Summary: A global meta-analysis of more than 4,700 encephalitis survivors shows that psychiatric and behavioural problems — including depression, anxiety, emotional instability and disinhibition — are common and persistent after brain inflammation. The pooled evidence indicates about 27% of survivors meet criteria for clinical depression and roughly 20–23% experience long-term anxiety, emotional instability or disinhibited … Read more

Summary: Decriminalizing personal cannabis possession or implementing tightly controlled legal frameworks does not appear to increase overall use. In contrast, fully commercialized, for-profit recreational markets — like those in parts of the United States and Canada — are linked to higher product potency, rising addiction rates, and increased hospital admissions for psychosis. A separate review … Read more

Summary: A multi-institutional research team has been awarded a $9 million grant to investigate how immune-cell aging affects the risk and progression of Parkinson’s disease. The project will examine immune-cell exhaustion—sometimes described as cellular “burnout”—to understand why the disease varies so widely between individuals. By mapping immune changes across patients, the team aims to identify … Read more

Summary: A recent paper from neuroscientists at the University of Montreal and Johns Hopkins cautions against mistaking AI intelligence for consciousness. Drawing on the neurological phenomenon of blindsight—where complex visual processing occurs without conscious awareness—the authors emphasize that modern conversational agents operate by statistical learning and computation, not by subjective experience or feeling. As chatbots … Read more

Summary: A high-resolution neuroimaging study shows that both the human brain and large language models (LLMs) use deeply parallel prediction strategies to process language. Using continuous audiobook listening with simultaneous millisecond-scale EEG and MEG recordings, researchers found that the brain pre-activates representations of upcoming words: predictable words produce reduced neural activity while unexpected words trigger … Read more

Summary: Researchers mapped the molecular landscapes of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to determine how hundreds of diverse genetic mutations influence the developing brain. Using single‑nucleus multi‑omics sequencing, the team tracked gene expression and epigenetic changes across more than 250 individual tissue samples and multiple developmental stages, revealing common cellular targets and time‑limited disruptions in brain … Read more

Summary: A genetic marker linked to human Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) is essential for healthy cerebellar development. Researchers found that mutating the MEIS1 gene in zebrafish larvae disrupts their normal rhythmic “burst-and-glide” locomotion and produces prolonged, hyperactive movement cycles. Neuroimaging and cellular analysis traced the altered behavior to a partial loss of Purkinje cells, the … Read more

Summary: A new preclinical study provides the first proof-of-concept that an mRNA vaccine can target neuroblastoma, the most lethal childhood cancer. The research addresses a cancer responsible for roughly 15% of pediatric cancer deaths and for which many high-risk patients—about 80%—do not respond to existing therapies. Using an advanced delivery system, researchers developed self-assembling peptide … Read more

Summary: A global meta-analysis of more than 4,700 people who survived encephalitis has found that psychiatric and behavioral problems — including depression, anxiety, disinhibition, and emotional instability — are common long after the acute illness. The pooled results show that roughly 27% of survivors meet criteria for clinical depression, while about 20–23% experience lasting anxiety, … Read more

Summary: A large study of 55,204 older U.S. veterans reveals a dangerous two-way relationship between traumatic brain injury (TBI) and several major neurological conditions. Researchers found that older adults who sustained a TBI were three to four times more likely to have received a diagnosis of epilepsy, stroke, dementia, or Parkinson’s disease in the prior … Read more