latest research topics in neuroscience

Every print subscription comes with full digital access

Science News

Neuroscience.

A hunger protein reverses anorexia symptoms in mice

Boosting levels of protein ACBP spurred the mice to eat and gain weight. It is unclear if any drugs based on the protein might help people with anorexia.

‘Then I Am Myself the World’ ponders what it means to be conscious

Alzheimer’s blood tests are getting better, but still have a ways to go, more stories in neuroscience, psilocybin temporarily dissolves brain networks.

A high dose of the psychedelic drug briefly throws the brain off kilter. Other, longer-lasting changes could hint at psilocybin's therapeutic effects.

Bird flu has been invading the brains of mammals. Here’s why

Although H5N1 and its relatives can cause mild disease in some animals, these viruses are more likely to infect brain tissue than other types of flu.

Breastfeeding should take a toll on bones. A brain hormone may protect them

The hormone CCN3 improves bone strength even as breastfeeding saps bones of calcium, a study in mice shows.

‘Do I Know You?’ explores face blindness and the science of the mind

In her memoir, journalist Sadie Dingfelder draws on her own experiences to highlight the astonishing diversity of people’s inner lives.

Pain may take different pathways in men and women

Sex differences in the function of nerve cells in mice, monkeys and humans suggest a new way to treat pain conditions.

Biological puzzles abound in an up-close look at a human brain

Mirror-image nerve cells, tight bonds between neuron pairs and surprising axon swirls abound in a bit of gray matter smaller than a grain of rice.

Two distinct neural pathways may make opioids like fentanyl so addictive

A study in mice looked at how feelings of reward and withdrawal that opioids trigger play out in two separate circuits in the brain.

The heart plays a hidden role in our mental health

Deciphering the messages that the heart sends to the brain could lead to new anxiety treatments and even unlock the secrets of consciousness.

How smart was T. rex ?

A debate over how to count neurons in dinosaurs is raising questions about how to understand extinct animals’ behavior.

Subscribers, enter your e-mail address for full access to the Science News archives and digital editions.

Not a subscriber? Become one now .

Information

• Author Services

Initiatives

You are accessing a machine-readable page. In order to be human-readable, please install an RSS reader.

All articles published by MDPI are made immediately available worldwide under an open access license. No special permission is required to reuse all or part of the article published by MDPI, including figures and tables. For articles published under an open access Creative Common CC BY license, any part of the article may be reused without permission provided that the original article is clearly cited. For more information, please refer to https://www.mdpi.com/openaccess .

Feature papers represent the most advanced research with significant potential for high impact in the field. A Feature Paper should be a substantial original Article that involves several techniques or approaches, provides an outlook for future research directions and describes possible research applications.

Feature papers are submitted upon individual invitation or recommendation by the scientific editors and must receive positive feedback from the reviewers.

Editor’s Choice articles are based on recommendations by the scientific editors of MDPI journals from around the world. Editors select a small number of articles recently published in the journal that they believe will be particularly interesting to readers, or important in the respective research area. The aim is to provide a snapshot of some of the most exciting work published in the various research areas of the journal.

Original Submission Date Received: .

• Active Journals
• Find a Journal
• Proceedings Series
• For Authors
• For Reviewers
• For Editors
• For Librarians
• For Publishers
• For Societies
• For Conference Organizers
• Open Access Policy
• Institutional Open Access Program
• Special Issues Guidelines
• Editorial Process
• Research and Publication Ethics
• Article Processing Charges
• Testimonials
• Preprints.org
• SciProfiles
• Encyclopedia

Article Menu

• Subscribe SciFeed
• Google Scholar
• on Google Scholar
• Table of Contents

Find support for a specific problem in the support section of our website.

Please let us know what you think of our products and services.

Visit our dedicated information section to learn more about MDPI.

JSmol Viewer

The science and philosophy of the brain and the future of neuroscience.

Conflicts of Interest

• Sepahvand, T.; Power, K.D.; Qin, T.; Yuan, Q. The Basolateral Amygdala: The Core of a Network for Threat Conditioning, Extinction, and Second-Order Threat Conditioning. Biology 2023 , 12 , 1274. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Skolariki, K.; Vrahatis, A.G.; Krokidis, M.G.; Exarchos, T.P.; Vlamos, P. Assessing and Modelling of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Using Molecular and Functional Biomarkers. Biology 2023 , 12 , 1050. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Lawson, L.; Spivak, S.; Webber, H.; Yasin, S.; Goncalves, B.; Tarrio, O.; Ash, S.; Ferrol, M.; Ibragimov, A.; Olivares, A.G.; et al. Alterations in Brain Activity Induced by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Their Relation to Decision Making. Biology 2023 , 12 , 1366. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Nguyen, G.H.; Oh, S.; Schneider, C.; Teoh, J.Y.; Engstrom, M.; Santana-Gonzalez, C.; Porter, D.; Quevedo, K. Neurofeedback and Affect Regulation Circuitry in Depressed and Healthy Adolescents. Biology 2023 , 12 , 1399. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Pham, T.Q.; Matsui, T.; Chikazoe, J. Evaluation of the Hierarchical Correspondence between the Human Brain and Artificial Neural Networks: A Review. Biology 2023 , 12 , 1330. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]
• Zhang, R.; Zeng, Y.; Tong, L.; Yan, B. Specific Neural Mechanisms of Self-Cognition and the Application of Brainprint Recognition. Biology 2023 , 12 , 486. [ Google Scholar ] [ CrossRef ] [ PubMed ]

Share and Cite

Keenan, J.P. The Science and Philosophy of the Brain and the Future of Neuroscience. Biology 2024 , 13 , 607. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology13080607

Keenan JP. The Science and Philosophy of the Brain and the Future of Neuroscience. Biology . 2024; 13(8):607. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology13080607

Keenan, Julian Paul. 2024. "The Science and Philosophy of the Brain and the Future of Neuroscience" Biology 13, no. 8: 607. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology13080607

Article Metrics

Article access statistics, further information, mdpi initiatives, follow mdpi.

Subscribe to receive issue release notifications and newsletters from MDPI journals

December 16, 2022

This Year’s Most Thought-Provoking Brain Discoveries

Neural circuits that label experiences as “good” or “bad” and the emotional meaninglessness of facial expressions are some standouts among 2022’s mind and brain breakthroughs

By Gary Stix

Jonathan Kitchen/Getty Images

Can the human brain ever really understand itself? The problem of gaining a deep knowledge of the subjective depths of the conscious mind is such a hard problem that it has in fact been named the hard problem.

The human brain is impressively powerful . Its 100 billion neurons are connected by 100 trillion wirelike fibers, all squeezed into three pounds of squishy flesh lodged below a helmet of skull. Yet we still don’t know whether this organ will ever be able to muster the requisite smarts to hack the physical processes that underlie the ineffable “quality of deep blue” or “the sensation of middle C,” as philosopher David Chalmers put it when giving examples of the “hard problem” of consciousness, a term he invented, in a 1995 paper.

This past year did not uncover a solution to the hard problem, and one may not be forthcoming for decades, if ever. But 2022 did witness plenty of surprises and solutions to understanding the brain that do not require a complete explanation of consciousness. Such incrementalism could be seen in mid-November, when a crowd of more than 24,000 attendees of the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting gathered in San Diego, Calif. The event was a tribute of sorts to reductionism—the breaking down of hard problems into simpler knowable entities. At the event, there were reports of an animal study of a brain circuit that encodes social trauma and a brain-computer interface that lets a severely paralyzed person mentally spell out letters to form words.

On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing . By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.

Brain discoveries abounded in 2022—and will certainly continue in 2023. Here’s a look at a few prime pickings from what we published at Scientific American this year.

Your Brain Has a Thumbs-Up–Thumbs-Down Switch

When neuroscientist Kay Tye was pursuing her Ph.D., she was told a chapter on emotion was inappropriate for her thesis. Emotion just wasn’t accepted as an integral, intrinsic part of behavioral neuroscience, her field of study. That didn’t make any sense to Tye. She decided to go her own way to become a leading researcher on feelings. This year Tye co-authored a Nature paper that reported on a kind of molecular switch in rodents that flags an experience as either good or bad. If human brains operate the same way as the brains of the mice in her lab, a malfunctioning thumbs-up–thumbs-down switch might explain some cases of depression, anxiety and addiction.

Facial Expressions Do Not Convey What You’ve Been Taught about Someone’s Emotional Demeanor

Charles Darwin proposed that facial expressions are universal: a smile conveys happiness; a frown indicates sadness. He was wrong, suggests research published in recent years. Investigators found that innate expressions grounded in biology do not exist—and instead are highly variable. Neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett warned in an essay that a recognition of Darwin’s fallacy has implications for AI facial recognition systems intended to detect emotions.

Your Kid May Be a Dandelion and an Orchid—And even a Tulip

Pigeonholing a child as either sensitive or resilient is probably a mistake. That child is not necessarily just an “orchid”—overly sensitive to adverse experiences—or a “dandelion”—relatively immune to such events. Newly arrived in the mix are “tulips,” children who experience modest effects from what’s happening around them. But even this floral triad might not suffice. Many kids are psychological mixes, mosaics, studies showed this past year . They display sensitivity to some but not all influences around them, depending on a particular situation.

If You See Something, It May Help You to Say Something

In a marriage of neuroscience and pedagogy, researchers tried to assess what a curriculum that emphasized the learning of spatial skills would do for kids. One example: an assignment that involved creating a map to track bears in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Kids at five Virginia high schools took courses, and their performance was matched against another group that received lessons without the spatial-learning component. The results of the research , published in August, showed that students in the spatial learning group improved not only spatial skills but also verbal abilities—figuring out a problem using words.

