Summary: Glioblastoma, the most common and deadly primary brain tumor, shows clear sex differences in incidence, immune interactions, treatment response, and survival. New research from the University of Miami reveals a sex-specific biological mechanism in which the neurotransmitter GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) reprograms immune cells to protect tumors in females but not males. This discovery points … Read more

Summary: Under prolonged psychological or environmental pressure, both humans and animals instinctively seek comforting behaviors to soothe emotional distress. One of the most immediate and universal responses is consuming palatable, calorie-dense, or sweet foods—commonly called “comfort eating.” While this behavior is known to produce short-term relief from stress and anxiety, the precise neural pathway linking … Read more

Summary: When people share the same physical space and feel connected, their bodies often fall into the same rhythm. A naturalistic study finds that heart rates of socially close individuals tend to rise and fall together, and that this cardiac alignment is strongest when people are near one another and paying joint attention to the … Read more

Summary: Why humans and animals need sleep remains one of biology’s longest-standing puzzles. One prominent idea, the synaptic homeostasis hypothesis, suggests that synapses — the connections between neurons — strengthen and multiply during waking hours as we take in and process information. This continuous strengthening consumes energy and generates protein buildup, cluttering neural circuits. Sleep … Read more

Summary: Most large language models rely on vast, unconstrained context windows that let them store and retrieve enormous amounts of precise token-level information. That brute-force strategy scales well for very large systems, but it does not mirror how children learn language: with limited exposure, imperfect recall, and a focus on abstract structure. A new proof-of-principle … Read more

Summary: Watching a film often feels effortless: we follow dialogue, read facial expressions, notice musical cues, and track scene changes, all fused into a single coherent story. New research shows that beneath this seamless experience the frontal cortex acts as a dynamic traffic controller, shifting attention between auditory and visual streams in real time to … Read more

Summary: Huntington’s disease is a progressive, ultimately fatal genetic disorder that destroys nerve cells in the brain, eroding motor control, cognition, and emotional stability. Symptoms most commonly appear between ages 35 and 50 and steadily worsen over years to decades, imposing severe emotional and financial burdens on patients and families. There are currently no approved … Read more

Summary: A large brain imaging study led by researchers at the University of Kansas finds a strong association between lifetime exposure to reproductive hormones and structural brain health in older women. The study analyzed 459 women aged 65 to 80 and found that greater cumulative exposure to estrogen — from early-life hormonal contraceptives, menopausal hormone … Read more

Summary: Under prolonged psychological or environmental pressure, humans and animals commonly turn to soothing behaviors to ease emotional distress. One of the most immediate and universal strategies is consuming palatable, calorie-dense, or sweet foods—so-called “comfort eating.” While this behavior is known to temporarily reduce stress and anxiety, the precise neural wiring that links the brain’s … Read more

Summary: Laughter is one of humanity’s most universal social signals, but pinpointing the exact brain circuits that produce it has been difficult because genuine, unforced mirth is hard to elicit in laboratory settings. A new review of clinical stimulation data from awake pre-surgical epilepsy patients provides rare causal evidence linking specific brain regions to either … Read more