News & Announcements
Read the latest news from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine’s Department of Neuroscience. The links below take you to articles where you can learn more about our faculty’s latest achievements, awards and honors.
08.16.2023Today, more than 50 million adults in the U.S. suffer from chronic pain — pain lasting longer than three months — and is the most common reason why people seek medical attention, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
08.10.2023Northwestern investigators have discovered the mechanisms by which PCDH12, a protein critical to cell adhesion, also contributes to neuron production and neuronal migration during brain development, according to a recent study published in Cell Reports. Loss of PCDH12 function is associated with severe neurodevelopmental disorders, such as microcephaly, infantile epilepsy and autism. The findings of the study shed light on mechanisms of brain cortex development and advance our understanding of pathogenic mechanisms of PCDH12-related neurodevelopmental disorders, ultimately aiding in the identification of potential therapeutic targets.
08.03.2023A new Northwestern University-led study published in Nature Neuroscience has discovered that dopamine neurons are more diverse than previously thought, opening new research directions for further understanding and potentially even treating Parkinson’s disease.
07.27.2023Scientists have discovered that antipsychotic drugs – which inhibit the overactive dopamine causing the symptoms of schizophrenia – interact with a completely different neuron than originally thought.
06.16.2023A Northwestern Medicine study has uncovered novel cellular mechanisms within the retina, findings that could help advance the development of targeted therapeutics for diseases and conditions impacting vision.
04.14.2023Investigators led by D. James Surmeier, PhD, the Nathan Smith Davis Professor and chair of Neuroscience, have uncovered previously unknown neuronal circuits that contribute to brain dysfunction in Huntington’s disease.
03.24.2023Northwestern Medicine investigators have discovered novel sex-specific mechanisms that control how stress hormones impact dopamine transmission and motivation, findings that can inform new therapeutic strategies for treating major depressive disorder.
03.20.2023A new study is the first to show that extrapolating physiological findings from small animals can produce incorrect predictions in humans.
03.13.2023Investigators have discovered novel neural mechanisms that influence sex differences in the motivation based on past experiences, according to findings published in Nature Neuroscience.
03.06.2023Northwestern Medicine scientists have identified the cause of a genetic subtype of autism and schizophrenia that results in social deficits and seizures in mice and humans.
02.20.2023A theoretical neuroscientist, Ann Kennedy, PhD, is investigating neural computation and the structure of behavior. In this episode, she talks about her recent research in the area of aggression and how it's regulated in the brains of animals. She was recently named the winner of the 2022 Eppendorf and Science Prize for Neurobiology.
02.15.2023Two Northwestern faculty members have been awarded a prestigious 2023 Sloan Research Fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, selected for their creativity, innovation and research accomplishments, which make them stand out as the next generation of leaders.
The new Northwestern fellows are chemist Todd Gingrich of Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences and neuroscientist Ann Kennedy of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
02.06.2023Targeting calcium signaling in neurons may represent a promising therapeutic approach for treating a rare form of schizophrenia, according to a Northwestern Medicine study.
01.19.2023Feinberg has established the Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience, a collaborative hub created to unite interdisciplinary scientists to understand neural mechanisms underlying mental illness, elucidate mechanisms of psychotropic drug action and develop novel therapeutics.
01.13.2023Scientists have developed a wireless, battery-free implant capable of monitoring dopamine signals in the brain in real-time, an advance that could aid in understanding the role neurochemicals play in neurological disorders.
12.26.2022A team of Northwestern investigators led by Peter Penzes, PhD, has developed a new therapy that could treat Phelan-McDermid syndrome, a subtype of autism spectrum disorder.
12.21.2022Salvino was a third-year Interdepartmental Neuroscience (NUIN) PhD student.
12.20.2022Northwestern investigators across the medical school are studying the brain at the molecular, cellular, systems and behavioral levels and using advanced research methodologies and leading-edge technologies to translate scientific discoveries into novel and effective treatments.
11.18.2022Ann Kennedy, PhD, assistant professor of Neuroscience, has been named the winner of the 2022 Eppendorf and Science Prize for Neurobiology.
- 11.03.2022
How are habits – both good and bad – formed in the brain, and what role do habits play in diseases of the brain? These are some of the questions neuroscientist, Talia Lerner, PhD, is investigating in her lab. Her recent study, published in Cell Reports, may change the overall understanding of how habits are formed and could be broken.
10.19.2022Northwestern Medicine investigators have discovered that dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra utilize a specific ion channel to control energy production and meet bioenergetic need, according to a recent study.