Our Favorite Neuroscience Stories of 2021

 

From a Nobel prize and photosynthesis-powered brains to neurodegeneration research and controversy over a new Alzheimer’s drug, a look back at some of the biggest brain-related developments of the year.

This year saw innovations in augmenting the brain’s capabilities by plugging it in to advanced computing technology. For example, a biology teacher who lost her vision 16 years ago was able to distinguish shapes and letters with the help of special glasses that interfaced with electrodes implanted in her brain. Along a similar vein, a computer connected to a brain-implant system discerned brain signals for handwriting in a paralyzed man, enabling him to type up to 90 characters per minute with an accuracy above 90 percent. Such studies are a step forward for technologies that marry cutting-edge neuroscience and computational innovation in an attempt to improve people’s lives.

In one of the year’s stranger developments, researchers were able to supply tadpoles with oxygen using photosynthetic microorganisms, allowing for continued brain function even under hypoxic conditions. The team injected photosynthetic algae into tadpoles kept in low-oxygen conditions, and upon exposure to light, the concentration of oxygen in the animals’ ventricles increased and their brain activity resumed. Still, the finding’s applicability to animals where light would not be able to penetrate the skin and reach the brain is limited.

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Exposure to Chemical from Babies Linked to Aggression

Eva Mishor, a study coauthor and neuroscientist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel tells New Scientist, “Our study gives more power to the notion that humans communicate from the chemical volatiles they emit, and that we get lots of information from them.”Pheromones famously trigger the olfactory system in animals, and have been linked to mating and aggressive behavior. For example, compounds in mouse urine can induce male mice to fight each other, and a rabbit mother will attack her own offspring if she smells a different female rabbit, according to Science. However, the presence of pheromones in humans has not been confirmed. In a study published in Science Advances on November 19, scientists identified a compound known as hexadecanal that seems to increase aggression in women who smell it but suppress aggression in men.

See “Do Human Pheromones Exist?”

Hexadecanal, abbreviated HEX, is a chemical that humans emit from their skin, saliva, and feces, and is particularly abundant on babies’ heads, reports Science. Previous research found that smelling HEX has a relaxing effect on mice. In the new study, Mishor and her colleagues investigated whether HEX might affect human behavior—and, by extension, what role scent might play in human social interactions

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Science Says Your Brain Isn't Fully Developed Until You're This Age

While the age at which you legally become an adult is 18, your brain isn't fully developed yet. According to Insider, the prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain that helps with impulse control and that's still not completely done growing even when 18-year-olds are graduating high school and heading off to college, the military, working full-time, or backpacking across Europe. 

The Society for Neuroscience claims that the white matter in your brain doesn't peak until you are about 40 years of age. White matter is found deeper in the brain, while the gray matter is on the outside. White matter is made up of nerve fibers covered by myelin that serves to protect those neurons (via MedlinePlus). Maturity is connected to the prefrontal cortex, located at the front part of the frontal lobe. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for cognitive abilities and control, decision making, planning, problem-solving, and impulse control.

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