Summary: Older mice that ran voluntarily showed markedly improved muscle repair. The study suggests that regular, moderate exercise can rejuvenate muscle stem cells and restore more youthful tissue-repair capacity. Source: Stanford A nightly run on a wheel improves muscle repair in aged mice, according to a new Stanford School of Medicine study. Researchers found that … Read more

Summary: New zebrafish research reveals a major role for the cerebellum in cognition, decision making, and motor planning. Source: Rockefeller University Many everyday reactions—reaching for the refrigerator when hungry or switching on air conditioning when it gets warm—feel automatic. Yet even these seemingly simple behaviors are produced by millions of neurons and complex interactions across … Read more

Summary: Differences in mothers’ and fathers’ stress, tiredness and happiness while caring for children appear to stem largely from how childcare is divided — the type of tasks, timing and who is present. Fathers more often engage in recreational activities and weekend caregiving, which correlates with higher happiness and lower stress. Mothers more often perform … Read more

Summary: A midday nap following a learning session enabled infants to link correct or incorrect labels to newly shown objects. The study illuminates how sleep contributes to the development of lexical memory in early infancy. Source: Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS). Infants form meaningful word–object associations earlier than previously … Read more

Obese pregnant women often give birth to babies at higher risk of obesity and metabolic disease. As rates of obesity among pregnant women continue to rise, researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have identified a promising intervention that, in animal studies, reduced or eliminated the risk that offspring of obese mothers would … Read more

Summary: Researchers reveal a small region of Ataxin-2, a protein important for forming long-term memories, may also drive the progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Source: Trinity College Dublin. Scientists have identified a short segment of the Ataxin-2 protein that is essential for long-term memory formation but also appears to promote neurodegeneration in an animal … Read more

Treatment with xenon gas after a head injury reduces the extent of brain damage, according to a study in mice. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of death and long-term disability among people under 45 in developed countries, with most cases resulting from falls and road accidents. The initial impact produces a primary … Read more

Summary: STAT3 is a key molecular regulator within the serotonergic system that helps control emotional reactivity. These findings connect immune signaling, serotonin transmission and affective disorders such as depression. Source: Medical University of Vienna Many studies now indicate that inflammatory processes contribute to the development and progression of psychiatric conditions. Among the immune-related pathways of … Read more

Summary: New research shows that damage to the brain’s white matter — the myelin-wrapped fiber tracts that function as the brain’s information highways — can drive changes typically linked to neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. By producing precise, localized injury to myelin, researchers observed a coordinated response in connected grey matter regions. … Read more

Summary: People who report near-death experiences (NDEs) often describe shared elements—such as leaving the body, moving through a tunnel, and seeing a bright light—but a new analysis of personal narratives finds these elements do not always occur together or in a fixed sequence. Source: Frontiers Researchers analyzed 154 first-person narratives to examine how often different … Read more