New frontiers in neuroscience

Vol. 53 No. 1 Print version: page 62

• Cognition and the Brain
• Neuropsychology

Understanding human behavior is the crux of psychologists’ work and neuroscience is part of that understanding. To better grasp the mental processes that undergird thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, psychologists have long worked together with the neuroscientists who study the structure and processes of the brain and nervous system. Psychology and neuroscience overlap now more than ever as technology advances, which means psychologists have more opportunities to improve people’s lives by understanding how nervous system activity drives complex thoughts and behaviors linked to mental health treatment and prevention. Neuroscientists, too, can learn more about their field through the work of psychologists.

“The brain creates the mind, so understanding how this happens shines new light on our psychological theories and interventions,” said Kristen A. Lindquist , PhD, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. “In turn, understanding psychological theory and measurement of behavior means we can understand the functional meaning of firing neurons and blood flow to brain regions.”

While psychologists’ understanding of the biological processes involved in behavior has been evolving for years, a few neuroscience-related trends stood out in 2021.

Brain connectivity

Neuroimaging has long helped researchers understand the brain regions associated with specific traits or behaviors. More recently, psychologists have begun to study the connectivity between various regions. Rather than simply identifying increased blood flow in one area, psychologists are using advanced technology to study the correlation between blood flow changes in more than one brain region. While typical brain imaging suggests the magnitude of change, connectivity highlights possible dynamics at play in more complex behaviors.

A simple example: If you see a piece of chocolate, your prefrontal cortex may light up along with your pleasure center, suggesting you’re trying to resist the thing you crave. Studying this type of connectivity helps psychologists understand the processes behind certain behaviors and psychological disorders and create better treatments, says Lindquist.

For instance, a psychologist studying self-regulation already knows which area of the brain is active during moments of stress. Understanding how the prefrontal cortex and amygdala engage, and in what direction, could help psychologists diagnose and more effectively treat a patient who struggles to self-regulate.

A meta-analysis published by Lindquist and colleagues in 2020 examined brain connectivity patterns in younger and older adults ( Affective Science , Vol. 1, 2020). They found younger adults have more connectivity in the subcortical regions of the brain that impact reactivity, while those ages 65 to 80 have greater connectivity in the prefrontal cortex, with less neural activity between the prefrontal cortex and other regions—suggesting that young adults may be more responsive to emotional stimuli, while older individuals tend to be less sensitive to these stimuli (and, in general, more content).

While this analysis suggests important ways emotional responses to external stimuli can change across the life span—and that older adults tend to have better emotional experiences than younger ones—it also identifies an important baseline that could help psychologists understand and identify aging-related brain disorders such as geriatric depression and dementia.

“Connectivity research is setting the stage for understanding how brain connectivity is different in people who exhibit typical versus atypical behaviors, which can both help psychologists treat these affective outcomes and help caregivers and family members understand what’s happening in their loved ones,” Lindquist said.

Lindquist is also studying the neural networks at play during episodes of anxiety, and she has found evidence that different connectivity patterns can produce the same experiences of anxiety.

In other words, people can have the same output but different neural pathways to produce it. Jessica Cohen, PhD, director of the Cohen Lab and an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at UNC Chapel Hill, and fellow researchers have made significant inroads to measuring these pathways by comparing resting brain activity in people who perform differently on various cognitive tasks. They found that resting patterns of brain connectivity change much more than previously understood, and in ways that are related to subsequent task performance ( Network Neuroscience , Vol. 5, No. 1, 2021).

As scientists continue to study how brain connectivity relates to active cognition and behavior, “these findings offer the possibility that neural networks are more flexible and encode more detailed information in those who perform better,” said Derek J. Snyder, PhD, APA’s senior director for science strategic partnerships. “Overall, studies like these offer new insights on individual differences in brain plasticity across networks that process information and shape complex behaviors linked to well-being,” he said.

Brains converging

Understanding the human mind also requires understanding the social environment—what happens in the brain when we interact with other people. Using brain-imaging studies of pairs in social interactions, psychologists are now able to understand how social dynamics affect cognition, according to Thalia Wheatley , PhD, a professor of human relations at Dartmouth College.

“We’re constantly influencing and adapting to others, relying on one another to help us think,” said Wheatley. “We’ve been so focused as psychologists on mapping out the single brain, and now we’re beginning to understand what happens in the brain when two minds are dynamically engaged.”

A growing body of research has provided a foundation for newer, more complex research about the effects of social interaction on cognition. Uri Hasson , PhD, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Princeton University, has studied how two brains temporarily converge during communication.

For example, in one 2017 study, Hasson and his colleagues suggested different interpretations of a short story to two groups of participants and used neuroimaging to understand how each interpretation affected their brain activity as they listened to the story. Listeners’ brain activity aligned depending on the context they received before the story, suggesting that information from news sources can shape people’s beliefs and essentially result in groupthink ( Psychological Science , Vol. 28, No. 3, 2017). “If one line is enough to make you similar to other people, imagine how what you are listening to all day does,” Hasson said.

What’s important, Wheatley says, isn’t just that taking in the same information can result in similar brain activity. Science also suggests people are naturally drawn to those who think like them. In one study, Wheatley and colleagues found that friends shared similar brain activity ( Nature Communications , Vol. 9, No. 332, 2018). “The further out you go in a person’s social network, the more dissimilar people’s minds are,” she said.

Wheatley says future work could help psychologists understand not only the importance of conversation between peers, but how couples or parents and children interact. In a 2020 study , Hasson, Wheatley, and colleagues showed participants ambiguous video clips and then had them interpret what they saw in groups. After a period of discussion, the researchers scanned the group and found group members’ brain waves were more synchronized, suggesting conversation can help align people’s brains.

While understanding when synchrony happens is an important piece of the puzzle, Wheatley says, research should also investigate other dynamics such as when people may want to diverge in their thought patterns, breaking synchrony to facilitate independent thought. This understanding not only will help researchers understand cognition but also could help clinicians in practice. “When we understand more about the hidden dynamics of conversation, there will be natural implications for talk therapy,” she said.

Using polygenic risk scores

Thanks to recent advancements in the field of genetics, psychologists are seizing on new opportunities to study the specific genes associated with susceptibility for certain behaviors and, more important, how to use this knowledge to help people.

Even 20 years ago, psychologists referred to a now outdated form of genetic paneling called candidate-gene paneling, which identified individual genes that could predict people’s behaviors. “We thought then, by focusing on just one specific gene rather than a constellation of genes, that if you show expression on a particular candidate gene related to serotonin, you’re more likely to get depressed,” said Daniel S. Shaw , PhD, a professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh.

A more comprehensive approach to research known as genome-wide association studies uses algorithms to study the entire genome and identify genes that could contribute to specific behaviors using a scoring model called polygenic scoring, which means psychologists have more basis for understanding risk factors that contribute to hereditary behavioral patterns.

Jinni Su , PhD, an assistant professor of psychology at Arizona State University, says psychologists have been combining their knowledge about the impact of environment on behavior with these polygenic risk scores to help people develop better coping mechanisms.

“The idea that both genes and the environment contribute to complex psychosocial outcomes is not new,” Su said. “Polygenic scoring is a new method that can help psychologists characterize people’s genetic predispositions toward certain behaviors and help us address questions about environmental factors that could exacerbate or lessen that genetic risk.”

For example, Shaw and his colleagues conducted a randomized controlled study to understand how an 8-session, family-based intervention for children ages 2–10 (called the Family Check-Up) might help those with genetic risk factors for aggressive behavior. While untreated children with high genetic susceptibility showed the highest levels of aggressive and oppositional conduct during childhood and adolescence, those receiving the Family Check-Up showed much lower levels. These results suggest that children who are genetically sensitive to adverse environmental influences may benefit the most from early interventions ( Development and Psychopathology , Vol. 31, No. 5, 2019).

Su’s work focuses on genetic and environmental influences on alcohol use disorder, which usually occurs in the teen or adult years. Her studies that show how a genetic predisposition toward alcohol abuse manifests in youth enable families to recognize the signs and respond with evidence-based interventions that can prevent progression of the disorder.

Su found in a study published in 2021 that people with a genetic propensity for alcohol use disorder are more likely to have sensation-seeking personality traits, and that social support can prevent those traits from developing into problem drinking ( Journal of Abnormal Psychology , Vol. 130, No. 5, 2021). This is consistent with earlier research that found that individuals who have a higher polygenic risk score for alcohol dependence are less likely to abuse alcohol if they are in a Family Check-Up intervention group (Kuo, S. I., et al., Prevention Science , Vol. 20, No. 7, 2019).

“Knowing how the genetic risk for alcohol manifests can help us work with sensation seekers and help them find healthy ways to channel their predisposition,” said Su.

In the future, Shaw hopes to see more diverse genetic risk scores—currently, psychologists rely on scoring developed using data from primarily White participants—and further studies that measure genetic susceptibility for other attributes and behaviors. He also hopes geneticists and neuroscientists can work together to more accurately link specific genetic profiles to individual differences in activation or volume in specific areas of the brain. “For example, polygenetic risk scores capturing impulsivity could be linked with the frontal limbic system, so it makes sense a person would be impulsive,” he said.

2022 trends report

• This article is part of our 14 emerging trends special report. Explore our full coverage on how the pandemic era is changing attitudes toward science and mental health .

Recommended Reading

Contact apa.

• Read the complete 2022 trends report .

You may also like

Harvard researchers are deeply committed to understanding nervous system development and function, in both healthy and disease states. Basic scientists and clinician-researchers work together across departments, programs and centers to study the nervous system from diverse perspectives, as shown in the overlapping subfields below. You can click the boxes below to explore news stories on relevant publications in each area. You can also sort our lab directory by these research areas.

