The brain uses a variety of chemicals called neurotransmitters to communicate between brain cells.

The discovery in the late 1950s that the level of dopamine was decreased in the brains of Parkinson’s patients was followed in the 1960s by successful treatment with the drug levodopa, which is converted to dopamine in the brain. This historical event is one of the greatest medical breakthroughs in the field of neurology.

What do standing frustrated in a supermarket checkout line or sitting in a traffic jam have in common with fleeing predators, as was done in the early days of human beings?

The cerebrum, the largest part of the human brain, is associated with higher order functioning, including the control of voluntary behavior. Thinking, perceiving, planning, and understanding language all lie within the cerebrum’s control.

Medical professionals have come to rely on even more specialized forms of the MRI machine, each suited to spotting specific warning signs.

Hormones are important messages both within the brain and between the brain and the body.

A stressful situation activates three major communication systems in the brain, all of which regulate bodily functions.

One of the most common and least understood neurobiological disorders, Tourette syndrome is an inherited disorder that affects about 200,000 Americans. Males are affected three to four times as often as females.

PET is one of the most important techniques for measuring blood flow or energy consumption in the brain. This method of measuring brain function is based on the detection of radioactivity emitted when positrons, positively charged particles, undergo radioactive decay in the brain.

Our best insights into how the normal brain ages come from long-term studies of the nervous system that began decades ago.