Novel neuroscience research challenges longstanding notions of brain plasticity and opens pathways to innovative therapies. Multiple studies show that the brain’s somatosensory body map remains stable post-arm amputation, contrary to traditional views of cortical reorganization, with implications for phantom limb pain treatment and neural prosthetics control. Investigations into autism spectrum disorder identify hyperactivity in the reticular thalamic nucleus as a key driver of symptoms; pharmacologic suppression in mouse models successfully reverses autism-like behaviors. Additionally, new findings highlight hemoglobin within brain astrocytes functioning as an antioxidant defense system, and small molecules enhancing this activity show neuroprotective effects in ALS, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s disease models. These discoveries bridge fundamental neuroscience with translational potential.