The Iowa Cochlear Implant Clinical Research Center (ICICRC) at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine has received its fifth consecutive grant renewal from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The innovative and interdisciplinary research supported by this long-running grant has made...

UI researchers explore how one cell binds itself to another, shedding light on neurodevelopmental disordersUniversity of Iowa biologists have advanced the knowledge of human neurodevelopmental disorders by finding that a lack of a particular group of cell adhesion molecules in the cerebral cortex—the outermost layer of the brain where language, thought and other higher functions take place...

Scientists at the University of Iowa are studying brain development in adolescent children who have a genetic risk for developing alcohol use-related problems due to having a family history of alcoholism. Researchers have long known that alcoholism and substance use disorders have a strong genetic basis, and children of alcoholic parents have a much greater likelihood of later developing a...

UI team develops new way to look at brain functionUniversity of Iowa neuroscientist John Wemmieis interested in the effect of acid in the brain (not that kind of acid!). His studies suggest that increased acidity—or low pH—in the brain is linked to panic disorders, anxiety, and depression. But his work also indicates that changes in acidity are important for normal brain activity too."We are...