Image Credits

Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Courtesy of Lauren Orefice (MGH/HMS) Tools and Technology: Courtesy of Barbara Robens, lab of Ann Poduri (BCH) Sensory and Motor Systems: Courtesy of Lauren Orefice (MGH/HMS) Mental Health and Illness: Courtesy of Olga Alekseenko, Lab of Susan Dymecki (HMS) Neurodegenerative Disease: Courtesy of Jeff Lichtman (Harvard) and Takao Hensch (Harvard/BCH) Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience: Courtesy of Isle Bastille, lab of Lisa Goodrich (HMS) Theory and Computation: Courtesy of Tianyang Ye, lab of Hongkun Park (Harvard) Development Neuroscience: Courtesy of Katherine Morillo, lab of Christopher A. Walsh (BCH)

Research Topics & Ideas: Neuroscience

50 Topic Ideas To Kickstart Your Research Project

If you’re just starting out exploring neuroscience-related topics for your dissertation, thesis or research project, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we’ll help kickstart your research by providing a hearty list of neuroscience-related research ideas , including examples from recent studies.

PS – This is just the start…

We know it’s exciting to run through a list of research topics, but please keep in mind that this list is just a starting point . These topic ideas provided here are intentionally broad and generic , so keep in mind that you will need to develop them further. Nevertheless, they should inspire some ideas for your project.

To develop a suitable research topic, you’ll need to identify a clear and convincing research gap , and a viable plan to fill that gap. If this sounds foreign to you, check out our free research topic webinar that explores how to find and refine a high-quality research topic, from scratch. Alternatively, consider our 1-on-1 coaching service .

Neuroscience-Related Research Topics

• Investigating the neural mechanisms underlying memory consolidation during sleep.
• The role of neuroplasticity in recovery from traumatic brain injury.
• Analyzing the impact of chronic stress on hippocampal function.
• The neural correlates of anxiety disorders: A functional MRI study.
• Investigating the effects of meditation on brain structure and function in mindfulness practitioners.
• The role of the gut-brain axis in the development of neurodegenerative diseases.
• Analyzing the neurobiological basis of addiction and its implications for treatment.
• The impact of prenatal exposure to environmental toxins on neurodevelopment.
• Investigating gender differences in brain aging and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
• The neural mechanisms of pain perception and its modulation by psychological factors.
• Analyzing the effects of bilingualism on cognitive flexibility and brain aging.
• The role of the endocannabinoid system in regulating mood and emotional responses.
• Investigating the neurobiological underpinnings of obsessive-compulsive disorder.
• The impact of virtual reality technology on cognitive rehabilitation in stroke patients.
• Analyzing the neural basis of social cognition deficits in autism spectrum disorders.
• The role of neuroinflammation in the progression of multiple sclerosis.
• Investigating the effects of dietary interventions on brain health and cognitive function.
• The neural substrates of decision-making under risk and uncertainty.
• Analyzing the impact of early life stress on brain development and mental health outcomes.
• The role of dopamine in motivation and reward processing in the human brain.
• Investigating neural circuitry changes in depression and response to antidepressants.
• The impact of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance and neural function.
• Analyzing the brain mechanisms involved in empathy and moral reasoning.
• The role of the prefrontal cortex in executive function and impulse control.
• Investigating the neurophysiological basis of schizophrenia.

Neuroscience Research Ideas (Continued)

• The impact of chronic pain on brain structure and connectivity.
• Analyzing the effects of physical exercise on neurogenesis and cognitive aging.
• The neural mechanisms underlying hallucinations in psychiatric and neurological disorders.
• Investigating the impact of music therapy on brain recovery post-stroke.
• The role of astrocytes in neural communication and brain homeostasis.
• Analyzing the effect of hormone fluctuations on mood and cognition in women.
• The impact of neurofeedback training on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
• Investigating the neural basis of resilience to stress and trauma.
• The role of the cerebellum in non-motor cognitive and affective functions.
• Analyzing the contribution of genetics to individual differences in brain structure and function.
• The impact of air pollution on neurodevelopment and cognitive decline.
• Investigating the neural mechanisms of visual perception and visual illusions.
• The role of mirror neurons in empathy and social understanding.
• Analyzing the neural correlates of language development and language disorders.
• The impact of social isolation on neurocognitive health in the elderly.
• Investigating the brain mechanisms involved in chronic fatigue syndrome.
• The role of serotonin in mood regulation and its implications for antidepressant therapies.
• Analyzing the neural basis of impulsivity and its relation to risky behaviors.
• The impact of mobile technology usage on attention and brain function.
• Investigating the neural substrates of fear and anxiety-related disorders.
• The role of the olfactory system in memory and emotional processing.
• Analyzing the impact of gut microbiome alterations on central nervous system diseases.
• The neural mechanisms of placebo and nocebo effects.
• Investigating cortical reorganization following limb amputation and phantom limb pain.
• The role of epigenetics in neural development and neurodevelopmental disorders.

Recent Neuroscience Studies

While the ideas we’ve presented above are a decent starting point for finding a research topic, they are fairly generic and non-specific. So, it helps to look at actual studies in the neuroscience space to see how this all comes together in practice.

Below, we’ve included a selection of recent studies to help refine your thinking. These are actual studies,  so they can provide some useful insight as to what a research topic looks like in practice.

• The Neurodata Without Borders ecosystem for neurophysiological data science (Rübel et al., 2022)
• Genetic regulation of central synapse formation and organization in Drosophila melanogaster (Duhart & Mosca, 2022)
• Embracing brain and behaviour: Designing programs of complementary neurophysiological and behavioural studies (Kirwan et al., 2022).
• Neuroscience and Education (Georgieva, 2022)
• Why Wait? Neuroscience Is for Everyone! (Myslinski, 2022)
• Neuroscience Knowledge and Endorsement of Neuromyths among Educators: What Is the Scenario in Brazil? (Simoes et al., 2022)
• Design of Clinical Trials and Ethical Concerns in Neurosciences (Mehanna, 2022) Methodological Approaches and Considerations for Generating Evidence that Informs the Science of Learning (Anderson, 2022)
• Exploring the research on neuroscience as a basis to understand work-based outcomes and to formulate new insights into the effective management of human resources in the workplace: A review study (Menon & Bhagat, 2022)
• Neuroimaging Applications for Diagnosis and Therapy of Pathologies in the Central and Peripheral Nervous System (Middei, 2022)
• The Role of Human Communicative Competence in Post-Industrial Society (Ilishova et al., 2022)
• Gold nanostructures: synthesis, properties, and neurological applications (Zare et al., 2022)
• Interpretable Graph Neural Networks for Connectome-Based Brain Disorder Analysis (Cui et al., 2022)

As you can see, these research topics are a lot more focused than the generic topic ideas we presented earlier. So, for you to develop a high-quality research topic, you’ll need to get specific and laser-focused on a specific context with specific variables of interest.  In the video below, we explore some other important things you’ll need to consider when crafting your research topic.

Get 1-On-1 Help

If you’re still unsure about how to find a quality research topic, check out our Research Topic Kickstarter service, which is the perfect starting point for developing a unique, well-justified research topic.

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Print Friendly

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

• View all journals
• Explore content
• About the journal
• Publish with us
• Sign up for alerts

Collection  12 March 2023

Top 100 in Neuroscience - 2022

This collection highlights our most downloaded* neuroscience papers published in 2022. Featuring authors from around the world, these papers showcase valuable research from an international community.

You can also view the top papers across various subject areas here .

*Data obtained from SN Insights, which is based on Digital Science's Dimensions.

Chlamydia pneumoniae can infect the central nervous system via the olfactory and trigeminal nerves and contributes to Alzheimer’s disease risk

• Jenny A. K. Ekberg

Curcumin and metformin synergistically modulate peripheral and central immune mechanisms of pain

• Peththa Wadu Dasuni Wasana
• Pasarapa Towiwat

Efficient dendritic learning as an alternative to synaptic plasticity hypothesis

• Shiri Hodassman

NU-9 improves health of hSOD1 G93A mouse upper motor neurons in vitro, especially in combination with riluzole or edaravone

• Mukesh Gautam
• P. Hande Ozdinler

Cellular analysis of SOD1 protein-aggregation propensity and toxicity: a case of ALS with slow progression harboring homozygous SOD1-D92G mutation

• Masanori Sawamura
• Keiko Imamura
• Ryosuke Takahashi

Human iPSC co-culture model to investigate the interaction between microglia and motor neurons

• Björn F. Vahsen
• Elizabeth Gray
• Kevin Talbot

Reduced variability of bursting activity during working memory

• Mikael Lundqvist
• Earl K. Miller

Psilocybin reduces low frequency oscillatory power and neuronal phase-locking in the anterior cingulate cortex of awake rodents

• Caroline T. Golden
• Paul Chadderton

Transcellular propagation of fibrillar α-synuclein from enteroendocrine to neuronal cells requires cell-to-cell contact and is Rab35-dependent

• Paulla Vieira Rodrigues
• João Vitor Pereira de Godoy
• Matheus de Castro Fonseca

High-fat diet causes mechanical allodynia in the absence of injury or diabetic pathology

• Jessica A. Tierney
• Calvin D. Uong
• Michael D. Burton

Recovery of anosmia in hamsters infected with SARS-CoV-2 is correlated with repair of the olfactory epithelium

• Rachel A. Reyna
• Megumi Kishimoto-Urata
• Junki Maruyama

Optimizing intact skull intrinsic signal imaging for subsequent targeted electrophysiology across mouse visual cortex

• Armel Nsiangani
• Joseph Del Rosario
• Bilal Haider

Symptoms of depression change with olfactory function

• Agnieszka Sabiniewicz
• Leonie Hoffmann
• Thomas Hummel

Heterogeneous fates of simultaneously-born neurons in the cortical ventricular zone

