Summary: Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine have developed a lab method to convert patient skin cells into mature neurons that retain age-related features, enabling accurate study of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. These directly reprogrammed neurons reproduce key Alzheimer’s hallmarks—amyloid beta accumulation, tau pathology and neuronal loss—allowing detailed analysis of aging-related mechanisms and testing of … Read more

Summary: A new study shows that women who take oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) are, on average, about 10% less accurate at identifying subtle, complex emotions in others. Source: Frontiers. The pill may subtly reduce your ability to read complex emotions Researchers have found that women using oral contraceptives showed small but measurable differences in recognizing … Read more

How aging affects communication between neurons is not well understood, a gap that complicates treatment of disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Researchers at the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have published a series of studies that illuminate how aging changes neural circuitry at the level of single, identified neurons. Their … Read more

Summary: A new review examines the rapid spread of mindfulness and meditation and calls for stronger scientific standards to determine their real benefits and risks. Source: Brown University. Scientific evidence has not kept pace with the rapid adoption of mindfulness and meditation for a wide range of mental and physical health goals, argue 15 experts … Read more

Summary: Researchers have made a significant advance in understanding neuronal variability by showing how dendrites—the antenna-like extensions of neurons—actively regulate the variability of neuronal responses. This discovery clarifies a fundamental mechanism of brain computation and offers practical insights for neuroscience and artificial intelligence (AI) development. The study clarifies how neurons process fluctuating inputs and suggests … Read more

Summary: A newly published Science study maps DNA methylation in individual neurons, revealing fine-grained neuronal subtypes and offering a powerful new tool for brain mapping. Source: UCSD Overview Human brains contain roughly 100 billion neurons, and although it has long been clear that neurons differ in shape and function, accurately cataloging their diversity remains a … Read more

Summary: People who feel lonely or sad may be better at accurately recognizing social patterns and behaviors, a new study suggests. Source: Yale Yale social psychologists report that some people, without formal training or laboratory tools, reliably predict core features of human social behavior. Published March 15 in the journal Social Psychology, the research identifies … Read more

Summary: New long-term data suggest that people living with multiple sclerosis (MS) may face a higher overall risk of developing cancer compared with the general population, with particularly elevated risks for cancers of the respiratory tract, urinary system and central nervous system. Source: Spink Health Overview of the Study Results from a 65-year follow-up study … Read more

Summary: Researchers identified a rare genetic variant in TM2D3 that is significantly enriched in Icelanders and is associated with a markedly increased risk of late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Novel TM2D3 Variant Linked to Increased Risk of Late-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease in Icelanders Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine and the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute … Read more

As many as half of patients treated with chemotherapy report a decline in mental sharpness. Despite many theories, the exact cause of this “chemo brain” remains unclear. To investigate this problem, neuroscientists at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) used an animal model of memory to identify how a common cancer … Read more