UF Graduate Biomedical Neuroscience Certificate and MSc

02/04/2026

New research sheds light on how deep brain stimulation and levodopa uniquely, and powerfully, shape brain activity in Parkinson’s disease.

This study shows that finely tuned gamma (FTG) oscillations, not beta power alone, track motor improvement and may serve as a promising biomarker for future adaptive DBS systems. A meaningful step toward more personalized therapy for people living with PD.

🔗 Read more here! https://ow.ly/ibLb50Y1mKS

02/04/2026

https://www.facebook.com/100059459352979/posts/1263133139011986/?

Neurobiologists are targeting inflammation caused by revved up nerve cells to support healing in mice

02/01/2026

Researchers have applied serial biopsies to safely monitor glioblastoma progression and responses to immunotherapy in two patients, capturing details that are invisible to standard-of-care MRI.

Learn more in : https://scim.ag/4o7EwzB

02/01/2026

In a new Science study, researchers report an unexpected role for sensory nerves in bone healing, providing insights into communication between the nervous system and the cells responsible for bone repair.

Learn more in a new Science Perspective: https://scim.ag/4qis7u6

02/01/2026

"Looking back over my life, I am struck by the good fortune I have had to be a scientist. Very few in this world have the opportunity to do every day what they love to do, as I have," said Linda Buck.

Buck was fascinated by one seemingly simple question: how does our sense of smell work?

First, she had to figure out how the nose detects odours. She embarked on the search for odour receptors in 1988, and worked intensely for three years. In results published in 1991, Buck and her research partner Richard Axel pinpointed 1,000 types of olfactory receptors in mice, located in the back of the nose, on a spot called the olfactory epithelium. Humans have 350 of these olfactory receptors.

She continued to work on her research for another ten years and was able to map the organisation of the olfactory system from the nose to the brain.

In this system, each olfactory receptor detects more than one odorant and each odorant can be detected by more than one receptor. Working together, the receptors create a “combinatorial code” forming an “odorant pattern” to identify specific odours. This code underlies our ability to recognise more than 10,000 different odours.

Buck was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2004.

Learn more: https://bit.ly/3718u0Y

02/01/2026

A collaboration between UF & the Fixel Institute explored whether inspiratory muscle strength training (IMST) can help people with Parkinson’s disease improve vocal loudness and speech quality.

After a 5-week IMST program, participants showed:
✅ Increased vocal intensity during connected speech
✅ Longer phonation times
✅ Reduced vocal effort and improved respiratory support
✅ Better patient-reported voice outcomes

These promising results suggest IMST may be a valuable tool for addressing hypokinetic dysarthria in Parkinson’s disease. More research is needed, but the findings highlight how targeted respiratory training can enhance communication and quality of life.

Read the full study: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0892199725005314 #:~:text=Conclusion,may%20indicate%20less%20severe%20dysphonia.

02/01/2026

I met Dr. Carlsson once, he was a very nice man.

A neurotransmitter transmits signals from one neuron (nerve cell) to another "target" neuron, muscle cell, or gland cell. Nobel Prize laureate Arvid Carlsson's research into neurotransmitters revealed, for the first time, how a brain disorder worked.

Carlsson discovered in the 1950s that dopamine is a transmitter in the mammalian brain and described its role in our ability to move. This led to the realisation that Parkinson's disease is caused by a lack of dopamine and his experiments became the scientific basis for the successful therapy against Parkinson's disease.

In 1963, he found that the medications which ease the symptoms of schizophrenia and other psychotic diseases take effect by reducing the influence of dopamine in the brain. Further, his work has had great importance for the treatment of depression, and he has contributed to a new generation of antidepressant drugs.

Image: Wellcome Collection, Arran Lewis

02/01/2026

Only 2 MEG scanners in Florida. One academic center. Hundreds of lives impacted.

At UF Health, magnetoencephalography (MEG) is reshaping how brain tumors are evaluated and treated. Located within the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, this rare technology helps guide safer, more personalized surgery while advancing neuroscience research.

🔗 https://ow.ly/FGWF50Y1pQT

12/17/2025

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scisignal.ady8676

Dopamine release that underlies methamphetamine addiction is driven by the cytokine TNF-α.

12/17/2025

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scisignal.ady8676?utm_campaign=Science&utm_medium=ownedSocial&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQPMTczODQ3NjQyNjcwMzcwAAEeUYZt2QWZ8sndUWC8-sH5FAV05nKVNX3fR2fjGWGNGCeCt7Tz4uPT8hqlX88_aem_uO8N6gv0mI9uqCgalBJi6A

Dopamine release that underlies methamphetamine addiction is driven by the cytokine TNF-α.

11/28/2025

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1365727694925592&id=100044651227905

A closeup of the olfactory bulb from Self Reflected. Situated right below the orbitofrontal cortex and above the sinus cavity, odor receptors synapse onto the mitral cells which form the periphery of this structure. These signals are in turn processed and conveyed directly into the basal forebrain, NOT the thalamus, which means that our sense of smell has a more direct emotional connection into our brains than any other sense. This is why the smell of your grandpa's refrigerator will forever remain burned into your mind, sorry!

11/26/2025

How does the brain interpret what we see?

Our vision works by the light around us being captured by a large number of light-sensitive cells located in the retinas at the back of our eyes. The light is converted into signals that are sent to the brain and then converted again into visual impressions.

Nobel Prize laureates Torsten Wiesel and David Hubel clarified how this process works during the 1960s. In the cerebral cortex, signals are analysed in sequence by cells with the specific tasks of interpreting contrasts, patterns, and movements. They also showed that this ability develops in children during the initial period after birth.

Through the discoveries of Hubel and Wiesel, we now know that behind the origin of the visual perception in the brain there is a considerably more complicated course of events. They were able to demonstrate that the message about the image falling on the retina undergoes a step-wise analysis in a system of nerve cells stored in columns. In this system, each cell has its specific function and is responsible for a specific detail in the pattern of the retinal image.

In 1981, Hubel and Wiesel shared the medicine prize with Roger Sperry who made discoveries concerning differences in the right and left hemispheres in our brain.