• Elia Magrinelli
• Natalia Baumann
• Esther Klingler

Movement observation activates motor cortex in fibromyalgia patients: a fNIRS study

• Eleonora Gentile
• Antonio Brunetti
• Marina de Tommaso

Transcriptomic analysis of human sensory neurons in painful diabetic neuropathy reveals inflammation and neuronal loss

• Bradford E. Hall
• Emma Macdonald
• Ashok B. Kulkarni

Cerebral cortical processing time is elongated in human brain evolution

• Kosuke Itoh
• Naho Konoike
• Katsuki Nakamura

Establishment and characterization of human pluripotent stem cells-derived brain organoids to model cerebellar diseases

• Daniel Henriques
• Liliana S. Mendonça

Changes in the excitability of primary hippocampal neurons following exposure to 3.0 GHz radiofrequency electromagnetic fields

• Ibtissam Echchgadda
• Jody C. Cantu
• Bennett L. Ibey

Disrupted connectivity in the olfactory bulb-entorhinal cortex-dorsal hippocampus circuit is associated with recognition memory deficit in Alzheimer’s disease model

• Morteza Salimi
• Farhad Tabasi
• Mohammad Reza Raoufy

Enhanced firing of locus coeruleus neurons and SK channel dysfunction are conserved in distinct models of prodromal Parkinson’s disease

• Lina A. Matschke
• Marlene A. Komadowski
• Niels Decher

Parvalbumin expressing interneurons control spike-phase coupling of hippocampal cells to theta oscillations

• Michael Strüber
• Jonas-Frederic Sauer
• Marlene Bartos

A psychophysical and neuroimaging analysis of genital hedonic sensation in men

• Gerben B. Ruesink
• Francis P. McGlone
• Janniko R. Georgiadis

Bupivacaine reduces GlyT1 expression by potentiating the p-AMPKα/BDNF signalling pathway in spinal astrocytes of rats

• Hanxiang Ma

Prolonged and extended impacts of SARS-CoV-2 on the olfactory neurocircuit

• Shinji Urata
• Slobodan Paessler

Voltage imaging in the olfactory bulb using transgenic mouse lines expressing the genetically encoded voltage indicator ArcLight

• Jelena Platisa
• Hongkui Zeng
• Douglas A. Storace

GABAergic CA1 neurons are more stable following context changes than glutamatergic cells

• Peter J. Schuette
• Juliane M. Ikebara
• Avishek Adhikari

Role of cathepsin K in the expression of mechanical hypersensitivity following intra-plantar inflammation

• Maha Paracha
• Amit Thakar
• Travis E. Brown

Phasic firing of dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area triggers peripheral immune responses

• Tasuku Kayama
• Yuji Ikegaya
• Takuya Sasaki

Behavioral and inflammatory sex differences revealed by celecoxib nanotherapeutic treatment of peripheral neuroinflammation

• Brooke Deal
• Laura M. Reynolds
• John A. Pollock

Distinct spatio-temporal and spectral brain patterns for different thermal stimuli perception

• Andrei Dragomir
• Gordon Cheng

Chondroitin and glucosamine sulphate reduced proinflammatory molecules in the DRG and improved axonal function of injured sciatic nerve of rats

• Olutayo Folajimi Olaseinde
• Bamidele Victor Owoyele

Visualization of learning-induced synaptic plasticity in output neurons of the Drosophila mushroom body γ-lobe

• Clare E. Hancock
• Vahid Rostami
• André Fiala

Astrocyte-secreted chordin-like 1 regulates spine density after ischemic injury

• Elena Blanco-Suarez
• Nicola J. Allen

Brain structural and functional correlates to defense-related inhibition of muscle sympathetic nerve activity in man

• Bushra Riaz
• John J. Eskelin
• Mikael Elam

Opto-electrical bimodal recording of neural activity in awake head-restrained mice

• Luis Fernando Cobar
• Alireza Kashef
• Ayumu Tashiro

Prefrontal projections to the nucleus reuniens signal behavioral relevance of stimuli during associative learning

• Xiaotian Yu
• Fasika Jembere
• Kaori Takehara-Nishiuchi

Long-lasting reflexive and nonreflexive pain responses in two mouse models of fibromyalgia-like condition

• Beltrán Álvarez-Pérez
• Meritxell Deulofeu
• Pere Boadas-Vaello

Sexually dimorphic peripheral sensory neurons regulate copulation duration and persistence in male Drosophila

• Shreyas Jois
• Yick-Bun Chan
• Adelaine Kwun-Wai Leung

An almost nontoxic tetrodotoxin analog, 5,6,11-trideoxytetrodotoxin, as an odorant for the grass puffer

• Yoshihisa Noguchi
• Takehisa Suzuki

Neuronal modulation in the mouse superior colliculus during covert visual selective attention

• Lupeng Wang
• James P. Herman
• Richard J. Krauzlis

An assessment of the rescue action of resveratrol in parkin loss of function-induced oxidative stress in Drosophila melanogaster

• Adeola O. Adedara
• Ayoade D. Babalola
• Amos O. Abolaji

Wnt/β-catenin signaling promotes neurogenesis in the diencephalospinal dopaminergic system of embryonic zebrafish

• Markus Westphal
• Paolo Panza
• Wolfgang Driever

The effects of locomotion on sensory-evoked haemodynamic responses in the cortex of awake mice

• Clare Howarth

Ultrafast Doppler imaging and ultrasound localization microscopy reveal the complexity of vascular rearrangement in chronic spinal lesion

• Benoit Beliard
• Chaimae Ahmanna
• Sophie Pezet

Ultrasound stimulation improves inflammatory resolution, neuroprotection, and functional recovery after spinal cord injury

• Eun-hee Lee
• Juyoung Park

Symptom-based pharmacotherapy for neuropathic pain related to spinal disorders: results from a patient-based assessment

• Hideaki Nakajima
• Shuji Watanabe
• Akihiko Matsumine

The role of the meningeal lymphatic system in local meningeal inflammation and trigeminal nociception

• Nikita Mikhailov
• Anaïs Virenque
• Rashid Giniatullin

Dietary restriction ameliorates TBI-induced phenotypes in Drosophila melanogaster

• Rebecca Delventhal
• Emily R. Wooder
• Mimi M. Shirasu-Hiza

Odor blocking of stress hormone responses

• Eun Jeong Lee
• Luis R. Saraiva
• Linda B. Buck

Adenosine A 2A receptors control synaptic remodeling in the adult brain

• Rui O. Beleza
• Joana M. Marques

The transcription factor unc-130 / FOXD3/4 contributes to the biphasic calcium response required to optimize avoidance behavior

• Sayaka Hori
• Shohei Mitani

Imaging peripheral nerve micro-anatomy with MUSE, 2D and 3D approaches

• Chaitanya Kolluru
• Austin Todd
• David L. Wilson

The impact of pitolisant, an H 3 receptor antagonist/inverse agonist, on perirhinal cortex activity in individual neuron and neuronal population levels

• Kyosuke Hirano
• Yoshikazu Morishita
• Hiroshi Nomura

The importance of self-efficacy and negative affect for neurofeedback success for central neuropathic pain after a spinal cord injury

• Krithika Anil
• Sara Demain
• Aleksandra Vuckovic

Disentangling the critical signatures of neural activity

• Benedetta Mariani
• Giorgio Nicoletti
• Samir Suweis

Neurons in the pigeon visual network discriminate between faces, scrambled faces, and sine grating images

• William Clark
• Matthew Chilcott
• Michael Colombo

Novel adult cortical neuron processing and screening method illustrates sex- and age-dependent effects of pharmaceutical compounds

• Arthur Sefiani
• Cédric G. Geoffroy

Characterization of somatosensory neuron involvement in the SOD1 G93A mouse model

• Miguel A. Rubio
• Mireia Herrando-Grabulosa
• Xavier Navarro

Viral strategies for targeting spinal neuronal subtypes in adult wild-type rodents

• Jaspreet Kaur
• Rune W. Berg

Altered activity of pain processing brain regions in association with hip osteoarthritis

• A. J. Delaney
• J. N. Powell

Activation of the Hepcidin-Ferroportin1 pathway in the brain and astrocytic–neuronal crosstalk to counteract iron dyshomeostasis during aging

• Mariarosa Mezzanotte
• Giorgia Ammirata
• Antonella Roetto

Dynamics of phase oscillator networks with synaptic weight and structural plasticity

• Kanishk Chauhan
• Ali Khaledi-Nasab
• Peter A. Tass

Oxytocin via oxytocin receptor excites neurons in the endopiriform nucleus of juvenile mice

• Lindsey M. Biggs
• Elizabeth A. D. Hammock

Stria medullaris innervation follows the transcriptomic division of the habenula

• Iris Juárez-Leal
• Estefanía Carretero-Rodríguez
• Eduardo Puelles

Super-resolved fluorescence imaging of peripheral nerve

• Iván Coto Hernández
• Suresh Mohan
• Nate Jowett

Internal state affects local neuron function in an early sensory processing center to shape olfactory behavior in Drosophila larvae

• Seth R. Odell
• David Clark
• Dennis Mathew

Drosophila septin interacting protein 1 regulates neurogenesis in the early developing larval brain

• Hung-Hsiang Yu

Contextual memory reactivation modulates Ca 2+ -activity network state in a mushroom body-like center of the crab N. granulata

• Francisco Javier Maza
• Francisco José Urbano
• Alejandro Delorenzi

Bursting of excitatory cells is linked to interictal epileptic discharge generation in humans

• Katharina T. Hofer
• Ágnes Kandrács
• Lucia Wittner

Improvement of the affinity of an anti-rat P2X4 receptor antibody by introducing electrostatic interactions

