Summary: A comprehensive systematic review has pooled findings from 73 studies to assess how dietary patterns influence cognitive performance and academic outcomes in young people aged 8 to 19. Combining evidence from 48 controlled trials and 25 prospective cohort studies, researchers report that poor nutrition during the earliest years of life—particularly infancy—can produce lasting reductions … Read more

Summary: New research finds a clear link between irregular sleep patterns and reduced cognitive performance in early childhood. The study shows that variability in sleep timing and duration independently lowers receptive vocabulary and visuospatial memory scores in preschool-aged children, even after accounting for total sleep time. These results indicate that sleep regularity and timing—beyond total … Read more

Summary: New research closes a crucial diagnostic gap about substance use during the early warning stages of mental illness. In adolescents and young adults identified as being at clinical high risk for psychosis, concurrent use of cannabis and tobacco—commonly called “co-use”—was linked to notably poorer cognitive performance compared with healthy control participants. Using an extensive … Read more

Summary: A new study uncovers a biological mechanism that links chronic viral infection to cognitive decline and accelerated aging. Researchers found that the breakdown of anti-inflammatory sugar molecules called glycans drives persistent systemic inflammation in people living with HIV. In preclinical models, drugs that block glycan-degrading enzymes preserved these protective sugars, reduced neuroinflammation, slowed markers … Read more

Summary: A Dartmouth study offers the first experimental evidence that an invertebrate can use a mirror as an abstract spatial tool to interpret its surroundings. The research shows that the California two-spot octopus (Octopus bimaculoides) can use mirror reflections to locate and intercept prey that is entirely out of its direct line of sight. By … Read more

Summary: Researchers have applied machine learning to detect hidden neurological warning signs in the brain’s resting electrical rhythms, eliminating the need to capture active seizures to support an epilepsy diagnosis. An advanced pattern-recognition algorithm can identify subtle electroencephalogram (EEG) abnormalities associated with a genetic form of epilepsy with high accuracy, opening a path toward earlier … Read more

Summary: A new theoretical framework at the intersection of neurophilosophy and cognitive neuroscience challenges the long-held idea that the brain makes decisions through a single, centralized cognitive stage between perception and action. Instead, the framework argues that what we call “decisions” are emergent descriptions of continuous, circular interactions among sensory, sensorimotor, and motor systems rather … Read more

Summary: A recent review traces a major shift in bioelectronics: moving from rigid silicon microchips to intrinsically soft, brain-inspired computing networks. For decades, the mismatch between stiff silicon devices and the flexible surfaces of human organs has caused tissue damage, device delamination, and premature failure. By developing malleable polymers and fluid ionogels that use organic … Read more

Summary: This pioneering functional neuroimaging study provides the first neurological evidence showing how reading medium—paper versus digital tablets—affects story comprehension. The research compares how the brain processes narrative integration when a story is read on paper versus on a digital device. Using functional MRI (fMRI) to measure local blood flow as a proxy for neural … Read more

Summary: Researchers have reversed structural brain abnormalities and improved autism-related behaviors in a validated mouse model of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The team identified a pronounced defect in the axon initial segment (AIS)—the neuronal region that initiates electrical action potentials—and used a targeted chemogenetic approach to restore AIS structure and rescue social and repetitive-behavior deficits. … Read more