News

Aug 13, 2026

NSF CAREER Award: Understanding how the brain learns complex skills

Tarkeshwar Singh, associate professor of kinesiology in the Penn State College of Health and Human Development, has been awarded a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). The five-year, $775,450 CAREER award will support Singh’s research on the interaction between cognition, decision-making and motor control to plan and coordinate complex movement sequences and skills.

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Jul 31, 2026

Industrial noise may alter bluebird behavior but not cognitive ability

Scientists have long wondered whether loud, human-caused noise interferes with wild animals’ cognition — their ability to think and learn — by causing stress, distraction or making it harder for them to focus. The results of a novel study of Eastern bluebirds conducted by a team of researchers at Penn State suggests that, at least in some cases, short-term noise doesn’t affect them much.

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Jul 28, 2026

Huck Institutes announces recipients of nine interdisciplinary seed grants

Penn State’s Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences has awarded nine research teams seed funding for 2026-27. These grants support high-impact, innovative research projects that align with the Huck’s strategic research priorities and have the potential to drive scientific breakthroughs and generate significant return on investment.

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Jun 10, 2026

$2M NIH grant to support study of how the brain and body acclimate to stress

Experiencing stress leads to a suite of rapid physiological changes, and over time, the body can acclimate to the stress, eventually changing an individual’s baseline brain state. To improve understanding of the changes in the brain and body during acclimation to stress using a mouse model, the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences has awarded a five-year, $2 million grant to Grayson Sipe, assistant professor of biology in the Penn State Eberly College of Science.

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May 20, 2026

$3M NIH grant to support research on memory and exaggerated fear responses

Experiencing a traumatic event sometimes produces long-lasting biological changes that can lead to an exaggerated fear response to future stressful events, such as what occurs in individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder. To better understand the regulatory mechanisms in the brain that produce this biological memory and exaggerated fear response, a team of researchers from Penn State and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has been awarded a grant from the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health.

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Apr 27, 2026

Hydraulic brain: Body motion linked to fluid movement in the brain

The brain is more mechanically connected to the body than previously appreciated, scientists reported in Nature Neuroscience. Through a study using mice and simulations, the team found a potential biological mechanism underlying why exercise is thought to benefit brain health: abdominal contractions compress blood vessels connected to the spinal cord and the brain, enabling the organ to gently move within the skull. This swaying facilitates the surrounding cerebrospinal fluid to flow over the brain, potentially washing away neural waste that could cause problems for brain function.

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Apr 17, 2026

3D-printed brain sensors may unlock personalized neural monitoring

Soft electrodes designed to perfectly match a person’s brain surface may help advance neural interfaces for neurodegenerative disease monitoring and treatment, according to a new study led by Penn State researchers. Neural interfaces are powered by tiny sensors capable of tracking biophysical signals, known as bioelectrodes.

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Feb 02, 2026

Targeting the 'good' arm after stroke leads to better motor skills

Traditional stroke rehabilitation therapy focuses on restoring strength and movement to the more impaired side of the body, but a new randomized clinical trial has revealed that targeted therapy for the less-impaired arm significantly improved movement and control for stroke survivors. The trial, led by researchers from Penn State and the University of Southern California (USC), compared the new approach to the standard best-practice therapy currently in use.

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Nov 13, 2025

It’s not just in your head: Stress may lead to altered blood flow in the brain

Researchers at Penn State find a rare, stress-sensitive neuron appears to help regulate blood flow in the brain of mice.

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Oct 17, 2025

Counting bites with AI might one day help prevent childhood obesity

An interdisciplinary team at Penn State published a pilot study demonstrating the potential of using AI to streamline research on obesity risk in children.

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