• Chinatsu Shinozaki
• Keita Kohno
• Tadashi Ueda

A glibenclamide-sensitive TRPM4-mediated component of CA1 excitatory postsynaptic potentials appears in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

• Brenna C. Fearey
• Lars Binkle
• Christine E. Gee

Oral cancer induced TRPV1 sensitization is mediated by PAR 2 signaling in primary afferent neurons innervating the cancer microenvironment

• Nicole N. Scheff
• Ian M. Wall
• Brian L. Schmidt

Vagus nerve stimulation does not improve recovery of forelimb motor or somatosensory function in a model of neuropathic pain

• Katherine S. Adcock
• Tanya Danaphongse
• Seth A. Hays

Novel roles of phentolamine in protecting axon myelination, muscle atrophy, and functional recovery following nerve injury

• Zarin Zainul
• Vijayendran Chandran

Low frequency visual stimulation enhances slow wave activity without disrupting the sleep pattern in mice

• Stephen Thankachan
• Dmitry Gerashchenko

Neuromodulator-dependent synaptic tagging and capture retroactively controls neural coding in spiking neural networks

• Andrew B. Lehr
• Jannik Luboeinski
• Christian Tetzlaff

Neural signature of the perceptual decision in the neural population responses of the inferior temporal cortex

• Mohammad-Reza A. Dehaqani
• Nazli Emadi
• Hossein Esteky

Functional connectivity response to acute pain assessed by fNIRS is associated with BDNF genotype in fibromyalgia: an exploratory study

• Álvaro de Oliveira Franco
• Guilherme de Oliveira Venturini
• Wolnei Caumo

All-optical manipulation of the Drosophila olfactory system

• Mirko Zanon
• Damiano Zanini
• Albrecht Haase

Identifying long-range synaptic inputs using genetically encoded labels and volume electron microscopy

• Irene P. Ayuso-Jimeno
• Paolo Ronchi
• Cornelius T. Gross

Neuroprotective effects of violacein in a model of inherited amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

• Silvia Olivera-Bravo
• Carmen Bolatto
• Pablo Díaz-Amarilla

A miniature fluorescence microscope for multi-plane imaging

• Giovanni Barbera
• Da-Ting Lin

Expression of antioxidant enzymes in lesions of multiple sclerosis and its models

• Dorsa Moezzi
• V. Wee Yong

Passage number affects differentiation of sensory neurons from human induced pluripotent stem cells

• Erica L. Cantor
• Bryan P. Schneider

A closer look at sex pheromone autodetection in the Oriental fruit moth

• Alicia Pérez-Aparicio
• Byrappa Ammagarahalli
• César Gemeno

The dynamics of protein localisation to restricted zones within Drosophila mechanosensory cilia

• Wangchu Xiang
• Petra zur Lage
• Andrew P. Jarman

Integrative multiomic analyses of dorsal root ganglia in diabetic neuropathic pain using proteomics, phospho-proteomics, and metabolomics

LXR agonist modifies neuronal lipid homeostasis and decreases PGD2 in the dorsal root ganglia in western diet-fed mice

• Nadia Elshareif
• Chaitanya K. Gavini
• Virginie Mansuy-Aubert

Characteristics and stability of sensorimotor activity driven by isolated-muscle group activation in a human with tetraplegia

• Robert W. Nickl
• Manuel A. Anaya
• Pablo A. Celnik

A realistic morpho-anatomical connection strategy for modelling full-scale point-neuron microcircuits

• Daniela Gandolfi
• Jonathan Mapelli
• Michele Migliore

Selective modulation of cortical population dynamics during neuroprosthetic skill learning

• Ellen L. Zippi
• Albert K. You
• Jose M. Carmena

Post-stroke treatment with argon preserved neurons and attenuated microglia/macrophage activation long-termly in a rat model of transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (tMCAO)

• Jingjin Liu
• Michael Veldeman
• Mark Coburn

Blast-induced axonal degeneration in the rat cerebellum in the absence of head movement

• Robin Bishop
• Seok Joon Won
• Raymond A. Swanson

Cellular mechanisms underlying state-dependent neural inhibition with magnetic stimulation

• Vincent Chen
• Jenna Hendee

Peripheral N -methyl- d -aspartate receptor activation contributes to monosodium glutamate-induced headache but not nausea behaviours in rats

• Tarique Benbow
• Felisha Teja
• Brian E. Cairns

Ferroptosis inhibition by deferiprone, attenuates myelin damage and promotes neuroprotection in demyelinated optic nerve

• Atefeh Rayatpour
• Forough Foolad
• Mohammad Javan

FABP5 deletion in nociceptors augments endocannabinoid signaling and suppresses TRPV1 sensitization and inflammatory pain

• Diane M. Bogdan
• Keith Studholme
• Martin Kaczocha

Conditioned up and down modulations of short latency gamma band oscillations in visual cortex during fear learning in humans

• Alejandro Santos-Mayo
• Javier de Echegaray
• Stephan Moratti

Spontaneous activity in whisker-innervating region of neonatal mouse trigeminal ganglion

• Piu Banerjee
• Takuji Iwasato

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies

• Alzheimer's disease & dementia
• Arthritis & Rheumatism
• Attention deficit disorders
• Autism spectrum disorders
• Biomedical technology
• Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes
• Endocrinology & Metabolism
• Gastroenterology
• Gerontology & Geriatrics
• Health informatics
• Inflammatory disorders
• Medical economics
• Medical research
• Medications
• Neuroscience
• Obstetrics & gynaecology
• Oncology & Cancer
• Ophthalmology
• Overweight & Obesity
• Parkinson's & Movement disorders
• Psychology & Psychiatry
• Radiology & Imaging
• Sleep disorders
• Sports medicine & Kinesiology
• Vaccination
• Breast cancer
• Cardiovascular disease
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Colon cancer
• Coronary artery disease
• Heart attack
• Heart disease
• High blood pressure
• Kidney disease
• Lung cancer
• Multiple sclerosis
• Myocardial infarction
• Ovarian cancer
• Post traumatic stress disorder
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Schizophrenia
• Skin cancer
• Type 2 diabetes
• Full List »

share this!

August 16, 2024

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

fact-checked

peer-reviewed publication

trusted source

Researchers establish what the neurodivergent community would like from research on disordered eating

by King's College London

New research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London and Birkbeck, University of London, has worked with members of the neurodivergent community to establish what they would like to see prioritized in future research on disordered eating.

"The overlap of disordered eating, autism and ADHD: future research priorities as identified by adults with lived experience" was published in The Lancet Psychiatry .

The researchers hope that a more collaborative approach to studies in this field has the potential to create a greater understanding of why autistic people and people with ADHD are more vulnerable to disordered eating and how best to aid those who need support.

A total of 71 neurodivergent (either autistic and/or with ADHD) adults who had experienced disordered eating responded to an online survey asking about their suggestions and preferences for future research in the field.

A list of recurrent themes from this survey was then taken through to an in-depth workshop with a different group of 14 neurodivergent adults who had also experienced disordered eating. Priorities were thought about from various different angles and in terms of their potential for impact. From this workshop, researchers collated a list of the top 10 research priorities, ranked by order of importance:

• How can treatment for disordered eating be improved for neurodivergent individuals?
• What are other factors that can increase risk of disordered eating in neurodivergent people?
• What is the effect of neurodiversity training and knowledge in clinical services for eating disorders?
• Which treatment interventions for disordered eating are actively unhelpful for neurodivergent individuals?
• Is there a difference between the underlying reasons for disordered eating in neurodivergent people compared with neurotypical people?
• Would better information and education reduce risk for neurodivergent people?
• Is there a link between ADHD characteristics (e.g. impulsivity) and eating disorders?
• How do difficulties in executive functions affect eating behaviors and increase risk of disordered eating?
• Is there a link between sensory sensitivities and disordered eating?
• Do different thinking styles (e.g. black-and-white thinking) contribute to disordered eating behaviors?

Researchers sorted the list into two overarching themes, each with two subgroups:

Priority 1: Improving clinical outcomes

Participants identified that research relating to the improvement of services was the most urgent priority .

Subtheme 1—Improving clinical services

Clinical services for the treatment of eating disorders often aren't set up to accommodate the needs of neurodivergent individuals, and this can make treatment and support less effective.

Despite some progress being made in this area following the development of the PEACE Pathway, there are currently no clinical guidelines that have been agreed upon, and there has been little research conducted into the effectiveness of adapted treatments in autistic populations.

Thus, many of the top ranked priorities asked about how services could be improved and identifying and minimizing potential harms caused by unsuitable treatments.

Subtheme 2—Improving psychoeducation and preventive medicine

Another key priority was on the availability of educational resources for neurodivergent people. While participants were clear that outcomes needed to improve, they also expressed that preventative measures and information that could help people prior to developing a clinical diagnosis could also be helpful and would empower neurodivergent people to understand their own eating behaviors.

Priority 2: Identifying causal mechanisms

A second priority that became apparent through the project was the participants' desire to understand the causal mechanisms linking neurodivergence with disordered eating.

Researchers broke this priority into two further subthemes:

Subtheme 1: Identification of risk factors

Historically, it was assumed that autistic women with anorexia were motivated by weight and body shape, based on explanatory models from neurotypical people. However, this may not be true in neurodivergent people, such that many mechanisms we think (and therefore target during treatment) lead to eating disorders may not be relevant for neurodivergent people.

One potential factor that often comes up in neurodivergent people is that patterns of disordered eating may represent a response to the stress of living in a neurotypical world as a neurodivergent person.

Researchers suggested an avenue of research could be to test the link between stress and disordered eating in both neurodivergent and neurotypical populations to help inform the design of prevention and intervention strategies.

