Category: News

In a small pilot study, UNC School of Medicine researchers led by Flavio Frohlich, PhD, used a new closed-loop system to measure the electrical brain patterns of individual patients and then stimulate those patterns with a weak electrical current, resulting in significantly improved symptoms of major depressive disorder. Original article...

Jose Rodriguez-Romaguera, PhD, assistant professor at the UNC Neuroscience Center, co-authored a perspective piece in Neuron about the critical role of mentor-mentee relationships, especially for those who come from racially underrepresented groups like himself. Original article found here.

The placebo effect is very real. This we’ve known for decades, as seen in real-life observations and the best double-blinded randomized clinical trials researchers have devised for many diseases and conditions, especially pain. And yet, how and why the placebo effect occurs has remained a mystery. Now, neuroscientists have discovered...

How seizures, epilepsy and other brain malformations develop from genetic variants is not fully understood, but a new National Institutes of Health (NIH) award will pave the way toward understanding the cause and potentially lead to new therapies. Original article can be found here.

Researchers in the lab of Ben Philpot, PhD, the Kenan Distinguished Professor of Cell Biology and Physiology at the UNC School of Medicine and associate director of the UNC Neuroscience Center, have identified a small molecule that could lead to a safe and effective treatment for the neurodevelopmental condition known...

The UNC School of Medicine lab of Bryan Roth, MD, PhD, and colleagues at UCSF, Stanford and Harvard determined that a protein prediction technology can yield accurate results in the hunt to efficiently find the best possible drug candidates for many conditions. Original article can be found here.

The UNC School of Medicine lab of Zoe McElligott, PhD, and colleagues found that the animal tranquilizer xylazine activates opioid receptors in the brain, suggesting a reason why the treatment naloxone triggers a more severe withdrawal response when given to individuals on fentanyl/xylazine and suffering from respiratory depression. Original article...

A new study in the lab of Bryan Roth, MD, PhD, at the UNC School of Medicine, helps us better understand how we perceive bitter taste on a chemical level. The findings may lead to the development of drugs that targeting taste receptors. Full article can be found here.

A landmark study, led by Yen-Yu Ian Shih, PhD, professor of neurology and associate director of UNC’s Biomedical Research Imaging Center, could alter how researchers interpret results from functional magnetic resonance imaging. Original article can be found here.

Klaus Hahn, PhD, the Ronald G. Thurman Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology at the UNC School of Medicine, will co-lead this Chan Zuckerberg Initiative project with colleagues at Duke University and North Carolina State University. Full article found here.