Middle-aged adults who suddenly need reading glasses, patients with traumatic brain injuries, and people with visual disorders such as “lazy eye” may share a common visual challenge: visual crowding. Visual crowding is the difficulty or inability to recognize individual items when they are surrounded by other objects. For readers, this can render single letters within … Read more
Summary: Exploring online galleries not only broadens public access to art, it also produces measurable benefits for mood, lowers anxiety, and enhances overall well-being. Source: University of Vienna Viewing artwork—whether in museums, galleries, or on a screen—can influence mood, stress levels, and personal well-being. But how effective is viewing art in an online environment compared … Read more
Summary: Cannabis users undergoing gastric endoscopy procedures generally require more sedation than non-cannabis users, researchers report. Source: American Gastroenterology Association Patients who use cannabis required higher levels of sedation during gastric endoscopies than non-users, according to research presented at Digestive Disease Week (DDW) 2022. As legalization expands and cannabis use becomes more common, this observational … Read more
Summary: Using cannabis flower appears to reduce feelings of fatigue, according to a large real-world study. Participants who smoked joints reported greater relief than those who used pipes or vaporizers. Source: University of New Mexico Researchers at the University of New Mexico used a mobile app to track how different commercially available cannabis flower products … Read more
Summary: Researchers at the University of Geneva have developed ACE-ArithmEcole, an intervention program that helps primary-school children learn arithmetic by encouraging abstraction and the use of formal arithmetic principles. After one year, 50.5% of pupils who followed the ACE-ArithmEcole curriculum solved complex word problems correctly, compared with 29.8% of peers taught with the standard curriculum. … Read more
Summary: Using Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax as a naturalistic stimulus, researchers at the University of Rochester used fMRI to reveal how the brain engages a broad network of regions when people listen to and watch narrative speech. The results show that audiovisual speech perception recruits not only classic multisensory integration areas but also wider semantic, … Read more
Summary: A new cohort study indicates that COVID-19 may lower testosterone levels in men, and that lower testosterone is linked to more severe disease. Men who died had significantly lower mean total testosterone than survivors. Even among asymptomatic men, 65.2% reported reduced libido. Source: Taylor & Francis Group New evidence from hospitalized patients suggests COVID-19 … Read more
A genetic mouse model that reproduces the biochemical effects of lithium treatment could lead to improved therapies for bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder is a psychiatric condition marked by recurrent mood episodes—mania or hypomania alternating with depression—that can severely disrupt daily functioning. Lithium remains one of the most effective mood-stabilizing medications for bipolar disorder, yet the … Read more
A three-molecule complex emerges as a potential target for treating Huntington’s disease An international research team, including scientists from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) in Bonn and the University of Mainz, has identified a molecular complex that regulates production of the toxic form of the Huntingtin protein. The results, published in the journal … Read more
Summary: New research implicates an altered balance between two chloride transporters—NKCC1 and KCC2—as a key contributor to cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. In mouse models, blocking NKCC1 with the FDA-approved diuretic bumetanide restored inhibitory GABAA signaling and rescued performance on multiple cognitive tests. Source: Northwestern University Altered chloride transport and a shift in GABAA current polarity … Read more