Subtheme 2: The role of autistic and ADHD neurocognitive profiles

Participants asked several questions based around the idea that the cognitive profiles associated with autism and ADHD could increase someone's vulnerability to disordered eating.

Current evidence suggests that there are links between sensory sensitivities and restrictive eating, and between executive functioning and disordered eating, but whether these factors can account for the increased risk for eating disorders in autistic and ADHD populations isn't yet clear.

Dr. Virginia Carter Leno, the study's senior author said, "Experiencing disordered eating is related to a variety of negative health outcomes, and it's important that services are able to meet the needs of all service users requiring treatment.

"Eating disorder services need to recognize that the needs of neurodivergent service users may be different to neurotypical people, and more research is needed to better understand the drivers of disordered eating in neurodivergent people.

"Our study has worked with a range of people with lived experience to help identify what they feel needs to be the highest priorities for future research in this area. We hope this list will act as a resource to ensure that future research in the field is informed by the experience and priorities of those with lived experience."

Explore further

Feedback to editors

Researchers develop new chemical method to enhance drug discovery

Aug 17, 2024

Rare diseases point to connections between metabolism and immunity

Researchers discover novel nanoparticles in blood with potential to transform cancer diagnosis

Research shows how to reduce inappropriate IV use by more than a third

Aug 16, 2024

Now that mpox is a global health emergency, will it trigger another pandemic?

Knocking out one key gene leads to autistic traits, mouse study shows

Study: Rare cancer patients nearly three times more likely to develop anxiety and depression than common cancer patients

Intervention for cleaning shared health care equipment could significantly reduce health care–associated infections

Lip reading activates brain regions similar to real speech, researchers show

Parents' excessive smartphone use could harm children's mental health

Related stories.

Neurodivergent children are twice as likely to experience chronic disabling fatigue in adolescence

Jul 29, 2024

People with irritable bowel syndrome may experience disordered eating due to condition

Apr 22, 2024

Disordered eating impacts one in five youth worldwide

Feb 23, 2023

Diet-treated chronic illness may lead to disordered eating

Mar 1, 2018

Eating disorder risks elevated among women with PCOS, analysis of data suggest

Aug 8, 2024

Recommended for you

Arts and crafts may improve your mental health at least as much as being employed, scientists find

Non-deceptive placebos can reduce stress, anxiety and depression, study finds

Q&A: Research suggests having connection to dogs may lower depression, anxiety

Aug 15, 2024

Perimenopause linked with increased risk of bipolar and major depression

Let us know if there is a problem with our content.

Use this form if you have come across a typo, inaccuracy or would like to send an edit request for the content on this page. For general inquiries, please use our contact form . For general feedback, use the public comments section below (please adhere to guidelines ).

Please select the most appropriate category to facilitate processing of your request

Thank you for taking time to provide your feedback to the editors.

Your feedback is important to us. However, we do not guarantee individual replies due to the high volume of messages.

E-mail the story

Your email address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the email. Neither your address nor the recipient's address will be used for any other purpose. The information you enter will appear in your e-mail message and is not retained by Medical Xpress in any form.

Newsletter sign up

Get weekly and/or daily updates delivered to your inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details to third parties.

More information Privacy policy

Donate and enjoy an ad-free experience

We keep our content available to everyone. Consider supporting Science X's mission by getting a premium account.

E-mail newsletter

Suggestions or feedback?

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Machine learning
• Sustainability
• Black holes
• Classes and programs

Departments

• Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Brain and Cognitive Sciences
• Architecture
• Political Science
• Mechanical Engineering

Centers, Labs, & Programs

• Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)
• Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
• Lincoln Laboratory
• School of Architecture + Planning
• School of Engineering
• School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
• Sloan School of Management
• School of Science
• MIT Schwarzman College of Computing

3 Questions: How to prove humanity online

Press contact :, media download.

*Terms of Use:

Images for download on the MIT News office website are made available to non-commercial entities, press and the general public under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives license . You may not alter the images provided, other than to crop them to size. A credit line must be used when reproducing images; if one is not provided below, credit the images to "MIT."

Previous image Next image

As artificial intelligence agents become more advanced, it could become increasingly difficult to distinguish between AI-powered users and real humans on the internet. In a new white paper , researchers from MIT, OpenAI, Microsoft, and other tech companies and academic institutions propose the use of personhood credentials, a verification technique that enables someone to prove they are a real human online, while preserving their privacy.

MIT News spoke with two co-authors of the paper, Nouran Soliman, an electrical engineering and computer science graduate student, and Tobin South, a graduate student in the Media Lab, about the need for such credentials, the risks associated with them, and how they could be implemented in a safe and equitable way.

Q:  Why do we need personhood credentials?

Tobin South:  AI capabilities are rapidly improving. While a lot of the public discourse has been about how chatbots keep getting better, sophisticated AI enables far more capabilities than just a better ChatGPT, like the ability of AI to interact online autonomously. AI could have the ability to create accounts, post content, generate fake content, pretend to be human online, or algorithmically amplify content at a massive scale. This unlocks a lot of risks. You can think of this as a “digital imposter” problem, where it is getting harder to distinguish between sophisticated AI and humans. Personhood credentials are one potential solution to that problem.

Nouran Soliman: Such advanced AI capabilities could help bad actors run large-scale attacks or spread misinformation. The internet could be filled with AIs that are resharing content from real humans to run disinformation campaigns. It is going to become harder to navigate the internet, and social media specifically. You could imagine using personhood credentials to filter out certain content and moderate content on your social media feed or determine the trust level of information you receive online.

Q:  What is a personhood credential, and how can you ensure such a credential is secure?

South:  Personhood credentials allow you to prove you are human without revealing anything else about your identity. These credentials let you take information from an entity like the government, who can guarantee you are human, and then through privacy technology, allow you to prove that fact without sharing any sensitive information about your identity. To get a personhood credential, you are going to have to show up in person or have a relationship with the government, like a tax ID number. There is an offline component. You are going to have to do something that only humans can do. AIs can’t turn up at the DMV, for instance. And even the most sophisticated AIs can’t fake or break cryptography. So, we combine two ideas — the security that we have through cryptography and the fact that humans still have some capabilities that AIs don’t have — to make really robust guarantees that you are human.

Soliman:  But personhood credentials can be optional. Service providers can let people choose whether they want to use one or not. Right now, if people only want to interact with real, verified people online, there is no reasonable way to do it. And beyond just creating content and talking to people, at some point AI agents are also going to take actions on behalf of people. If I am going to buy something online, or negotiate a deal, then maybe in that case I want to be certain I am interacting with entities that have personhood credentials to ensure they are trustworthy.

South:  Personhood credentials build on top of an infrastructure and a set of security technologies we’ve had for decades, such as the use of identifiers like an email account to sign into online services, and they can complement those existing methods.

Q:  What are some of the risks associated with personhood credentials, and how could you reduce those risks?

Soliman:  One risk comes from how personhood credentials could be implemented. There is a concern about concentration of power. Let’s say one specific entity is the only issuer, or the system is designed in such a way that all the power is given to one entity. This could raise a lot of concerns for a part of the population — maybe they don’t trust that entity and don’t feel it is safe to engage with them. We need to implement personhood credentials in such a way that people trust the issuers and ensure that people’s identities remain completely isolated from their personhood credentials to preserve privacy.

South:  If the only way to get a personhood credential is to physically go somewhere to prove you are human, then that could be scary if you are in a sociopolitical environment where it is difficult or dangerous to go to that physical location. That could prevent some people from having the ability to share their messages online in an unfettered way, possibly stifling free expression. That’s why it is important to have a variety of issuers of personhood credentials, and an open protocol to make sure that freedom of expression is maintained.

Soliman:  Our paper is trying to encourage governments, policymakers, leaders, and researchers to invest more resources in personhood credentials. We are suggesting that researchers study different implementation directions and explore the broader impacts personhood credentials could have on the community. We need to make sure we create the right policies and rules about how personhood credentials should be implemented.

South: AI is moving very fast, certainly much faster than the speed at which governments adapt. It is time for governments and big companies to start thinking about how they can adapt their digital systems to be ready to prove that someone is human, but in a way that is privacy-preserving and safe, so we can be ready when we reach a future where AI has these advanced capabilities. 

Share this news article on:

Related links.

• Nouran Soliman
• Tobin South
• Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
• Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
• School of Architecture and Planning

Related Topics

• Artificial intelligence
• Cybersecurity
• Social media
• Social networks
• Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL)
• Electrical Engineering & Computer Science (eecs)

Related Articles

3 Questions: What you need to know about audio deepfakes

MIT group releases white papers on governance of AI

What does the future hold for generative AI?

MIT professor to Congress: “We are at an inflection point” with AI

Previous item Next item

More MIT News

When the lights turned on in the universe

Read full story →

Lincoln Laboratory and National Strategic Research Institute launch student research program to tackle biothreats to national security

Christine Ortiz named director of MIT Technology and Policy Program

MIT engineers design tiny batteries for powering cell-sized robots

New open-source tool helps to detangle the brain

LLMs develop their own understanding of reality as their language abilities improve

• More news on MIT News homepage →

Massachusetts Institute of Technology 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA

• Map (opens in new window)
• Events (opens in new window)
• People (opens in new window)
• Careers (opens in new window)
• Accessibility
• Social Media Hub
• MIT on Facebook
• MIT on YouTube
• MIT on Instagram

• How It Works
• PhD thesis writing
• Master thesis writing
• Bachelor thesis writing
• Dissertation writing service
• Dissertation abstract writing
• Thesis proposal writing
• Thesis editing service
• Thesis proofreading service
• Thesis formatting service
• Coursework writing service
• Research paper writing service
• Architecture thesis writing
• Computer science thesis writing
• Engineering thesis writing
• History thesis writing
• MBA thesis writing
• Nursing dissertation writing
• Psychology dissertation writing
• Sociology thesis writing
• Statistics dissertation writing
• Buy dissertation online
• Write my dissertation
• Cheap thesis
• Cheap dissertation
• Custom dissertation
• Dissertation help
• Pay for thesis
• Pay for dissertation
• Senior thesis
• Write my thesis

121 Original Neuroscience Research Topics

Now, wouldn’t it be great if you had a list of awesome neuroscience research topics to choose from? Our PhD dissertation help would definitely make writing a thesis or dissertation a lot easier. Well, the good news is that we have a long list of neuroscience paper topics for you right here.

