Category: News

In a new and fascinating study, researchers in the UNC Kato Lab find that the orbitofrontal cortex drives predictive filtering of sensory responses. More details can be found in the abstract below, and the full Nature Neuroscience publication can be found here: https://rdcu.be/e5sm3 “Habituation is a crucial sensory filtering mechanism...

Congratulations to Neuroscience Center Dr. Eva Anton and Dr. Jason Stein for their recent publication in Nature! Casingal et al. finds that TSC proteins regulate the balance between radial and intermediate progenitors, shaping cortical organization and upper-layer neuron production. Evolutionary downregulation of TSC expression in humans likely supports expansion of...

A new study published in Neuron, led by Juan Song, PhD, sheds light on how Alzheimer’s disease affects the brain. The findings could lead to new forms of therapy. Alzheimer’s disease not only robs people of their memory but also affects mood, often causing anxiety and depression. Until now, scientists...

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has greenlit a second phase of funding — worth $800,000 — for a cholesterol dynamics project led by Celia Shiau and En Yang. Celia Shiau (left) and En Yang will use their award to study the impact of cholesterol levels on the brain.   Congratulations to...

Chapel Hill, N.C. – Diet impacts the brain a lot more than we think. A new study from UNC School of Medicine researchers, published this week in Neuron, reveals a unique look at how junk food rewires the brain’s memory hub – leading to risk of cognitive dysfunction. This new research...

En Yang, a neuroscientist in the College of Arts and Sciences at UNC-Chapel Hill, has won a Pew Biomedical Scholar award for her engineering-informed research on learning and memory. The Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences provides research funding to early-career investigators whose work stands to substantially impact human health. This...

The McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience has selected four projects to receive the 2025 Neurobiology of Brain Disorders Awards. The awards will total $1.2 million for research on the biology of brain diseases, with each project receiving $100,000 per year in each of the next three years for a total...

A discovery by a UNC School of Medicine cell biology lab could reshape how scientists understand and treat Alzheimer’s disease. The research team is led by Sarah Cohen, assistant professor in the medical school’s cell biology and physiology department and member of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Cohen’s lab found that Apolipoprotein E4,...

Joseph Piven, MD, the Thomas E. Castelloe Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics and director of the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities was given the award for his fundamental contributions to research on autism spectrum disorders. Original full article can be found here.

The Neuroscience Center, along with all who had the privilege of knowing Dr. Charlotte Boettiger, is deeply saddened by the loss of a remarkable colleague and friend. Dr. Boettiger was widely respected not only for her groundbreaking work in cognitive and addiction behavioral neuroscience, but also for her generosity, mentorship,...