Summary: A large Danish nationwide cohort study of more than 1.2 million children found no evidence that aluminum in early childhood vaccines increases the risk of neurodevelopmental, autoimmune, or allergic conditions. Investigators evaluated 50 chronic outcomes — including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), asthma, and juvenile arthritis — and observed no association with … Read more

Summary: Our memories are not a continuous tape but are organized into distinct episodes. New research finds that a small brainstem nucleus, the locus coeruleus, acts like a reset signal at event boundaries, prompting the hippocampus to separate and store adjacent experiences as discrete memories. Using functional MRI, pupillometry, and neuromelanin imaging, researchers show that … Read more

Summary: New research suggests that long-term musical training can help older adults preserve more youthful brain connectivity and improve their ability to understand speech in noisy environments. Compared with non-musicians of the same age, older musicians showed more efficient functional brain networks and better performance on speech-in-noise tasks, consistent with the idea that musical experience … Read more

Summary: A large Danish cohort study found reassuring evidence that common maternal infections during pregnancy — and the typical antibiotic treatments used — are not associated with measurable declines in children’s later cognitive abilities or school performance. Researchers compared school exam results and intelligence test scores for more than 270,000 children with maternal health records … Read more

Summary: Researchers have identified hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the choroid plexus—the brain’s fluid-producing lining—of people diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The virus was detected in the brain lining rather than in brain tissue itself, a finding that suggests infections at the brain’s boundary may influence psychiatric symptoms. Analysis of large-scale electronic health records … Read more

Summary: New research reveals how a hormonally tuned circuit in the prefrontal cortex of mice controls sex-specific mating behaviors. Scientists identified a subset of Cacna1h-expressing neurons that integrate oxytocin, ovarian hormones, and social cues to increase sexual receptivity in females and suppress mating interest in males. Activating these neurons made non-fertile females behave as if … Read more

Summary: Researchers in Singapore have found that PRL3-zumab, a monoclonal antibody developed locally as a cancer therapy, shows strong potential as a new treatment for two leading causes of vision loss: wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy. In pre-clinical models, intravenous administration of PRL3-zumab reduced abnormal blood vessel leakage by 86% compared with … Read more

Summary: New research indicates that Alzheimer’s-related changes can be detected in blood samples from people as young as their early 40s. A Finnish cohort study led by the University of Turku found elevated concentrations of several Alzheimer’s-associated blood biomarkers in middle-aged adults, with stronger signals among those whose mother had high biomarker levels and among … Read more

Summary: A new study shows that close friendships can align brain activity and shape decision-making, especially in consumer contexts. Friends assessed products more similarly than strangers did, and this similarity grew stronger as friendships deepened. Neuroimaging data indicate that friends’ brains become synchronized while watching advertisements in regions associated with perception, memory, social judgment, and … Read more

Summary: Erythritol, a widely used sugar substitute found in many “sugar-free” and low‑carb products, may negatively affect cells that line brain blood vessels, potentially raising the risk of stroke. New laboratory research reports that exposure of human brain microvascular endothelial cells to erythritol reduced nitric oxide production, increased expression of vessel‑constricting proteins, impaired the cells’ … Read more