Speaking Multiple Languages May Slow Down Biological Aging
Summary: A large-scale study of more than 86,000 Europeans found that speaking multiple languages may help slow biological and cognitive aging. Using artificial intelligence to assess “biobehavioral age gaps,” researchers discovered that multilingual individuals were over twice as likely to show signs of healthy aging compared to monolinguals. The benefits were cumulative—the more languages a […]
Genome Study Reveals True Genetic Influence on Traits
Summary: Using full genome sequencing data from more than 347,000 individuals, researchers quantified how much genetic differences explain human traits such as height, body mass index, fertility, and disease risk. The results show that genes account for roughly 30% of the variation between individuals, with higher estimates for traits like height and lower for fertility. […]
Rivalry Rewires the Brain: Why Fans Lose Control in an Instant
Summary: New brain-imaging research shows that soccer fans experience rapid shifts in reward and self-control circuits when their team wins or loses against a rival. Victories trigger heightened reward responses, while defeats suppress the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, the brain region responsible for regulating emotion and behavior. Highly fanatic fans show the strongest imbalance, offering […]
Estrogen Shapes Dopamine Reward Learning
Summary: A new study shows that estrogen naturally modulates dopamine signaling in the brain, altering how female rats learn reward cues across the reproductive cycle. When estrogen levels were high, dopamine responses in the reward center intensified, improving learning. When estrogen signaling was suppressed, reward learning weakened, revealing a direct biological link between hormones and […]
Everyday Speech May Reveal Early Cognitive Decline
Summary: Researchers found that everyday speech timing — including pauses, fillers, and subtle patterns — strongly reflects executive function, a key cognitive system that supports memory and flexible thinking. Using AI to analyze natural speech, the study showed that these linguistic features can predict cognitive-test performance independent of age, sex, or education. Because speech is […]
AI Models Form Theory-of-Mind Beliefs
Summary: Researchers showed that large language models use a small, specialized subset of parameters to perform Theory-of-Mind reasoning, despite activating their full network for every task. This sparse internal circuitry depends heavily on positional encoding, especially rotary positional encoding, which shapes how the model tracks beliefs and perspectives. Because humans perform these social inferences with […]
Stress Undermines Brain Circulation, Increase Dementia Risk
Summary: Researchers found that a rare class of neurons—type-one nNOS neurons—plays a central role in regulating brain blood flow and coordinating neural activity in mice. Removing these stress-vulnerable cells caused major drops in vessel oscillations and widespread reductions in electrical signaling, suggesting a crucial link between neuron loss, blood-flow decline, and brain-function impairment. Because these […]
Autism and ADHD Brain Patterns Reveal Shared Biological Roots
Summary: 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. These connectivity differences also mapped onto gene-expression profiles […]
Low Choline Could Be a Hidden Driver of Anxiety
Summary: A large meta-analysis of 25 studies found that people with anxiety disorders have significantly lower levels of choline, a vital brain nutrient, compared to individuals without anxiety. This reduction was especially pronounced in the prefrontal cortex, which helps regulate emotion and behavior. The findings point to a potential biological signature of anxiety disorders and […]
Why the Brain Struggles to Switch Between Learned Motor Skills
Summary: A new study shows that people often struggle to switch between familiar motor skills and newly learned movement patterns, leading to predictable errors. Volunteers tended to stick with the previous movement strategy even when instructed to switch, revealing how deeply motor habits persist. Switching between two newly learned motor skills was initially even harder, […]