment group.
- Avi Blizovsky
- One response
A study in Nature Communications found adaptations for low-light vision and hints at maintenance mechanisms that prevent retinal degeneration in extreme old age. However, despite the evolutionary and environmental distance, it may be possible to learn something about the preservation of vision in humans.
- Avi Blizovsky
- 3 תגובות
Scientific Reports examined the ability to generate ideas and originality, and the practical question is when the model expands creativity and when it reduces it.
- Avi Blizovsky
- 2 תגובות
An international team of researchers, including those from the Hebrew University, identified 331 genes critical for neuronal differentiation, and pointed to PEDS1 as a cause of a neurodevelopmental disorder.
- The Voice of Science website - the Israel National Science Foundation
“Token” experiments among hundreds of elementary school students found that scarcity increases giving, while high parental status was linked to a decline in giving as children get older, in a pattern reminiscent of the adult world.
- Ben-Gurion University
- One response
In an experiment with 421 participants who were required to recall words after a minute and a half and after a day, more than 4,000 “memory justifications” were collected. Despite a decrease in the number of items recalled, the linguistic content and detail of the justifications for the items that were correctly recalled remained the same.
- Avi Blizovsky
- No comments
Step Inside Alzheimer's showcased a concept for combining AI, digital health records, and smart home data to enable early monitoring and detection; Eureka Park showcased startups from the company's accelerators
- Avi Blizovsky
- One response
New research suggests that human language is less “compressed” than digital code, but saves the brain effort with familiar patterns and prediction
- Bar-Ilan University
- One response
Researchers from Bar-Ilan University have succeeded in deciphering the ancient sleep mechanism and reveal that sleep protects nerve cells.
- Tel Aviv University
Researchers at Tel Aviv University propose a model that explains how information avoidance and painful information seeking serve the same need: emotional regulation in the face of uncertainty.
- Avi Blizovsky
- 3 תגובות
The researchers showed that a deficiency in SIRT6 (which declines with age) diverts tryptophan into the neurotoxic kynurenine pathway at the expense of serotonin and melatonin production; inhibiting the enzyme TDO2 in fruit flies reduced brain damage and neuromotor deterioration. The findings were published in Nature
- Avi Blizovsky
- No comments
Researchers have developed a new artificial intelligence system that advances autonomous vehicles beyond simply “seeing” pedestrians, to the ability to predict their next action.
- Avi Blizovsky
- 4 תגובות
Researchers have found that the brain repeatedly relies on the same cognitive “building blocks” when performing different types of tasks. By reassembling these blocks in new ways, the brain can rapidly generate behaviors
- Avi Blizovsky
- No comments
At the 2025 TSMC Europe OIP conference in Amsterdam, Prof. Christian Meyer from TU Dresden presented SpiNNaker-2 – a giant neuromorphic computer, based on event processing and thin-edge hardware, designed to run artificial intelligence models in real time.
- Avi Blizovsky
- No comments
Researchers at MIT have discovered that the prefrontal cortex doesn't just send "general commands" to the rest of the brain—it tailors its messages specifically to different areas, depending on arousal level and movement.
- Avi Blizovsky
- One response
Researchers at Ruhr University Bochum are investigating why consciousness evolved and why different species have developed it in different ways. By comparing humans to birds, they show that complex consciousness may arise through different neural structures.
- Haifa University
- No comments
New research by Prof. Shulamit Almog and Dr. Gal Amir from the University of Haifa reveals four "walls of silence" surrounding sexual violence during wartime - from politics and international cynicism through collective and personal shame to trauma
- Tel Aviv University
International research led by Tel Aviv University has found a way to delay the progression of the deadly disease, and even restore damaged nerve cells.
- Avi Blizovsky
- No comments
New research from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem reveals that paracetamol (Tylenol/Panadol) does not only act in the brain and spinal cord, as was believed for years, but also in the peripheral nerve endings - where pain begins.
