Summary: A systematic review and meta-analysis finds that controlled breathing interventions significantly reduce substance cravings across a range of drug classes, including alcohol, nicotine, opioids, stimulants and polysubstance use. This synthesis pooled data from 20 studies involving 1,249 participants to evaluate the effectiveness of various breathwork approaches. Overall, breathing-based interventions produced modest but statistically significant … Read more

Summary: Researchers identified a neural signature in mice that encodes the intrinsic value of information, separate from physical rewards. In a series of experiments, laboratory mice actively sought advance knowledge about upcoming outcomes—even when obtaining that information reduced the amount of physical reward they received. Concurrent population neural recordings revealed that roughly 20% of decision-related … Read more

Summary: Research highlighted by Karen Barrett of the Institute for Health & Aging at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) shows that musical improvisation engages brain networks differently than playing memorized music. Building on foundational neuroimaging work by Charles Limb, studies show that when experienced jazz musicians improvise, they reduce activity in the dorsolateral … Read more

Summary: A new study assessed the long-term cognitive effects of reduced sugar exposure in early life by taking advantage of the historical end of World War II sugar rationing in the United Kingdom. Researchers compared later-life dementia outcomes among people born before and after rationing ended. The analysis included 64,737 individuals born around the time … Read more

Summary: A new mathematical framework explains when organisms depend on memory versus immediate sensory cues to make decisions, revealing a sharp resource-driven shift from reactive to memory-based strategies and showing that memory is most beneficial at moderate levels of sensory uncertainty. Researchers modeled the tradeoff between decision accuracy and the bioenergetic cost of maintaining memory … Read more

Summary: Researchers have identified the tRNA-binding protein TRNAU1AP as a critical driver of glioblastoma (GBM) stem cell survival and tumor progression. A multidisciplinary team showed that elevated TRNAU1AP expression in tumors correlates with poorer clinical outcomes for glioblastoma patients. TRNAU1AP organizes into liquid-like intracellular clusters that selectively enhance the translation of selenoproteins. These selenoproteins, which … Read more

Summary: In a randomized clinical trial, oral semaglutide significantly reduced heavy drinking days, daily alcohol cravings, and alcohol-related problems in adults with moderate-to-severe Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). Researchers evaluated 50 adults seeking treatment for AUD and found that oral semaglutide—a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist already prescribed for type 2 diabetes and chronic weight management—consistently … Read more

Summary: Researchers have identified a metabolic paradox in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep: although brain blood volume and markers of fuel delivery increase during dreaming, the energy molecule used directly by neurons—adenosine triphosphate (ATP)—falls. Using wide-field fluorescence imaging through a transparent skull window in naturally sleeping mice, the team tracked three simultaneous signals in real … Read more

Summary: Researchers have created CapuchinAI, an open-source, battery-powered platform that automates cognitive testing of wild primates by combining facial-recognition vision, touchscreen tasks, and automated food rewards. Tested in Costa Rica’s Taboga Forest Reserve, the system uses a YOLO-based computer-vision pipeline to detect and identify white-faced capuchins with high accuracy, runs individualized touchscreen experiments on a … Read more

Summary: Researchers have found that retinal photoreceptors run their own intracellular waste-disposal system using lysosomes, overturning a long-held view that these light-sensitive cells depend almost entirely on retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) support cells for degradation of damaged components. The new study shows photoreceptors contain a self-sufficient quality-control pathway governed by the lipid kinase PIKfyve. In … Read more