Drawing blood from a fruit fly may only be slightly easier than getting it from a proverbial stone or turnip, but success could provide substantial benefits for neuroscientists.

Researchers from EPFL and Caltech have made an important neurobiological discovery of how humans learn to predict risk. The research, appearing in the March 12 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, will shed light on why certain kinds of risk, notably financial risk, are often underestimated, and whether abnormal behavior such as addiction (e.g. to gambling or drugs) could be caused by an erroneous evaluation of risk.

Professor Barbara Oakley knows how dangerous college classrooms can be: her op-ed, “Killer in the Classroom,” was published in the New York Times after the Virginia Tech murders. Professor Oakley’s recent book EVIL GENES is about the neuroscience behind why malevolent killers do the terrible things they do. Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker called Oakley’s work “A fascinating scientific and personal exploration of the roots of evil, filled with human insight and telling detail.”

The brain neurons of liberals and conservatives fire differently when confronted with tough choices, suggesting that some political divides may be hard-wired, a study says.

An American man who fell into a coma after his skull was crushed from a brutal mugging and beating six years ago has been partially reawakened by US neuroscientists.

Scientists are investigating whether being exposed to viruses during pregnancy could increase the risk of children developing mental illnesses as they get older.

Research by neuroscientists shows that, with practice, people can suppress emotionally disturbing memories. Investigators say the finding could lead to therapies for individuals suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Neuroscientists say a recent report indicates moderate drinking may have a positive effect on the health of a person's brain.

An unexpected finding on how nerve cells signal to one another could rewrite the textbooks on neuroscience, says a collaborative team of researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College and Yale University.

Large mammals--humans, monkeys, and even cats--have brains with a somewhat mysterious feature: The outermost layer has a folded surface. Understanding the functional significance of these folds is one of the big open questions in neuroscience.