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brain development

This shows DNA and other cellular factors associated with ASD.

·December 10, 2025·9 min read

Many Autism Cases May Be Preventable

A new study proposes that autism arises when genetic vulnerability, an early environmental trigger, and prolonged activation of the cellular stress response align during critical developmental windows. This “three-hit” metabolic model reframes autism as a disorder of disrupted cellular communication and energy metabolism rather than an inevitable genetic outcome.

This shows the outline of a child's head.

Featured Neuroscience

·December 8, 2025·6 min read

Extreme Heat Linked to Delays in Early Childhood Development

Young children exposed to unusually high temperatures are less likely to reach basic developmental milestones in literacy and numeracy. Analyzing data from over 19,000 children across multiple countries, the study found that average maximum temperatures above 86 °F were associated with measurable declines in early learning outcomes.

This shows a child reaching to touch neurons.

Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·December 3, 2025·6 min read

Early-Life Stimulation Switches On a Molecular Code for Memory

New research shows that childhood environments shape lifelong memory through a single molecular switch that controls learning-related gene activity. In animal models, enriched early experiences activated this switch, strengthening neural circuits involved in memory and cognition, while deprived environments suppressed it.

Featured Neuroscience

·December 1, 2025·5 min read

Smelling Fatty Foods in Pregnancy May Raise Obesity Risk in Children

New research shows that exposure to the smell of fatty foods during pregnancy and early life can reprogram the developing brain and increase the risk of obesity and insulin resistance in adulthood. Even when mothers consumed a healthy low-fat diet, the presence of fatty food odors altered how offspring responded to high-fat foods later.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 25, 2025·8 min read

Your Brain Quietly Rewires Itself at 9, 32, 66 and 83

Researchers identified five major phases of human brain wiring that unfold from birth to old age, marked by four major turning points at ages 9, 32, 66, and 83. Childhood and adolescence are periods of rapid reorganization, while adulthood brings a long plateau of structural stability.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 24, 2025·7 min read

Thought Begins Before We’re Born

New research using human brain organoids shows that early neural activity follows structured, time-based patterns long before sensory experience begins. These findings suggest the human brain comes preconfigured with a built-in “operating system” for organizing information, rather than relying solely on external input to form its circuits.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 21, 2025·5 min read

What Triggers Tantrums? Sensory Overload May Be To Blame

New research reveals a distinct brain activity signature in children who become overwhelmed by sensory input such as noise, touch, or bright lights. Using functional MRI, scientists found that overly sensitive children show reduced activation in outward-facing sensory and motor networks while increasing activation in inward-focused networks tied to cognition and impulse control.

This shows a boy and a girl, and their brains.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 21, 2025·6 min read

Early Brain Activity Differences Predict Addiction Risk in Boys vs Girls

A large-scale analysis of nearly 1,900 children found that those with a family history of substance use disorder show early differences in how their brains transition between activity states, long before any drug exposure. Girls with family history showed increased transition energy in introspective networks, suggesting greater difficulty shifting out of internal, stress-linked states.

This shows a stressed mom and teething baby.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·November 19, 2025·7 min read

Maternal Stress Speeds Up Baby Teething

New research shows that infants whose mothers had higher cortisol levels during late pregnancy experience significantly earlier eruption of primary teeth. Babies of mothers with the highest cortisol levels had, on average, four more teeth by six months than those of mothers with the lowest levels.

Autism Featured Genetics Neuroscience

·November 11, 2025·6 min read

Autism and ADHD Brain Patterns Reveal Shared Biological Roots

A new study shows that autism symptom severity, rather than a formal diagnosis, aligns with shared brain-connectivity patterns across children diagnosed with autism or ADHD. Stronger autistic traits were linked to heightened connectivity between frontoparietal and default-mode networks, regions central to social cognition and executive functions.

This shows a baby looking at a screen and sound waves.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 10, 2025·4 min read

Babies’ Brains Tune In to Mom’s Voice and Shift How They See New Faces

New findings show that seven-month-old infants are finely tuned to their mothers’ voices, displaying stronger neural tracking than when hearing strangers. When a stranger’s voice accompanied an unfamiliar face, babies’ brains showed enhanced processing of that face, suggesting maternal speech shifts how infants allocate attention.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·November 5, 2025·6 min read

Early Trauma Hardwires the Brain for Aggression and Self-Harm

A new study reveals that aggression and self-harm share a biological foundation in the brain’s response to early-life trauma. Researchers discovered that trauma increases activity in calcium channels within a neural circuit connecting the nucleus reuniens and hippocampus, amplifying pain processing and impulsive behavior.