A simple but revolutionary test to improve early detection for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease could soon be helping patients and their families, thanks to a significant £1.5 million funding boost awarded to the universities of Bath and Bristol.
Changes in water conditions interact to affect how Trinidadian guppies protect themselves from predators, scientists at the University of Bristol have discovered.
When combined with iridescent colouration, a matt target surface appearance confers greater survival benefits in beetles than a glossy surface, scientists at the University of Bristol have found.
Early warning signs of diseases caused by dysfunctional levels of stress hormones could be spotted more easily thanks to a new wearable device developed by endocrine researchers. This is the first time it has been possible to measure changes to people’s stress hormones as they go about normal daily activities, across both day and night. The new collaborative research led by the University of Bristol, University of Birmingham and University of Bergen has the potential to revolutionise how diseases of the stress hormone system are diagnosed and treated.
Approximately one in ten NHS healthcare workers experienced suicidal thoughts during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, finds a new University of Bristol-led study published in PLOS ONE today [21 June].
Receptor patterns define key organisational principles in the brain, scientists have discovered.
A simple sponge has improved how robots grasp, scientists from the University of Bristol have found.
Human influences have the potential to reduce the effectivity of communication in bees adding further stress to struggling colonies, according to new analysis.
The Medical Research Council Integrative Epidemiology Unit (MRC IEU) at the University of Bristol has been awarded funding to enable a further five years of world-leading research.
For the first time ever, scientists have uncovered evidence that a species’ long-term adaptation to living in an extremely cold climate has led to the evolution of social behaviours including extended care by mothers, increased infant survival and the ability to live in large complex multilevel societies.
Adolescents who show signs of alcohol dependence are more likely to develop depression by their mid-20s, according to a new study led by University of Bristol and UCL researchers.
Five Bristol academics have recently won funding from the national Research in Residence (RiR) funding competition which funds academics to work on an innovation project in partnership with the Catapult Network.
The University of Bristol is part of a £42.7 million 'Mental Health Mission' announced by the Government to accelerate research into mental health conditions, including those impacting children. The research will develop radical new treatments, improve the speed and accuracy of diagnosis and increase the use of technology to free up clinician time.
The award from the Medical Research Council will help scientists understand how genetic mutations in multiple different genes lead to common biological and cognitive changes and identify new therapeutic targets.
Frankie MacMillan, Professor of Biomedical Science Education in the School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, has been awarded the 2024 Otto Hutter Teaching Prize Lecture by the Physiological Society.
How we imagined, marked and experienced our futures were questioned during the early part of the Covid pandemic, according to new research published in a special issue of Sociology.
New research has shown a lack of support available for family members and friends of people with gambling problems.
A coil-powered robot fish designed by scientists at the University of Bristol could make underwater exploration more accessible.
Pet rabbits have higher levels of the stress hormone - corticosterone - and show activity rebound when kept in small hutches with restricted exercise, new research led by the University of Bristol Vet School has found. The research, funded by the RSPCA, highlights the importance that pairs of pet rabbits should have the freedom to exercise outside their home enclosure even when they are kept in hutches larger than the traditional size.
A gene in the brain driving anxiety symptoms has been identified by an international team of scientists. Critically, modification of the gene is shown to reduce anxiety levels, offering an exciting novel drug target for anxiety disorders. The discovery, led by researchers at the Universities of Bristol and Exeter, is published online today [25 April] in Nature Communications.
The previously hidden and diverse underwater acoustic world in British ponds has been revealed by a team of researchers at the University of Bristol.
Clinical guidelines about providing early support to patients with an at-risk mental state for psychosis might not be being met, suggests research published in Early Intervention in Psychiatry.
Memory impairment associated with steroid use has been identified in a new study. The University of Bristol-led findings, published in PNAS, show great potential for the identification of drugs that could be adapted to treat certain memory disorders.
Thriving Theatre is a new theatre support group for people with lived experience of domestic abuse. It was established by the team behind Hard Evidence, a play about domestic abuse, mutual support and the empowering effect of public involvement in research.
A new study has highlighted how cryptocurrency investors often suffer gambling-related harms – and online gambling outlets accepting cryptocurrency as wagers pose even greater risks.
Why is a hugged person a healthier person? How does a shared handshake make you more likely to tell the truth? University of Bristol social neuroscientist, Professor Michael Banissy, one of the foremost experts on touch, explores the fascinating new science of one of our most overlooked senses in 'When we touch', published this week [30 March].
Depression in Alzheimer's has different risk factors than depression in older adults without the disease, finds a major new study in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. The University of Bristol-led research looked at over 2,000 people with the disease to explain why current anti-depressants are ineffective for people living with depression in Alzheimer's.
The Universities of Bristol, Nottingham, and Birmingham have been awarded a major £2.6 million Wellcome Discovery Grant for a six-year project which will use philosophical expertise to help bring patient voices into healthcare research and practice.
Learning, remembering something, and recalling memories is supported by multiple separate groups of neurons connected inside and across key regions in the brain. If these neural assemblies fail to sync together at the right time, the memories are lost, a new study led by the universities of Bristol and Heidelberg has found.
The 4th biennial Bristol Neuroscience Festival was delivered over three days in early March 2023, to roaring success!
Social animals should limit individuality to conform with the behaviour of the group, a University of Bristol study has found.
A link between depression and changes in counts of several types of immune cells in the blood has been revealed by researchers at the University of Bristol's MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit. These findings, published in Molecular Psychiatry, suggest that changes to different components of our immune system — both the innate and adaptive immune response — could play a role in causing depression.
Guidelines to speed up the diagnosis and treatment of patients with nerve swelling at the back of the eye, known as papilloedema, are being developed by researchers at the University of Bristol.
Researchers at the University of Bristol have found why zebra fur is thinly striped and sharply outlined.
Scientists have identified the brain structures responsible for compulsive drug-seeking behaviours due to repeated use of cocaine. The findings, published in Biomedicines, identifies the structures involved and neural pathways activated with repeated exposure to the drug. Researchers hope the study could help inform treatment for drug addiction.
Lived experience stories of self-harm may be helpful for those with a history of self-harm but they should reflect a range of personal journeys to encourage relatability and avoid using stigmatising language. People with recent self-harm experience were able to positively engage with lived experiences stories found online, according to a study published in JMIR Mental health.
The majority of people support robust action being taken to control the spread of harmful misinformation via social media, a major new study reveals.
Researchers from Bristol’s Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) wanted to explore how the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic affected autistic people. The study team was especially interested in whether lockdown experiences would affect people’s willingness to participate in research.
Scientists at the University of Bristol have drawn on the design and life of a mysterious zooplankton to develop underwater robots.
A new study has shown voters are more concerned about which party a politician belongs to than their position on Brexit – and this holds more sway with their future voting intentions when they encounter misinformation.
