Summary: New research indicates that psychedelic drugs may act by strengthening specific brain connections involved in memory and cognition. Under psychedelic exposure, neurons in the claustrum — a region rich in receptors that respond to psychedelics — showed increased, persistent communication with the anterior cingulate cortex, a cortical area linked to mood regulation and psychiatric … Read more

Summary: Learning to program does not require the brain to develop entirely new systems. Instead, it builds on preexisting neural circuits used for logic and reasoning. Researchers found that when people learned to code, the same fronto-parietal brain regions that process logical statements also became active for computer code. Even before formal training, those neural … Read more

Summary: When fruit flies are missing essential amino acids, their brains reprogram olfactory genes to sharpen the sense of smell and locate food sources that restore those nutrients. Researchers found two key receptors—Or92a and Ir76a—become more active, increasing sensitivity to odors produced by yeast and bacteria that supply or help produce essential amino acids. Flies … Read more

Summary: The viral phrase “touch grass” is more than internet humor—evidence shows that combining nature and music can meaningfully improve emotional and physical wellbeing. A recent scoping review found that activities that pair music with outdoor or nature-based experiences—such as listening to music outside, gardening while singing, or caring for animals with music—can elevate mood, … Read more

Summary: A large Monash University study of more than 10,800 people aged 70 and over found that regular engagement with music is linked to a substantially lower risk of dementia. Participants who consistently listened to music had a 39% lower risk of developing dementia and showed better memory performance. Those who played a musical instrument … Read more

Summary: New research shows the brain uses two separate neural circuits to regulate carbohydrate versus fat intake. In mice, glucoprivation — a drop in blood glucose induced experimentally — engages distinct neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVH). AMPK-regulated corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) neurons drive preference for high-carbohydrate foods, while melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R)–expressing … Read more

Summary: Alzheimer’s disease does more than impair memory — it disturbs the brain’s internal clock, altering the daily rhythms of hundreds of genes that support brain health. In mouse models with amyloid accumulation, researchers found that normal circadian gene activity in microglia and astrocytes — the brain’s immune and support cells — becomes irregular, affecting … Read more

Summary: New research shows that replacing as little as 30 minutes of daily sitting with light physical activity—such as walking or household chores—can improve mood and energy the following day. The study followed more than 350 young adults who wore activity monitors to record their daily movement patterns and sleep. Light activity demonstrated the strongest … Read more

Summary: New brain imaging research reveals how the brain reorganizes energy, activity, and circulation as it moves from wakefulness into deep NREM sleep. Using an advanced tri-modal EEG-PET-MRI approach, investigators found that cognitive networks quiet down while sensory and motor regions remain active, allowing the sleeping brain to retain sensitivity to the environment. These observations … Read more

Summary: Researchers have identified molecular mechanisms that contribute to age-related memory decline and demonstrated that those changes can be reversed in animal models. Two studies from Virginia Tech show that correcting specific molecular processes in the hippocampus and amygdala, and reactivating a silenced memory-supporting gene (IGF2), improved memory performance in older rats. Using CRISPR-based gene-editing … Read more