Summary: A recent study presented at SLEEP 2026 identifies a strong psychological driver of chronic sleep problems and related declines in physical health. Researchers found that “age discrepancy” — the gap between how old a person feels (subjective age) and their chronological age — reliably predicts worse sleep outcomes, including more severe insomnia symptoms, irregular … Read more
Summary: Researchers have built one of the largest reference models ever created for the human brain. Using diffusion MRI scans from 54,583 individuals across 19 international datasets, the team produced definitive lifespan “growth and decline charts” for white matter microstructure that track how the brain’s communication pathways develop, mature, and deteriorate. By measuring how water … Read more
Summary: A pioneering functional neuroimaging study offers the first neurological evidence of how reading medium alters story comprehension. Researchers compared brain activity when people read narrative content on paper versus digital tablets to see how each medium affects integration and recall of story elements. Using functional MRI (fMRI) to measure localized blood flow as an … Read more
Summary: A new cognitive evaluation of artificial intelligence reveals a systemic weakness in transformer-based attention. Researchers administered the classic Stroop task to leading large language models (LLMs) — including GPT-4o, GPT-5, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Claude Opus 4.1, and Gemini 2.5 — and found that machine attention collapses under increasing sequence length, producing near-total failures when … Read more
Summary: Researchers have uncovered a previously unknown molecular pathway that controls brain plasticity during early life and explains how critical periods close. The new work shows that the stress hormone cortisol functions like a biological clock: when released in response to sensory experience, it triggers a gene program in astrocytes that accelerates maturation of the … Read more
Summary: A precision hearing and audiology study has clarified the biological mechanisms behind “The Hum” — an enigmatic, low-frequency buzzing reported by people in coastal and densely populated cities worldwide. The research investigated whether the phenomenon arises from unusually sensitive low-frequency hearing, measurable emissions produced by the ear itself, or a purely internal auditory perception. … Read more
Summary: A new clinical overview challenges the scientific consensus on long-term antidepressant use, identifying a fundamental flaw in many relapse-prevention trials. The review finds that severe withdrawal symptoms—such as anxiety and insomnia—are often wrongly classified as a return of depression, inflating the perceived benefits of continued medication. Key Facts The 12-month evidence gap: The review … Read more
Summary: A new study identifies the core cognitive engine behind human creativity and technological progress: semantic knowledge. This internal map of how concepts relate and can be applied is shown to be an essential precondition for meaningful invention. Combining computational models of cultural development with a large human experiment involving more than 1,200 participants, the … Read more
Summary: A novel scientific partnership has launched a program to mathematically analyze the human psychedelic experience. Described in a recently posted scientific preprint, the project centers on N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and seeks to build a quantitative framework for altered states of consciousness. The collaboration combines an advanced intravenous protocol that lengthens the normally brief DMT episode … Read more
Summary: A precision systems neuroscience and optical neuroimaging study has solved a basic biological puzzle: how and why animals decide to approach others. Using single-cell resolution imaging in zebrafish, researchers show that social approaches are not spontaneous. Instead, they are preceded by a coordinated, whole-brain transition that begins several seconds before any movement. By mapping … Read more
