Summary: Researchers investigate why men generally find women with lower waist-to-hip ratios (WHR) more attractive and sexually appealing. Source: Frontiers Male turkeys famously try to mate with a head on a stick. In the same spirit, male preferences can sometimes be reduced to a single visible cue. How far can human ideals of an attractive … Read more

Summary: Researchers used machine learning to detect cross-linguistic speech patterns in children on the autism spectrum, identifying prosodic features—especially rhythm—that appear consistent across English and Cantonese. Source: Northwestern University Researchers at Northwestern University led a study that applied machine learning to identify speech characteristics associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that are shared between English … Read more

UCL neuroscientists demonstrate that single neurons and even single dendrites can distinguish different temporal input sequences Researchers at University College London have shown that an individual neuron—and in some cases a single dendrite—can reliably tell apart different orders of incoming signals. This discovery, published in Science by scientists at the Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research, … Read more

Summary: A new study finds that long-term exposure to high levels of road traffic noise is linked to a higher risk of obesity. Source: ISGLOBAL. Long-term exposure to road traffic noise appears to increase the likelihood of obesity, according to a study that included researchers from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal). The findings … Read more

Summary: Researchers found that, on average, women who engage in self-injury tolerate more pain than those who do not. Brain imaging showed stronger connectivity between regions that perceive pain and regions that regulate or dampen pain signals, suggesting a more effective pain-modulation system in people who self-harm. Source: Karolinska Institute Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in … Read more

Summary: Children and adolescents from racial and ethnic minority groups—particularly Black youth—are disproportionately affected by insomnia that begins in childhood and persists into young adulthood. This long-term study highlights the chronic nature of childhood-onset insomnia and its association with serious health risks, including cardiometabolic disease and mental health disorders, underscoring the need for early identification … Read more

CHOP scientists help lead research pointing to new targets for more effective childhood epilepsy treatments. An international team of researchers has identified multiple gene mutations that underlie severe, treatment-resistant forms of childhood epilepsy. Many of these mutations interfere with synaptic function—the specialized junctions where neurons communicate—highlighting the synapse as a key area for future therapies. … Read more

Summary: New research from the University of Colorado Boulder shows that consuming a high-fat diet can alter the gut microbiome, change behavior, and affect brain chemistry in ways that may increase anxiety. In an animal model, rats fed a diet high in saturated fat developed less diverse gut bacterial communities and showed increased expression of … Read more

Summary: A new study links low maternal thyroxine levels during pregnancy to a higher risk of schizophrenia in offspring. Source: Elsevier Researchers report that low free thyroxine levels during early to mid-gestation are associated with increased odds of schizophrenia in children. Low circulating free thyroxine during pregnancy—referred to as hypothyroxinemia—has previously been tied to altered … Read more

Summary: An international research consortium has identified a quantitative biomarker in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that markedly improves diagnostic accuracy for Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia (LBD). The protein DOPA decarboxylase (DDC), essential to dopamine synthesis, was found at substantially higher concentrations in affected patients and can reliably distinguish these disorders from Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers … Read more