The list of topics is updated periodically, so you will surely be able to find a unique topic; something that nobody has though of yet. And yes, you can use any of our topics for free.

Writing a Neuroscience Dissertation

To write a good dissertation, you need more than just our interesting neuroscience topics. Your supervisor expects you to make some progress pretty quickly, so you really need all the help you can get. You can get all the assistance you need to get started quickly from our dissertation experts and you’ll also find the following guide useful:

Set up your project and conduct the necessary research and data analysis. Don’t forget to think about an interesting, captivating thesis statement. Start by writing the first chapter of the dissertation, the introduction. This will provide your readers with comprehensive background information about your study. Write the Literature Review chapter. This will take some time, especially if you are dealing with a popular subject. Write the Methodology chapter. This is basically an iteration and in-depth description of each and every method you have used to collect the data. Write the Results chapter. In this chapter, you will present your readers the results of your research. You don’t need to provide your own take on the data yet. Next comes the Discussion (or Analysis) chapter. This is where you are free to discuss your results and show your readers how they support your thesis. Finally, the Conclusion chapter wraps everything up. You can summarize your methods, results and analysis and make it clear that your paper has answered all the relevant research questions. Write the References section and the Appendices section. Edit and proofread your work thoroughly to make sure you don’t lose points over some minor mistakes – or have our expert proofreaders and editors do it for you.

This step-by-step guide applies to any thesis or dissertation. However, before you even get this far, you need a great topic to start with. Fortunately, we have 121 brand new topics for you right here on this page.

Interesting Neuroscience Topics

If you are looking for some of the most interesting neuroscience topics, you have definitely arrived at the right place. Our experts have put together the best list of ideas for you:

• Research the occurrence of cerebrovascular disease in the United States
• What causes a headache?
• An in-depth look at muscular dystrophy
• The causes of multiple sclerosis
• Talk about neuroregeneration
• Define cognitive neuroscience
• Everything about dementia
• Study brain development from birth to age 2
• What causes Parkinson’s disease?
• The function of peripheral nerves
• What are vestibular disorders?
• Pain and the science behind it
• An in-depth analysis of stem cells

Engaging Topics in Neuroscience

Are you looking for some engaging topics in neuroscience? If you want the best ideas, all you have to do is take a look at the following list and take your pick:

• Research the Down syndrome
• A closer look at ADHD
• What causes brain tumors?
• What causes epilepsy episodes?
• Research the occurrence of schizophrenia in the UK
• An in-depth look at brain stimulation
• Treating severe depression in young adults
• Improving memory in the adult population
• The importance of sleep for brain health
• Mapping the human brain

Comprehensive Neuroscience Topic for Every Student

The nice thing about our blog is that we have a comprehensive neuroscience topic for every student. Even better, all our topics are relatively simple, so you don’t have to spend a lot of time doing research:

• The future of brain implants
• The processes behind depression
• The role of dopamine
• How are emotions created?
• Love starts in your brain, not your heart
• ADHD behavior and brain activity
• Effects of illegal drugs on dopamine production
• How does dyslexia manifest itself?
• Early stages of Schizophrenia
• The link between gut bacteria and the brain
• Studying the brains of people with a high IQ

Neuroscience Research Questions

The best way to get ideas for your next paper is to take a look at some original neuroscience research questions. Here are some that should get you started right away:

• How do brain tumors cause damage?
• What causes substance addiction?
• What role does the brain play in autistic spectrum disorders?
• Does being a vegetarian influence your brain?
• What causes chronic migraines?
• Why is Pierre Paul Broca’s work important?
• Why is stress so dangerous for the brain?
• How do genes influence the onset of Alzheimer’s disease?
• What can cause a brain tumor?
• Does music affect the human brain?
• Can repeated head injuries damage the brain? (think about modern sports)
• What does being Bipolar I mean?

Easy Neuroscience Paper Topics

Our experts have created a list of easy neuroscience paper topics for you. You could start writing your thesis in no time if you choose one of these great ideas:

• What causes epilepsy?
• A closer look at Alzheimer’s disease
• What can cause a loss of feeling?
• The effects of dementia on the brain
• The symptoms of Parkinson’s disease
• What can cause memory loss?
• Mitigating headaches without medication
• The effects of a mild stroke
• Talk about Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
• What can cause a lack of coordination?

Neuroscience Research Topics for College Students

We have a list of awesome neuroscience research topics for college students and you can use any one of them for free. Take a look at our best ideas yet:

• Can the brain be linked to substance abuse?
• How does the brain recognize people?
• Latest development in brain surgery
• An in-depth look at neuroplasticity
• Innovative medication for treating brain disorders
• Treating Alzheimer’s in 2023
• How damaging is Cannabis for the brain?

Cognitive Neuroscience Research Topics

If you want to talk about something in cognitive neuroscience, we have put together the best and most interesting cognitive neuroscience research topics:

• The role played by neurons in our body
• What is Magnetoencephalography?
• How difficult is it to map the entire brain?
• Define consciousness from a neurological POV
• How does our brain affect our perception?
• Discuss Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation procedures
• Latest advancements in Functional magnetic resonance imaging

Brain Research Topics

Brain research is a very interesting thing to talk about, especially since we are still struggling to understand how certain things work. Take a look at some amazing brain research topics:

• Study the brain development of an infant
• Brain tumor stages
• The effect of social media on the human brain
• Multiple sclerosis treatment options
• What can cause muscular dystrophy?
• Discuss 3 cerebrovascular diseases
• Interesting breakthroughs in cellular neuroscience
• Talk about our brain’s problem-solving abilities
• The effects of sugar on brain chemistry

Neurobiology Topics

We agree, researching a topic in neurobiology is not easy. However, with the right neurobiology topics, you could write an awesome thesis without spending years working on it:

• Research the role of the amygdala
• What are brain neurotransmitters?
• The causes of posttraumatic stress disorder
• How do we recognize a bipolar disorder?
• The importance of hormones
• Talk about experimental psychology

Behavioral Neuroscience Research Topics

Do you want to write your dissertation on a behavioral neuroscience topic? Our experts have compiled a list of the most interesting behavioral neuroscience research topics for you:

• The processes behind sensation
• How does the brain control our movement?
• An in-depth look at motivated behavior
• Best way to diagnose a sleep disorder
• Improving success at academic activities
• How does your brain perceive the environment?

Cool Neuroscience Topics

We have some very cool neuroscience topics right here and the good news is that they’re all relatively easy. The list has been updated recently and new topics have been added:

• Effects of plant-based diets
• The life and work of Cornelia Bargmann
• Discuss a breakthrough in neurotech
• 3D brain function mapping
• Discuss the importance of brain implants
• The life and work of Róbert Bárány

Controversial Topics in Neuroscience

Just like any other field, neuroscience has its controversies. And what better way to start a dissertation than finding the most controversial topics in neuroscience:

• Discuss the Bayesian brain theory
• Ethics behind wearable brain gadgets
• Discuss postnatal neurogenesis
• Can our brain “deep learn”?
• Invasive brain imaging procedures
• How do we differentiate between good and bad?

Hot Topics in Neuroscience

Did you know that getting hot topics in neuroscience is not overly difficult? This section of our list of topics is updated periodically, so you can definitely find an original idea right here:

• Electrical brain stimulation methods
• Define the concept of Free Will
• Talk about hereditary brain disorders
• How is speech formed?
• Can our brain hibernate?
• What causes aggressive behavior?

Current Topics in Neuroscience

The best way to make your thesis interesting is to write about something that is of great interest. This means you need to choose one of our current topics in neuroscience:

• Cerebellar Neurons that can help you lose weight
• Effects of a meat-based diet
• Latest brain mapping technology
• CT scans in 2023
• Brain implants that can control a computer
• An in-depth look at super-agers

Complex Neurological Research Topics

Are you looking for some complex neurological research topics? If you want to give a difficult topic a try, don’t hesitate to choose one of these excellent ideas:

• An in-depth look at the Demyelinating disease
• The effects of a cerebrovascular stroke
• Bioterrorism in 2023
• Legal issues in neurology
• Dopamine’s link to aggressiveness
• Brain changes that lead to alcohol addiction

Can You Help Me With My Thesis?

So, can you help me with my thesis? Of course, we can help you with much more than some interesting neuroscience research paper topics. Our experienced professionals are ready to give you the best dissertation assistance on the Internet and make sure you get a top score on your paper. All our university educated ENL writers have extensive experience writing dissertations on any subject and topic you can imagine. These cheap dissertation writing services can deliver a final paper in no time, so don’t hesitate to get in touch with us even if you are on a tight deadline.

Our PhD-holding writers and editors are ready to spring into action right now. We can help you with the research, as well as with thesis writing, editing and proofreading. Moreover, we can write a high quality research paper for any high school, college or university student. Your professor will love our work – guaranteed. Our company has 24/7 customer support, so you can order custom academic content online at any time of day or night. What are you waiting for? Give us a try and get a discount!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment * Error message

Name * Error message

Email * Error message

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

As Putin continues killing civilians, bombing kindergartens, and threatening WWIII, Ukraine fights for the world's peaceful future.

