Latest

obesity

This shows a young girl sleeping with a teddy bear

Featured Neuroscience

·August 13, 2019·2 min read

The mystery of why we sleep

Researchers shed light on why we need to sleep and discuss the effects of sleep deprivation.

Featured Neuroscience

·August 6, 2019·5 min read

Sleep interrupted: What’s keeping us up at night?

Consuming nicotine and alcohol four hours before bedtime causes worse sleep continuity and sleep disruptions. Surprisingly, researchers found no link between caffeine consumption four hours before sleep and sleep disturbances for most people.

This is a cartoon of a woman jogging on a treadmill

Featured Genetics Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·August 4, 2019·3 min read

Jogging and five other exercises ward off weight gain despite ‘obesity genes’

For those with a genetic predisposition to obesity, partaking in six specific types of exercise can help combat weight gain. Jogging, yoga, power walking, certain types of dancing and mountain climbing can help reduce BMI in those with a predisposition to obesity. Surprisingly, cycling, swimming, and games like Dance Dance Revolution did not counteract the genetic effects on obesity.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·July 26, 2019·5 min read

Meal timing strategies appear to lower appetite and improve fat burning

Utilizing mealtime strategies, such as intermittent fasting or early eating, can help improve fat burning and reduce appetite. Those who practice early eating restricted feeding strategies had lower levels of ghrelin and improved fat burning.

Featured Neuroscience

·July 25, 2019·4 min read

Extra weight in 60s may be linked to brain thinning years later

A higher BMI and bigger waist during your sixties have been linked to an increase in cortical thinning. Having a thinner cortex has previously been associated with an increased Alzheimer's risk.

Featured Neuroscience

·July 9, 2019·2 min read

Blue light at night increases the consumption of sweets: Rat study

Rats exposed to blue light at night were more prone to indulge in sugary snacks than regular foods.

This shows the researchers with a guitar and basketballs

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·July 6, 2019·6 min read

Supervised fun and exercise both provide psychosocial benefit to children with obesity

While exercise alone may improve health and reduce weight in children at risk of obesity, it does not always improve psychosocial health. Overweight children who participated in regular supervised sedentary activities, such as playing board games or painting, showed improvements in depressive symptoms and anger reduction. Combining exercise with sedentary activities could help improve mood and combat obesity.

This shows a person at different levels of obesity

Featured Genetics Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·June 28, 2019·4 min read

What made humans ‘the fat primate’?

Early humans underwent critical shifts in how DNA was packaged inside fat cells. As a result, the human body's ability to turn "bad" fat into "good", calorie burning fat was reduced.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·June 27, 2019·4 min read

Weight gain and high BMI linked to lower risk of ALS

While being overweight may be bad for your general health, researchers discovered an association with higher body mass index (BMI) and a reduced risk of developing ALS. Those with a BMI considered to be in the obese range had a 31% reduced risk of developing ALS, while those considered overweight had an 18% lower risk.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles

·June 25, 2019·3 min read

These neurons affect how much you do, or don’t, want to eat

Neurons in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) appear to regulate food intake. The neurons appear to form part of a network that controls appetite loss in mice.

Featured Neuroscience

·June 24, 2019·2 min read

Researchers identify new hunger pathway in the brain

Newly identified network in the hypothalamus alters feeding behaviors on a shorter timescale. The pathway affects food intake and body weight by releasing GABA, which may occur due to the detection, and not the consumption of food.