In a first-of-its-kind finding, researchers at University of Iowa Health Care discovered that specific genetic sequences have an outsized impact on humans’ language abilities and that these sequences evolved before humans and Neanderthals diverged. The study’s senior author Jacob Michaelson, PhD, Roy J. Carver Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience with the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, describes language as a defining trait of Homo sapiens. While other animals communicate in various ways, humans’ propensity for developing and improvising language is unique to earth’s dominant species. The research aims to understand how the development of human language was shaped by genetic regulatory sequences known as Human Ancestor Quickly Evolved Regions (HAQERs).

To take the next step in migraine research and treatment, Andrew Russo, PhD, is collaborating with a new generation of scientists who bring complementary skills and technical expertise that weren’t conceivable when he joined the UI faculty in 1988. Rainbo Hultman, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, and Levi Sowers (12PhD), assistant professor in the Stead Family Department of Pediatrics and its Division of Child Neurology, are working with Russo to build on his research, integrating their own distinct neuroscience specialties.

Neuroscientists at University of Iowa Health Care have demonstrated for the first time that non-invasive brain stimulation can alter the activity of a critical deep brain region involved in emotion and memory. Led by Jing Jiang, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics, the study shows that personalizing the stimulation site using a patient’s unique brain connectivity pathway can increase the neuromodulation effect.

Adding TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) to outpatient physical therapy reduced movement-based pain and fatigue in patients with fibromyalgia, and the effects lasted for at least six months, according to a new study led by researchers at University of Iowa Health Care. The study, led by Kathleen Sluka, PT, PhD, professor of physical therapy and rehabilitation science, is the first real-world trial of TENS for fibromyalgia.

Three University of Iowa undergraduates, Nathan Fassett, Ava Vaillant, and Christina Yu, have won the 2026 Iowa Neuroscience Institute Summer Scholar Awards. As INI Summer Scholars, the students receive a stipend of $5,000 and have the opportunity to attend a summer undergraduate seminar series and a variety of informal events.

Becoming the seventh brain bank in the NBB’s network, the Iowa brain bank will bank 100 brains per year with 50 more dedicated to grant-supported investigator projects. UI will receive $1.4 million in funding for the first year of the contract.

Susan Shen, assistant professor of psychiatry in the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, is the first female psychiatrist, the first from Iowa, and only the third psychiatrist overall to receive the highly-competitive Avenir Award from the NIH. The $2.3 million grant is awarded for innovative research by “early-stage” investigators in three focus areas: HIV/AIDS, the genetics and epigenetics of substance use, or the chemistry and pharmacology of substance use.

Post-traumatic headache (PTH) shares many of the same symptoms as migraines. Characterized by severe pain and sensory hypersensitivity, they’re disruptive and often difficult to treat. Despite the similarities, there are currently no FDA-approved treatments specifically for PTH. This gap in care is what drives University of Iowa Health Care researcher Levi Sowers, assistant professor in the Stead Family Department of Pediatrics and the Division of Child Neurology.