Summary: A new study shows that how people think about and handle chronic pain — their pain resilience — is a stronger predictor of physical activity than the intensity of the pain itself. Participants with higher pain resilience remained significantly more active than those with lower resilience, while factors such as pain intensity and fear … Read more

Summary: A major longitudinal study finds that teenagers who sleep less or experience frequent night awakenings are substantially more likely to attempt suicide later in adolescence. Analysing data from over 8,500 young people, researchers discovered that poor sleep at age 14 predicted suicide attempts by age 17, even after taking into account other established mental … Read more

Summary: New research indicates that breakdowns in the brain’s waste-clearance network—the glymphatic system—are strongly associated with increased dementia risk. In a large study using MRI data from around 40,000 adults, measures of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) movement predicted future dementia years before clinical symptoms emerged. The study links cardiovascular problems such as high blood pressure and … Read more

Summary: A new study reports that older adults with gum disease are more likely to show signs of damage to the brain’s white matter—known as white matter hyperintensities (WMHs)—a type of change linked to memory decline, balance problems and elevated stroke risk. Brain MRI scans showed that participants with periodontal disease had a higher WMH … Read more

Summary: Researchers report that people with multiple sclerosis (MS) have a markedly altered oral microbiome—characterized by a loss of beneficial bacterial species alongside an increase in microbes associated with inflammation. Using comprehensive genetic and metabolic profiling, the team also found that saliva from MS patients contains lower levels of hypotaurine, a metabolite tied to antioxidant … Read more

Summary: Researchers have created a new computational tool that provides direct genetic evidence linking Alzheimer’s disease to the loss of memory-forming neurons. The algorithm, called seismic, maps genetic risk to individual cell types more precisely than earlier methods, clarifying long-standing contradictions in dementia research by showing that specific neurons — not only immune cells — … Read more

Summary: New research from the Francis Crick Institute shows that hunger can flip virgin female mice from nurturing to aggressive toward pups—but only during specific hormonal phases. Scientists identified a direct connection between appetite-regulating neurons (AgRP neurons) in the hypothalamus and a brain area essential for parental care, the medial preoptic area (MPOA). This circuit … Read more

Summary: A new long-term study in mice finds that while the ketogenic diet prevents weight gain, it can provoke serious metabolic problems. Researchers report that prolonged adherence to a high-fat, very-low-carbohydrate ketogenic regimen led to fatty liver, elevated blood lipids, and impaired blood sugar control driven by stressed insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. These adverse … Read more

Summary: Scientists invite the public to share their most vivid memories to help explain why some moments remain strikingly fresh—as if relived in the present. This interdisciplinary project brings together cognitive neuroscience, machine learning and literary scholarship to study how vivid memories are experienced, how they change with age, and how memory descriptions have varied … Read more

Summary: Physical touch can deepen closeness and lower stress, yet not every affectionate gesture is genuine. New research shows that people who score high on the “dark triad” traits — narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism — are more likely to use touch in romantic relationships as a tool for control or manipulation rather than as mutual … Read more