Summary: Researchers have found that daylight strengthens the infection-fighting capacity of neutrophils, the body’s most abundant white blood cells. Using transparent zebrafish as a live model, scientists observed that neutrophils carry internal circadian clocks that respond to light, increasing their ability to kill bacteria during daytime hours. This alignment between daylight and immune activity appears … Read more

Summary: Chronic stress is increasingly recognized as a meaningful contributor to stroke risk because it amplifies high blood pressure, systemic inflammation, and unhealthy lifestyle patterns. Unlike measurable indicators such as cholesterol or blood pressure, stress is harder to quantify, but prolonged exposure can damage blood vessels and raise the chance of ischemic stroke and, in … Read more

Summary: An experimental antisense therapy targeting FUS gene mutations has produced unexpectedly strong clinical improvements in some patients with a rare, aggressive form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The treatment reduces production of toxic FUS proteins in motor neurons, lowering biomarkers of neurodegeneration and, in a few cases, restoring lost function and extending survival. In … Read more

Summary: New research from Edith Cowan University indicates that acute stress can temporarily disrupt core brain functions responsible for emotion regulation, especially in people experiencing distress-related conditions such as depression, anxiety and borderline personality disorder. The review found that key executive functions—working memory, impulse control, and cognitive flexibility—are more likely to be compromised during high-stress … Read more

Summary: Researchers have successfully induced the placebo effect in rats and mapped the neural circuitry that enables belief in pain relief to reduce pain perception. Through Pavlovian conditioning, rats learned to associate injections with analgesia; when later given saline, many showed reduced pain responses. Neuroimaging and targeted manipulations revealed that endogenous opioid signaling in the … Read more

Summary: New research from the Weizmann Institute of Science shows that mice use not only touch but also sound produced by their whiskers to perceive the world. Subtle noises generated during whisking are encoded in the auditory cortex and can be interpreted as an independent sensory signal, even when tactile input is blocked. Behavioral experiments … Read more

Summary: Following the same neurons over days and weeks has been a persistent challenge for neuroscientists using calcium imaging in freely moving mice. Researchers at the University of Tsukuba have developed an analytical framework called CaliAli that addresses these limitations by aligning imaging data across sessions with high accuracy, reconstructing continuous video of neural activity, … Read more

Summary: Ketamine is a fast-acting antidepressant that can relieve symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD) within hours, including in cases that have not responded to conventional treatments. Its clinical benefit after a single low-dose infusion, however, typically wanes within about a week, and repeated dosing raises concerns such as dissociation and potential for misuse. New … Read more

Summary: Researchers have created a dental-floss-based sensor that detects cortisol, a hormone associated with stress, directly from saliva. The device provides a painless, real-time method for stress monitoring by integrating electropolymerized molecularly imprinted polymers (eMIPs) that selectively recognize cortisol molecules. With analytical performance comparable to current laboratory biosensors, this floss-based technology could let people monitor … Read more

Summary: Cells rely on motor proteins such as dynein to move cargo along microscopic highways called microtubules. When these motors or their regulators malfunction, severe neurological disorders can result. New research captured high-resolution, time-resolved “movies” of dynein being activated by its partner protein Lis1, revealing the step-by-step structural changes that unlock and power this essential … Read more