BCIA Continuing Education Posts

Vivid images reveal individual axons and even cell bodies, while a person is awake and breathing.

Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's, and other neurodegenerative conditions involve the accumulation of toxic proteins that the glymphatic system is designed to clear.

Brain maps that had been carved by decades of hand use didn't simply vanish when the physical hand disappeared.

Oxytocin can promote envy, schadenfreude, discrimination, and punishment depending on context.

Fear, anger, disgust, and sadness often carry partially distinct autonomic fingerprints.

Studies suggest that between 1% and 5% of people diagnosed with schizophrenia actually have autoimmune conditions.

The brain needs tiny amounts of lithium to stay healthy, and people with Alzheimer's don't have enough of it.

The US POINTER trial reveals that older adults can boost their brain health through targeted, structured lifestyle changes.

The brain follows a consistent pattern when transitioning from sleep, with specific rhythms and regions activating in a predictable sequence. These changes vary depending on the sleep stage and even predict how alert or sleepy a person feels upon waking.

Researchers found human pegivirus (HPgV) in the brains of individuals with Parkinson’s disease, but not in healthy controls.

Optimistic individuals share similar patterns of brain activity when imagining the future.

A groundbreaking study published by an international team of researchers led by Jonas Frisén at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm has finally provided compelling evidence that yes, adult human brains do indeed grow new neurons

Children who later initiated substance use had larger brains overall, including greater whole brain volume, larger cortical surface area, and bigger subcortical structures.

The idea that the brain might not just glow but use this glow as part of its signaling has remained speculative—until now.

Dijkstra and colleagues identified a specific neural mechanism that our brains use to distinguish the vivid world of our imagination from the tangible reality we perceive through our senses.

At its core, ADHD is not about lacking attention—it's about struggling to control it.

Mitochondria are not merely energy producers but orchestrate complex cellular processes, including gene expression, apoptosis, calcium regulation, communication, and synaptic function, especially in neurons.

The landmark Cogitate Consortium study compared two dominant theories of consciousness.

The hippocampus supports both memory and imagination, synthesizing past experiences into simulated futures.

Long considered passive support cells, astrocytes are now shown to be indispensable intermediaries in neuromodulatory signaling.