Advanced brain imaging and predictive analytics reveal reduced blood flow in specific regions of the brain in former and current NFL players, and link these changes to cognitive and behavioral problems, reports the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. The identification of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) in autopsy studies of former National Football League (NFL) players has … Read more

Delayed Word Processing on EEG May Predict Alzheimer’s Risk in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment Summary: Researchers at the University of Birmingham report that a delayed neural response to written words, detected by EEG, could indicate a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease among people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Source: University of Birmingham Overview … Read more

Summary: About one hundred specialized hair cells in the inner ear, called stereocilia, may act like biological compass needles, enabling animals to detect the direction of Earth’s magnetic field with high precision. Source: Springer The exact biophysical mechanisms that allow animals to sense the direction of the Earth’s magnetic field have remained elusive. One prominent … Read more

Summary: Chronic activation of microglia drives a subset of these immune cells into a senescent state, which accelerates the buildup of amyloid-beta in the brain and influences the earliest phases of Alzheimer’s disease progression. Source: University of Southampton Researchers have identified a small but pivotal population of brain immune cells—microglia—that appear to play a central … Read more

Summary: Researchers have identified a fundamental aspect of early visual experience: very young infants encounter a distinctive “visual diet” dominated by simple, high-contrast edges and patterns found in everyday settings. These basic visual features appear to shape the earliest stages of visual development. Using small, head-mounted cameras worn by infants, the research team captured and … Read more

Summary: MIT neuroscientists report that the common anesthetic propofol produces unconsciousness by pushing the brain out of its narrow operating range between stability and excitability. Rather than simply quieting neural activity, propofol disrupts the brain’s ability to return to baseline after perturbations, producing progressively unstable dynamics that culminate in loss of consciousness. These findings clarify … Read more

Childhood Recurrent Abdominal Pain Linked to Fasting Behaviours in Adolescence, Study Finds Summary: Children aged 7 to 9 who experience recurring abdominal pain are more likely to adopt fasting and other weight-control behaviours by age 16. Source: Oxford University New research indicates that children who suffer from recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) may be at increased … Read more

Summary: Using depth electrodes implanted in patients with epilepsy, researchers tracked the rapid spread of neural activity underlying exogenous attention—the automatic reorientation of focus triggered by external events. By recording from roughly 1,400 intracortical contacts across 28 individuals, the study reveals how attention unfolds across a continuum of cortical networks, moving from early visual processing … Read more

Summary: Cognitive shortcuts help explain why some people resist or inconsistently follow public health recommendations such as masking and vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic. Source: University of Notre Dame If close friends or family who contracted COVID-19 experienced only mild illness and recovered quickly, or if someone nearby had an adverse vaccine reaction, your mind … Read more

For teens, assaults, sports and vehicle crashes lead; for young children, falls are the primary cause of head injuries A large prospective study evaluating more than 43,000 children with head trauma provides one of the most detailed pictures to date of how pediatric head injuries occur and how often they result in significant brain injury, … Read more