Summary: Very low levels of LDL cholesterol and triglycerides have been associated with a higher risk of hemorrhagic (bleeding) stroke in women. Source: AAN Lowering low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is widely recommended to reduce the risk of heart attack and ischemic stroke, with an ideal level often cited as below 100 mg/dL. However, new research … Read more

Summary: Understanding what others believe—even when those beliefs are false—is a cornerstone of human social interaction. This ability, often called Theory of Mind (ToM), typically begins to appear between ages three and five. A recent study examined children’s brain activity during movie-watching in an MRI scanner to uncover neural foundations of ToM and how they … Read more

Summary: Mindful meditation amplifies the beneficial effects of a single psilocybin dose, increasing empathy and lessening egocentricity. Source: University of Zurich Overview In recent years, clinical interest in classic psychedelics for treating depression and anxiety has grown. Researchers at the University of Zurich report that mindfulness meditation can strengthen the lasting positive effects produced by … Read more

Summary: New research identifies the short-lived molecular step that converts healthy prion proteins into their disease-causing form, with implications for treating Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Kuru and other prion disorders. Source: Imperial College London Researchers have, for the first time, isolated the fleeting intermediate that drives normal prion proteins to misfold into their pathogenic form—an advance that … Read more

Summary: Researchers found that both vocalized and imagined jazz improvisation produce similar brain states marked by reduced connectivity to the executive control network and an increased sense of flow, enabling freer musical creativity. Source: Georgia State University Researchers at Georgia State University have mapped how the brain shifts during moments of musical “flow,” showing that … Read more

Scientists create a new light-sensitive plant‑human hybrid protein to precisely control calcium channels Researchers in South Korea have developed a novel optogenetic tool, OptoSTIM1, that combines a plant photoreceptor with an animal calcium regulator to control cellular calcium (Ca2+) channels with high precision. The project was led by Won Do Heo, associate professor at the … Read more

Summary: Researchers have identified a distinct pattern of autoantibodies in the blood that appears years before clinical symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) in a subset of patients. About 10% of people who later developed MS showed a unique collection of antibodies that bind both human proteins and molecular patterns found in common viruses such as … Read more

Two independent laboratories in China have reported converting skin cells into neurons using only cocktails of small molecules. One team converted human fibroblasts from healthy donors and Alzheimer’s patients, while the other converted mouse fibroblasts. Both studies, published in Cell Stem Cell, demonstrate that a purely chemical approach can reprogram somatic cells without introducing transcription … Read more

Summary: Neuroimaging research finds subtle reductions in the surface area of a prefrontal brain region in young people with mood disorders who have attempted suicide. Source: USC Suicide is the second leading cause of death in the United States for young people aged approximately 10 to 33. Despite national and international prevention efforts, suicide attempts … Read more

Summary: New research in fruit flies identifies a brain pathway that prevents daytime sleep, shedding light on how circadian signals sustain wakefulness. Source: SfN. Researchers have mapped a neural pathway in fruit flies that helps maintain wakefulness during daylight hours. Published in eNeuro, the study reveals how a light-responsive neuropeptide suppresses sleep-promoting neurons, a mechanism … Read more