Weizmann Institute scientists travelled all the way to a desert island off the coast of East Africa to record – for the very first time – the brain activity of mammals in the wild and to study how their neuronal ‘compass’ helps them navigate. Some 40 kilometres east...
Weizmann Institute scientists and Ichilov physicians have used intracranial electrodes to reveal how the brain amplifies the risk of loss – and how this may help explain anxiety disorders and post-trauma effects. People are often willing to take risks to make a...
A new Weizmann Institute of Science technology uncovers a neural mechanism that governs infant-parent bonding – and may help explain emotional differences between the sexes. The relationships we form as adults often echo those we had with our parents. According to...
A new collaborative study at the Weizmann Institute of Science and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre highlights the crucial role of brain–body crosstalk in health and disease. Nearly a third of cancer-related deaths are caused by cachexia, a currently...
Weizmann Institute scientists have discovered hundreds of molecules that promote nerve regeneration in mice – and may even encourage growth in brain neurons. Unlike the brain and spinal cord, peripheral nerve cells, whose long extensions reach the skin and internal...
New research from the Weizmann Institute of Science reveals how mouse whiskers can ‘hear’ the world. Nestled in dark burrows, with a limited sense of vision, mice brush their whiskers against their environment to navigate and to detect objects around them. This...
Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science have found that male roundworms do not learn from experience as well as females do – and discovered the neural receptor responsible, which also exists in humans. In human society, men tend to be seen as risk-takers,...
An innovative treatment for Gaucher disease has produced promising results in mice, giving hope to patients after decades of research. Gregory and Deborah Macres from California lost their son, Gregory, in 1997, when he was just 4 years old. Little Gregory had a...
Weizmann Insitute scientists have mapped common types of brain tumours at unprecedented resolution – and identified a possible reason why some patients fail to respond to a new drug. The cells that make up cancerous brain tumours are extremely varied and sometimes...
Scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science are tackling the thorny issue of securing a sustainable source of the psychedelic – Mescaline - for drug development, with a new study revealing they have made the first crucial move. Mescaline, a natural hallucinogen...
New research from the Weizmann Institute of Science – just published in Nature – shows that antibody-producing cells discovered inside the nasal conchae may help to develop new nasal vaccinations and treatments for allergies and nervous system disorders. The nose is a...
Researchers from the University of Michigan and the Weizmann Institute of Science have developed the first-ever complete central nervous system on a chip, emulating that of a human embryo, from the forebrain to the bottom of the spinal cord. Once upon a time, we were...
A Weizmann Institute method for tracking the effects of drugs on zebrafish may help develop improved therapies for depression and other mood-related disorders. Psychedelics are a hot topic in labs all over the world because they hold great potential for relieving the...
Weizmann Institute of Science scientists have discovered two small molecules that can cross the blood-brain barrier in mice, slowing and even reversing the effects of Huntington’s, which is incurable. The human brain is a well-guarded control centre. Its system of...
A new Weizmann Institute of Science study challenges an old dogma regarding the pituitary gland’s embryonic origins and may lead to new insights into growth hormone deficiency and other pituitary disorders. An unexpected observation has led researchers at Weizmann to...
New research from the Weizmann Institute of Science shows that exposure to tears activates human smell receptors and alters aggression-related circuits in the brain. All land mammals have tear glands in their eyes, but the human tearing experience was until recently...
New research from the Weizmann Institute of Science reveals that a protein facilitating nerve cell repair in the peripheral nervous system might one day point to treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. Just like a gecko that regrows a broken tail, our peripheral...
Weizmann Institute of Science researchers have revealed in mice how exposure to trauma in infancy alters the brain; they show that early treatment to reverse these changes is vital for rehabilitation. The images of Israeli child hostages being freed from Hamas...
A new study in mice could pave the way to personalised therapy for depression, anxiety and other stress-related disorders known to produce different effects on men and women. Scientific excellence requires diversity – research conducted by men and women, by people...
When a threat is looming and an escape route is open, one would expect any animal to flee imminent danger. But when microscopic worms faced a threatening signal in a lab at the Weizmann Institute of Science, only the females fled right away. The males stayed put until...
Even during routine tasks such as a daily stroll, our brain needs to shift gears, switching from navigating the city to jumping out of the way of a bike or to crossing the street to greet a friend. These switches pose a challenge: How does the brain’s circuits deal...
Weizmann Institute of Science researchers have found that people may have a tendency to form friendships with individuals who have a similar body odour. The researchers were even able to predict the quality of social interactions between complete strangers by first...
Ketamine, a well-known anaesthetic used in smaller doses as a party drug, was hailed as a “new hope for depression” in a Time magazine cover story in 2017. Two years later, the arrival of the first ketamine-based antidepressant – the nasal spray esketamine, made by...
Genetic mutations linked to a disease often spell bad news. Mutations in over 25 genes, for example, are associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and they all increase the risk of developing this incurable disorder. Now, a research team headed by Professor...