A neuroscientist’s arm cast led him and fellow School of Medicine researchers to find previously undetected neuronal pulses in the human brain that activate after an immobilizing illness or injury. The pulses appeared on MRI scans used to measure brain activity.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine report that specific types of retinal cells that carry the vast majority of visual signals from the human retina to the brain efficiently process and compress that information so it can be transferred. The study may advance our understanding of eye diseases involving the retina.

Washington University scientists will receive $13.7 million in additional funding for ongoing research into adolescent brain development. Their work is part of the largest long-term study of brain development ever conducted in the United States.

The interdisciplinary Division of Computational and Data Sciences, one of a few of its kind in the country, focuses on turning the computational lens on social sciences. In the new PhD program, students have two advisers, one in computer engineering and one in a social science domain from social work and public health, political science, or psychological and brain sciences.

School of Medicine researchers have mapped nine functional networks in the deep-brain structures of 10 healthy people, an accomplishment that could lead to improvements in deep-brain stimulation therapy for severe cases of Parkinson’s disease and other neurological conditions.

Adia Harvey Wingfield, professor of sociology at Washington University in St. Louis, has joined the leadership team in Arts & Sciences as associate dean for faculty development. In her role as associate dean, Wingfield works closely with Barbara A. Schaal, dean of the faculty, in ongoing efforts to support faculty across Arts & Sciences.

Contrary to the belief that drinking can literally shrink one’s brain, a new study that includes researchers from Arts & Sciences suggests that a small brain might be a risk factor for heavier alcohol consumption.

New research from Washington University in St. Louis confirms that the brain tunes itself to a point where it is as excitable as it can be without tipping into disorder, similar to a phase transition. The new research from Keith Hengen, assistant professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, is published Oct. 7 in the journal Neuron.

Chancellor Andrew D. Martin and Interim Provost Marion Crain have appointed a 16-member committee to identify candidates for the position of dean of the faculty of Arts & Sciences. Aaron F. Bobick, dean of the McKelvey School of Engineering, will chair the search committee.

A global study comparing 2,062 birds finds that, in highly variable environments, birds tend to have either larger or smaller brains relative to their body size. New research from Carlos Botero, assistant professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, finds birds with smaller brains tend to use ecological strategies that are not available to big-brained counterparts.