The hemispheres in autistic people’s brains are more symmetrical than those of their typical peers, according to the largest imaging study to explore this relationship¹. It is unclear what this difference means, however.

Typical people’s brains show a slight asymmetry between the left and right hemispheres, especially in regions associated with language. These differences are less pronounced in autistic people, the new study found.

The unusual symmetry seems to affect nine regions, mostly in the cerebral cortex. The results suggest that altered development of the brain’s left and right hemispheres contributes to autism.

University of Maryland researchers showed sight deprivation changes how groups of neurons work together and alters their sensitivity to different frequencies.

Scientists have known that depriving adult mice of vision can increase the sensitivity of individual neurons in the part of the brain devoted to hearing. New research from biologists at the University of Maryland revealed that sight deprivation also changes the way brain cells interact with one another, altering neuronal networks and shifting the mice’s sensitivity to different frequencies. The research was published in the November 19, 2019 issue of the journal eNeuro.

The bridge between both halves of the brain fundamentally changes after concussion.

Ketamine, once known for its “club enhancing” effects, is now an FDA approved antidepressant, hope for many with treatment-resistant depression.