neuroscience papers | Gist.Science

Neuroscience explores the intricate machinery of the brain and nervous system, seeking to understand how we think, feel, and move. From the microscopic dance of individual neurons to the complex networks that shape our memories and behaviors, this field peels back the layers of our biological selves to reveal the origins of consciousness and disease.

At Gist.Science, we bring these discoveries directly from bioRxiv, the leading preprint server for biological sciences, to a broader audience. We process every new neuroscience preprint as it is uploaded, transforming dense academic manuscripts into clear, plain-language explanations alongside detailed technical summaries. This ensures that both curious readers and specialists can stay current with the latest breakthroughs before they are formally published.

Below are the latest neuroscience papers we have processed from bioRxiv, offering fresh insights into the workings of the mind.

🧠 neuroscience

Statistically valid explainable black-box machine learning: applications in sex classification across species using brain imaging

This paper introduces an integrated framework combining Oblique Random Forests with a novel permutation-based feature importance algorithm (NEOFIT) to achieve statistically valid, interpretable sex classification from brain imaging data across humans and macaques, overcoming the limitations of traditional methods in handling high-dimensional neuroimaging features.

Liu, T., Dey, J., Xu, B., Bridgeford, E. W., Alldritt, S. S., Nenning, K.-H., Byeon, K., Xu, T., Vogelstein, J. T.2026-01-25

🧠 neuroscience

Cryo-EM structure of pro-aggregant P301L/S320F double-mutant tau filaments formed in mouse brains following peripheral AAV delivery

This study utilizes cryo-EM to reveal that systemic delivery of a P301L/S320F double-mutant human tau into AppNL-G-F/MAPT mice induces rapid, seed-independent aggregation into a novel, compact filament fold distinct from known Alzheimer's and Pick disease structures, establishing a rapid platform for modeling tauopathies.

Kano, M., Kimura, T., Yanagisawa, H., Tatsumi, L., Yamashita, K., Sakai, A., Li, X., Sado, T. C., Saito, T., Takatori, S (…)2026-01-25

🧠 neuroscience

Distinct roles of directional and positional experience in de novo visuomotor learning

This study demonstrates that while directional and positional experiences independently improve movement initiation and termination respectively during de novo visuomotor learning, accurate sensorimotor mapping ultimately depends on the coordinated alignment of these two information types rather than their simple combination.

Kawano, T., Hagio, S.2026-01-25

🧠 neuroscience

Tractometry-Based Quantification of Along-Tract White-Matter Hemispheric Asymmetry in Alzheimer's Disease

This study introduces an asymmetry-aware tractometry framework that integrates a symmetric white-matter atlas with BUAN to enable principled, segment-wise quantification of hemispheric asymmetries along homologous white-matter tracts, demonstrating its utility in differentiating cognitively normal individuals from those with mild cognitive impairment and dementia using ADNI data.

Chandio, B. Q., Feng, Y., Ba Gari, I., Alibrando, J. D., Thomopoulos, S. I., Villalon-Reina, J. E., Liou, K., Somu, S. (…)2026-01-25

🧠 neuroscience

Overt visual attention modulates decision-related signals in ventral and dorsal medial prefrontal cortex

This study combines eye-tracking and fMRI to demonstrate that overt visual attention not only amplifies sampled-value signals in the vmPFC and ventral striatum but also modulates accumulated-value signals in the pre-supplementary motor area, revealing how gaze shapes both immediate and lasting decision variables in the brain.

Shevlin, B. R. K., Gwinn, R. E., Makwana, A., Krajbich, I.2026-01-24

🧠 neuroscience

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Biological Sex Differences in Sleep Spindles and Slow Wave Activity in Adults with and without Insomnia

This systematic review and meta-analysis of 43 studies reveals that female normal sleepers exhibit higher sleep spindle density and slow wave activity than males, while highlighting significant gaps in understanding sex differences specifically within insomnia disorder due to inconsistent reporting and limited interaction data.

Walsh, N., Phillips, E.-M., Paez, A., Cross, N., Dang-Vu, T., Perrault, A. A.2026-01-23

🧠 neuroscience

Biophysically realistic network-level transport model of tau progression with exosome-mediated release and uptake processes

This study presents a biophysically realistic, multiscale network transport model that bridges the gap between rapid cellular tau kinetics and slow macroscopic disease progression by integrating active axonal transport, continuous production, and exosome-mediated release and uptake, thereby identifying trans-neuronal exchange rates as the primary bottleneck governing tau spread across the brain connectome.

Barron, N., Tora, V., Cozzolino, E., Bertsch, M., Raj, A.2026-01-23

🧠 neuroscience

Data quality biases normative models derived from fetal brain MRI

This study demonstrates that including lower-quality fetal MRI data systematically biases normative growth models, particularly affecting extreme centile estimates, indicating that increasing sample size at the expense of image quality can compromise the clinical utility of these models.

Sanchez, T., Mihailov, A., Marti-Juan, G., Girard, N., Manchon, A., Milh, M., Eixarch, E., Dunet, V., Koob, M., Pomar, L (…)2026-01-23

🧠 neuroscience

Comparison of Alternative pre-mRNA Splicing and Gene Expression Patterns in Midbrain Lineage Cells Carrying Familial Parkinson's Disease Mutations

This study analyzes global gene expression and pre-mRNA splicing patterns in midbrain lineage cells derived from human pluripotent stem cells carrying 12 distinct familial Parkinson's disease mutations, revealing mutation-specific splicing changes linked to key cellular defects that overlap with postmortem brain findings and may serve as diagnostic biomarkers or therapeutic targets.

Lee, Y. J., Syed, K., Busquets, O., Li, H., Dunnack, J., Bateup, H., Soldner, F., Hockemeyer, D., Rio, D.2026-01-22

🧠 neuroscience

Gut distension evokes rapid neural dynamics in vagal and hindbrain populations of larval zebrafish

This study demonstrates that in larval zebrafish, gut distension and aversive chemical cues are rapidly encoded by distinct temporal dynamics in vagal and hindbrain neurons, revealing that fast gut-to-brain communication emerges early in life to regulate nutrient-specific feeding.

Arinel, M., Atkinson, J. A., Matos-Fernandez, K. M., Drage, E. P., Hawkyard, M., Naumann, E. A.2026-01-22

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