Summary: Women are nearly twice as likely as men to develop Alzheimer’s disease, a gap that cannot be explained by longer female lifespan alone. Scientists are investigating biological causes, focusing on genes linked to the X chromosome and hormonal changes such as menopause that alter brain resilience. Declining estrogen levels during menopause may make the … Read more

Summary: New research shows that metabolic health—particularly modest rises in blood sugar—has a greater influence than age or testosterone on declines in men’s sexual and reproductive function. Over six years, researchers followed 117 healthy men and measured hormones, semen quality, erectile function, and blood glucose control to identify which factors best explain changes in sexual … Read more

Summary: Researchers have created a biodegradable, long-acting weekly injectable that steadily delivers levodopa and carbidopa, offering a potential breakthrough in Parkinson’s disease treatment. The in-situ forming gel maintains therapeutic drug levels for seven days, reducing the need for multiple daily oral doses and improving adherence and symptom control. In laboratory tests the formulation released more … Read more

Summary: A comprehensive worldwide review finds strong evidence that maternal depression undermines parenting quality—disrupting mother–infant bonding, reducing responsiveness to a child’s needs, and diminishing everyday parental involvement. Analyzing observational studies published over the past decade, researchers report consistent links between depressive symptoms and lower emotional engagement, reduced caregiving behaviors, and increased negative interactions. The findings … Read more

Summary: A new Northwestern Medicine study questions whether participation in youth football leads to harmful accumulation of tau protein in the brain. Researchers examined 174 donated brains, including samples from men who played football at the high school or college level, and found no evidence linking amateur contact sports participation to elevated phosphorylated tau (p-tau) … Read more

Summary: Childhood maltreatment creates deep, long-lasting effects that often remain hidden, influencing mental health, physical well-being, and social development well into adulthood. Traditional assessments that ask children directly about traumatic events can be invasive and may miss the full picture. New research shows that a widely used caregiver-completed behavioral checklist can accurately identify children exposed … Read more

Autistic adults describe nonverbal communication as an exhausting “unwritten language” Summary: A recent study finds that many autistic adults experience nonverbal communication as a mentally demanding, real-time task. Researchers who reviewed hundreds of firsthand accounts report that decoding facial expressions, gestures, tone and eye contact while also producing expected cues is exhausting and can lead … Read more

Summary: Researchers have uncovered how the brain protein cypin preserves strong connections between neurons, a process essential for learning and memory. Cypin controls how proteins are tagged and positioned at synapses, enabling reliable neural communication and supporting cognitive function. The study also shows that cypin slows the breakdown of certain proteins and increases levels of … Read more

Summary: A new randomized, double-blind study from Radboud University and Radboudumc finds that intranasal oxytocin can strengthen the emotional connection between mothers with postpartum depression (PPD) and their infants. After receiving oxytocin, mothers showed more warmth, affection, smiling, and physical contact during play, and reported greater positive feelings. The spray did not, however, improve caregiving … Read more

Summary: A new study shows that long-tailed macaques, like humans, pay the most attention to videos that show social conflict and familiar group members. Researchers presented short clips of monkeys fighting, grooming, running, or sitting and measured how long the macaques watched and how they reacted. Aggressive interactions attracted the most viewing time, and monkeys … Read more