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Neurology

·May 19, 2025·6 min read

Sound-Powered Microbubbles Halt Brain Lesion Growth

A new, noninvasive technique using focused ultrasound and microbubbles has halted the growth of cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs) in mice, offering hope for safer treatment options. CCMs are abnormal clusters of blood vessels in the brain that can cause serious symptoms, often treated with risky surgery or radiation.

This shows an older man sitting and brains.

Featured Genetics Neurology Neuroscience

·May 18, 2025·4 min read

Sitting for Hours May Shrink the Brain

Prolonged sedentary behavior in adults over 50 is linked to cognitive decline and brain shrinkage in regions vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease. Even among those who exercise regularly, spending more time sitting was associated with worse cognitive outcomes.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·May 18, 2025·5 min read

Type 2 Diabetes Linked to Brain Thinning

A new study reveals that type 2 diabetes is associated with thinning of the brain’s cortex in older adults, particularly in regions responsible for memory and cognition. Using brain scans from a diverse population sample, researchers found that poor blood sugar control may contribute to this structural brain change.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·May 17, 2025·5 min read

Inflammation Tied to Motivation Loss in Schizophrenia

A new study has uncovered a biological link between inflammation and motivational deficits in people with schizophrenia, identifying a promising treatment target for symptoms that current medications fail to address. Higher levels of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein were associated with reduced activity in brain regions involved in reward and motivation, such as the ventral striatum and ventromedial prefrontal cortex.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Psychology

·May 17, 2025·5 min read

Midlife Cortisol Levels Linked to Alzheimer’s Risk

A new study finds that elevated cortisol levels in midlife are linked to increased brain amyloid deposition—a key marker of Alzheimer’s disease—specifically in post-menopausal women. Researchers tracked 305 cognitively healthy individuals over 15 years and discovered that high cortisol predicted amyloid buildup later in life, but only among women who had gone through menopause.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·May 17, 2025·6 min read

Babies Fight COVID Differently Than Anyone Else

Infants hospitalized with severe COVID-19 mount an immune response that looks entirely different from that of adults or older children. Researchers found both interferon responses and inflammation were elevated simultaneously—something never before observed in other viral infections.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Pain

·May 17, 2025·4 min read

Tylenol Targets Pain Through Unexpected Endocannabinoid Pathway

A new study reveals that acetaminophen (Tylenol) relieves pain by reducing levels of an endocannabinoid called 2-AG, rather than increasing it as previously thought. This discovery challenges decades-old assumptions about how pain relief works and may open the door to designing safer, more targeted medications.

Featured Genetics Neurology Neuroscience

·May 17, 2025·5 min read

Alzheimer’s Disrupts the Whole Body, Not Just the Brain

Alzheimer’s disease is traditionally seen as a brain disorder, but new research using fruit flies reveals that it also affects organs and tissues throughout the body. Scientists created an Alzheimer’s Disease Fly Cell Atlas to profile gene expression across 219 cell types in flies expressing human Alzheimer’s proteins.

Featured Genetics Neurology Neuroscience

·May 16, 2025·4 min read

Clues in Spinal Fluid Could Unlock Early FTD Diagnosis

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a common form of early-onset dementia, is often misdiagnosed due to its overlapping symptoms with psychiatric and neurological disorders. In a new NIH-funded study, researchers identified key protein changes in spinal fluid that may serve as the first specific biomarkers for FTD in living patients.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·May 16, 2025·5 min read

Surprising Diabetes Fix Found in the Brain

New research reveals that hyperactivity in a specific set of brain cells, AgRP neurons in the hypothalamus, plays a key role in type 2 diabetes—independent of obesity. When these neurons were silenced in diabetic mice, blood sugar normalized for months, even without changes in weight or food intake. This challenges long-standing beliefs that obesity and insulin resistance are the sole drivers of diabetes.

Brain Cancer Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·May 15, 2025·4 min read

Gabapentin Linked to Longer Survival in Glioblastoma Brain Cancer

A new study suggests that gabapentin, a widely used anti-seizure medication, may improve survival in patients with glioblastoma (GBM), the deadliest form of brain cancer. Researchers found that GBM patients taking gabapentin lived several months longer than those who did not, across two independent hospital datasets.

Featured Neuroscience

·May 15, 2025·4 min read

Spreading Brain Waves Drain Neuron Energy

Researchers have, for the first time, tracked how individual neurons lose and recover energy during spreading depolarizations — waves of electrical disturbance linked to brain disorders like stroke. Using genetically modified mice and real-time fluorescent microscopy, the team visualized adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels in neurons under both healthy and stroke-like conditions.