Summary: For years, neuroscientists have prioritized the strongest 10% of brain connections in imaging studies and treated the remaining 90% as background “noise.” A recent study from Yale shows that those weaker connections—the ones usually discarded—can predict behavior just as well as, and sometimes better than, the strongest signals. The study indicates that predictive information … Read more

Summary: For years, neuroscientists have prioritized the strongest 10% of brain connectivity signals and dismissed the remainder as “noise.” A new large-scale study shows that the other 90%—the connections typically discarded—can predict behavior just as accurately, and sometimes even better. The results indicate that predictive information is distributed widely across the brain rather than concentrated … Read more

Summary: New research indicates that balance and walking problems seen in Alzheimer’s disease may not always start in the brain. Instead, these symptoms can originate in the peripheral nervous system, where nerves connect to muscles. Using advanced “human-on-a-chip” technology, researchers showed that genetic mutations linked to familial Alzheimer’s can directly impair the nerve-to-muscle connection, independently … Read more

Summary: New research indicates that balance and walking problems seen in Alzheimer’s disease may originate in the peripheral nervous system rather than solely from brain degeneration. Using a lab-grown “human-on-a-chip” neuromuscular model, researchers show that genetic mutations linked to familial Alzheimer’s can directly damage the nerve-to-muscle connection, independent of the brain and spinal cord. Key … Read more

Summary: Aging weakens the blood-forming system by impairing hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which reduces immune competence and biases blood production toward inflammatory myeloid cells. A recent study identifies the protein MLKL as a surprising driver of this decline: beyond its established role in necroptosis, MLKL can act non-lethally to damage mitochondria in HSCs and accelerate … Read more

Summary: As we grow older, the hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) that generate our blood and support the immune system gradually lose function. That decline weakens immunity and skews blood production toward inflammatory myeloid cells. A new study identifies an unexpected driver of this process: the protein MLKL. MLKL is best known for executing necroptosis, a … Read more

Summary: For women with epilepsy who take antiseizure medications (ASMs), the timing of high-dose folic acid supplementation can meaningfully reduce the risk of major congenital anomalies in their children. A large Nordic register-based study finds that initiating high-dose folic acid before pregnancy—specifically in the 12 weeks before conception—was associated with about a 45% relative reduction … Read more

Summary: For women with epilepsy who take antiseizure medications (ASMs), the timing of folic acid supplementation is critically important. A large Nordic register-based study shows that initiating high-dose folic acid before pregnancy reduces the risk of major congenital anomalies by about 45% compared with not taking high-dose folic acid. Starting supplementation after pregnancy begins did … Read more

Summary: Could the bacterial community in your gut influence how you respond to sudden stress? New research from the University of Vienna provides evidence that variations in the human gut microbiome are linked to acute stress reactivity in healthy adults. The study found that people with greater gut microbial diversity tended to show stronger hormonal … Read more

Summary: Does the collection of microbes living in your gut influence how you respond to sudden pressure or threat? New research from the University of Vienna strengthens the evidence that the human gut microbiome is closely linked to acute stress reactivity. The study found that healthy adults with greater gut microbial diversity showed stronger hormonal … Read more