Ukraine Live Updates

Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Read our research on:

Full Topic List

Regions & Countries

• Publications
• Our Methods
• Short Reads
• Tools & Resources

Read Our Research On:

Harris Energizes Democrats in Transformed Presidential Race

2. how americans view harris, trump and biden, table of contents.

• Other findings: Both Harris and Trump are viewed more favorably than a few months ago
• Voting preferences among demographic groups
• How have voters shifted their preferences since July?
• Harris’ supporters back her more strongly than Biden’s did last month
• Large gap in motivation to vote emerges between the candidates’ younger supporters
• Harris and Trump have gained ground with their own coalitions
• Share of ‘double negatives’ drops significantly with change in presidential candidates
• Views of Biden have changed little since his withdrawal from the 2024 presidential race
• Acknowledgments
• The American Trends Panel survey methodology

Kamala Harris is viewed much more favorably today than in May, before Joe Biden withdrew from the presidential race and Harris became the Democratic nominee.

Overall, 44% of U.S. adults have a favorable view of Harris, 8 percentage points higher than in May .  

Donald Trump’s favorability rating also has improved since May, though the increase has been more modest than Harris’.

Currently, 42% have a positive opinion of the former president, up from 39% three months ago.

The improvement in Trump’s and Harris’ favorability ratings has occurred almost entirely among those in their own party. For both candidates, positive ratings among the opposing coalition remain in the single digits.

• Kamala Harris

About eight-in-ten Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (83%) view Harris favorably, while just 15% have an unfavorable opinion.

That represents a notable improvement since May, when 65% of Democrats had a positive opinion of the vice president and 32% viewed her negatively.

Views of Harris among Republicans and GOP leaners remain overwhelmingly negative. Just 9% view her favorably, while 89% have an unfavorable impression.

• Donald Trump

Trump’s favorable ratings among Republicans have increased 5 points since May (from 74% to 79%). Trump’s current rating among Republicans is at its highest point in at least two years.

Like Harris, Trump’s rating with the opposing party continues to be near-universally negative. About nine-in-ten Democrats (92%) have an unfavorable opinion of the former president.

In May of this year, a quarter of Americans held unfavorable views of Trump and Biden – the highest share expressing negative views of both major party candidates in more than three decades.

However, since Harris replaced Biden as the 2024 Democratic nominee – and with the improvement in both Harris’ and Trump’s favorable ratings – the share of these “double negatives” has declined substantially.

Today, 14% of Americans, including comparable shares of Republicans (14%) and Democrats (12%), hold negative views of both Trump and Harris.

Joe Biden remains broadly unpopular with the public: 62% of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of the president, while 37% view him favorably. Biden’s ratings have changed little over the past year.

Biden’s favorable rating among Democrats has edged up since May, from 67% to 70%. His rating among Republicans remains overwhelmingly negative (93% unfavorable) and is essentially unchanged.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter

Fresh data delivery Saturday mornings

Sign up for The Briefing

Weekly updates on the world of news & information

• Election 2024
• More Leaders
• Political & Civic Engagement

Many Americans are confident the 2024 election will be conducted fairly, but wide partisan differences remain

Joe biden, public opinion and his withdrawal from the 2024 race, amid doubts about biden’s mental sharpness, trump leads presidential race, americans’ views of government’s role: persistent divisions and areas of agreement, cultural issues and the 2024 election, most popular, report materials.

• August 2024 Presidential Preference Detailed Tables
• Questionnaire

901 E St. NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20004 USA (+1) 202-419-4300 | Main (+1) 202-857-8562 | Fax (+1) 202-419-4372 |  Media Inquiries

Research Topics

• Email Newsletters

ABOUT PEW RESEARCH CENTER  Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of  The Pew Charitable Trusts .

© 2024 Pew Research Center

• SUGGESTED TOPICS
• The Magazine
• Newsletters
• Managing Yourself
• Managing Teams
• Work-life Balance
• The Big Idea
• Data & Visuals
• Reading Lists
• Case Selections
• HBR Learning
• Topic Feeds
• Account Settings
• Email Preferences

Research: How IT Can Solve Common Problems in DEI Initiatives

• Monideepa Tarafdar
• Marta Stelmaszak

Lessons from three organizations that successfully leveraged IT to drive structural change.

The authors’ research found that three persistent problems plague DEI initiatives: They do not connect to operational or strategic goals and objectives; they do not include the rank-and-file; and they are often implemented through periodic efforts like annual diversity training that aren’t integrated into day-to-day work processes. Organizations can overcome these problems by using IT in three ways.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs are under attack. Confronted by high costs, mixed outcomes , unclear organizational benefits , and a political and regulatory backlash , organizations are rolling back their initiatives. Google and Meta, for example, recently reduced investment in their DEI programs and let go of DEI staff.

• Monideepa Tarafdar is Charles J. Dockendorff Endowed Professor at the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
• Marta Stelmaszak is an assistant professor of information systems at the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Partner Center

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

• Science and Technology Directorate
• S&T Invites Scientific and Technical Communities to Propose Research and Development Projects that Support National Security

News Release: DHS S&T Invites Scientific and Technical Communities to Propose Research and Development Projects that Support National Security

For immediate release s&t public affairs , 202-286-9047.

Businesses of all sizes, universities, national laboratories, and other R&D organizations are eligible to submit ideas through a new Long Range Broad Agency Announcement.

WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate (S&T) released a new Long Range Broad Agency Announcement (LRBAA) 24-01 , which is a standing, open invitation to the scientific and technical communities to propose research and development projects in support of our nation’s security. DHS encourages proposals for 23 research and development topics categorized by DHS mission areas. This program allows the Department to apply scientific and technical knowledge to its operational environments and advances innovation in industry, academia, and the public sector. “The LRBAA provides DHS the opportunity to explore unique ideas for potential innovative solutions from industry and academia to address some of the country’s most pressing security challenges,” said Dusty Lang, LRBAA program manager. “The process is designed to allow innovators to gauge DHS’ interest early on, reducing the effort and expense of creating a full proposal.”

The current 23 LRBAA topics are categorized under five mission areas:

Counter Terrorism and Homeland Security Threats (CTHOM)

• CHTOM 01: Development of Tools for Test and Evaluation of Machine Learning Algorithms
• CHTOM 02: Threat Prevention
• CHTOM 03: Novel Approaches and Locations for Explosive Performance Characterization and Testing
• CHTOM 04: Public Safety Tools for Lithium-Ion Battery Incidents

Secure U.S. Borders and Approaches (SEC BORAP)

• BORAP 01: Screening at Speed
• BORAP 02: Noninvasive, Minimally Disruptive Sensors and Systems
• BORAP 03: Air Based Technologies
• BORAP 04: Countering Unmanned Aircraft Systems
• BORAP 05: Maritime Domain Awareness Technologies
• BORAP 06: Immigration Services Program
• BORAP 07: Detection Canine Technologies
• BORAP 08: Maritime Environment and Climate and Coastal, Port, and Waterway Security
• BORAP 09: Forensics and Criminal Investigations

Secure Cyberspace and Critical Infrastructure (SEC CYBCI)

• CYBCI 01: Predictive Analytics
• CYBCI 02: Shared Cyber Resilience
• CYBCI 03: Software and Hardware Supply Chain Assurance
• CYBCI 04: Trustworthy and Responsible Artificial Intelligence
• CYBCI 05: Advanced and Emerging Data Computation and Analytics
• CYBCI 06: GMD and Nuclear EMP Critical Infrastructure Risk

Preserve and Uphold the Nation’s Prosperity and Economic Security (PROES)

• PROES 01: Emerging Technologies

Strengthen Preparedness and Resilience (PRRES)

• PRRES 01: Technology Acceptance
• PRRES 02: Using Internet of Things (IoT) for Community and Infrastructure Resiliency Against All-Hazards
• PRRES 03: Integrating Risk Sciences and Adaptive Engineering for Community and Infrastructure Resilience

LRBAA will host a hybrid Industry Day on August 21, 2024, 10 AM – 4 PM ET , at the DHS Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Headquarters office in Washington, D.C., which will include in-person and virtual attendance options. The free event will provide attendees an opportunity to ask questions and learn more about the topics in the new announcement.  Secure your spot by registering now . 

To be notified about this and other events, join the LRBAA mailing list by emailing your request to [email protected] .

For more information on LRBAA, check out the LRBAA Today webinars on the  DHS S&T YouTube channel . For more information on the DHS S&T LRBAA and the new topic announcement, contact [email protected] or visit  https://oip.dhs.gov/baa/public .

• Science and Technology

Open Neuroscience Articles

Open access neuroscience articles are research articles that use at least one open access research paper as a reference. Open access articles are free for anyone to read.

OpenScope Project Unveils Brain’s Secrets

Hypothalamus Key in Switching Between Survival Behaviors

Decision Speed Reveals Hidden Social Preferences

Tactile Emoticons Boost Social Media Communication

Age Alters How We Navigate New Environments

Study Reveals Shifting Language in Mental Health Over 79 Years

Internet Addiction Disrupts Adolescent Brain Networks

How ‘Not’ Changes Everything: Brain Interprets Negated Adjectives

Babies’ Squeals and Growls Show Early Vocal Practice Patterns

Bilingual Babies’ Brains Adapt Early

Parental Distraction Negatively Impacts Child-Parent Interactions

Bird Brains: Jays Show Episodic-like Memory

Pitch Perfect: Singing Earworms Reveals Surprising Trait

Muscle Proteins Trigger Desire for Exercise

Why Are We Drawn to Events Focused on Death and Disaster?

Sleep Resets Neurons to Keep Learning Possible