Optical imaging relies on shining weak lasers through the skull to visualize brain activity. These techniques are inexpensive and relatively portable. They are also silent and safe: Because only extremely weak lasers are used, these methods can be used to study everyone, even infants.

Much faster than a traditional MRI, MEG can be used to provide even more information about brain activity.

Researchers throughout the world are pursuing a variety of new ways to repair or replace neurons and other cells in the brain. For the most part, these experimental approaches are still being worked out in animals and cannot be considered therapies for humans at this time.

The ability to react quickly in response to threatening events has been with us since the time of our earliest ancestors.

The brain uses some unconventional means to communicate.

The two halves of the nervous system work together in order for your body to properly communicate its sensations and needs.

Most medicines today were developed using trial-and-error techniques, which often do not reveal why a drug produces a particular effect. But the expanding knowledge gained from molecular biology methods makes safer and more effective drugs possible.

Providing a high-quality, three-dimensional image of organs and structures inside the body without X-rays or other radiation, MRIs are noninvasive and unsurpassed in the anatomical detail they show.

Sleep is crucial for concentration, memory, coordination, and even emotional health. Research holds promise for devising new treatments to allow millions of people to get a good night’s sleep.

Neuron formation begins in the earliest stages of human development. Signaling molecules “turn on” certain genes and “turn off” others, beginning nerve cell induction.