- Weizmann Institute
- No comments
Weizmann Institute study in collaboration with Beilinson and Rambam identifies a diverse microbiome in glioblastoma and brain metastases; overlap with bacteria in primary tumors, variation by location in the brain, and association with temozolomide resistance and survival; published in Nature Cancer
- Avi Blizovsky
- No comments
REV-ERBα inhibition increases NAD+ and reduces tau in mice, study in Nature Aging
- The Voice of Science website - the Israel National Science Foundation
- 2 תגובות
Are we on the way to a world without blindness? New biomedical developments point to a future where implants will replace photoreceptors that degenerate with age.
- Davidson Institute
- No comments
Tom, paralyzed in all four limbs, was able to fly a drone and navigate an obstacle course using an implanted microelectrode array and decoding “virtual” finger movements – a leap forward in the accuracy and speed of BCI control.
- Avi Blizovsky
- One response
The system, developed by the Swedish company Site Psychic Analytics, analyzes eye movements, breathing, and facial expressions in real time, and warns before the driver loses concentration – while maintaining complete privacy.
- Tel Aviv University
A team led by Dr. Gilad Levy in Prof. Boaz Barak's lab identified TFII-I (GTF2I) as a negative regulator of myelination; its elimination in myelin cells thickened the sheath and accelerated nerve conduction – a published finding
- Avi Blizovsky
- 3 תגובות
This led to our research question: Do other animals also “fall for” the same tricks? If a small fish or a chicken is exposed to the illusion, what does this tell us about the way they see and interpret their environment?
- Avi Blizovsky
- No comments
Accompanying CorNeat Vision in the development of an artificial cornea without tissue donation and DotLumen in the development of artificial intelligence-based smart glasses to improve independence for the visually impaired
- Weizmann Institute
Neuroscientists from the Weizmann Institute traveled to a remote island near Zanzibar to record the brain activity of mammals in the wild for the first time and study how the internal compass they use to navigate works.
- Avi Blizovsky
- 2 תגובות
Analysis of more than 4.5 million US survey responses reveals an increase from 5.3% to 7.4% in reporting cognitive disability, with a notable spike among 18–39 year olds and a significant impact of income and education
- Avi Blizovsky
- No comments
An innovative initiative at Scripps Research and the Allen Institute aims to map the body's "hidden sixth sense" — interoception, the process by which the nervous system monitors facial functions.
- Avi Blizovsky
- No comments
- Science site The Conversation
- 3 תגובות
Researchers say the term "on the spectrum" obscures the complexity of autism and creates harmful hierarchies – and suggest moving to more respectful and flexible definitions
- The Technion
- No comments
Researchers in the Faculty of Data and Decision Sciences have developed computational models that combine eye tracking and natural language processing, and are able to identify the purpose of reading with an accuracy of about 90% within two seconds.
- Weizmann Institute
Weizmann Institute and Ichilov Institute study reveals, using electrodes deep in the brain, how loss avoidance mechanisms affect learning, memory, and anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorders
- Science site The Conversation
- One response
New research shows that the love hormone, oxytocin, not only strengthens social bonds between humans – but also deepens the connection with cats, with the key being gentle touch and mutual trust.
- Avi Blizovsky
- One response
Diabetes affects the brain through energy utilization, blood vessels, and inflammation—and sometimes the same medications work on both systems. Recent studies suggest a mutual connection:
- Avi Blizovsky
- No comments
President Trump has declared that acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol (paracetamol), may increase the risk of autism in pregnancy, and has promoted the use of leucovorin as an experimental treatment. Researchers and medical associations emphasize: There is no evidence of causation, Tylenol is considered
- Avi Blizovsky
- One response
A new imaging technique developed at Columbia University has identified areas of the cerebral cortex – just behind the forehead – that are most severely damaged by repeated impacts from hitting a ball, a well-known phenomenon in hitters.
- Avi Blizovsky
- 6 תגובות
Skoltech researchers have developed a new model of brain anagrams, suggesting that maximum memory capacity is obtained in a seven-dimensional concept space – with implications for artificial intelligence and neuroscience
- Weizmann Institute
Weizmann Institute of Science scientists have developed a new optogenetic technology that allows them to study the activity of the oxytocin system deep in the young brain. Their findings show that this protein, known as the "love hormone," influences the coping of mouse pups.