Your Brain Quietly Rewires Itself at 9, 32, 66 and 83
Summary: 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. Beginning in the mid-60s, gradual declines in connectivity […]
Brains Sync Up When People Collaborate
Summary: A new study shows that when two people work together toward a shared goal, their brains begin to process information in increasingly similar ways. Using EEG recordings, researchers found that while all participants showed similar early responses to visual patterns, only collaborating pairs developed sustained neural alignment linked to the rules they agreed upon. […]
Young Adults With Obesity Show Early Signs of Brain Stress
Summary: New research shows that young adults with obesity already display biological patterns associated with liver stress, chronic inflammation, and early neural injury—changes typically seen in older adults with cognitive impairment. Participants with obesity also had unusually low blood choline levels, a nutrient critical for liver function, inflammation control, and long-term brain health. These low […]
How the Prefrontal Cortex Tunes What We See
Summary: New research shows that the prefrontal cortex doesn’t simply broadcast generic commands to sensory regions—it sends finely tailored signals that shape how the brain processes vision depending on arousal and movement. In mice, two prefrontal areas transmitted distinct information to both visual and motor cortices, sharpening or dampening visual responses depending on internal state. […]
Your Brain Has a Built-In Isolation Mode
Summary: New research uncovers the exact immune-to-brain pathway that drives the loss of social motivation during sickness. Scientists showed that when the cytokine IL-1β binds to receptors on neurons within the dorsal raphe nucleus, it activates a circuit that reduces social interaction. This pathway acts independently of lethargy, revealing that social withdrawal is an actively […]
Untreated Sleep Apnea Doubles Parkinson’s Risk
Summary: A large analysis of more than 11 million medical records found that people with untreated obstructive sleep apnea face a substantially higher risk of developing Parkinson’s disease over time. Even after accounting for factors like age, obesity, and cardiovascular conditions, those who did not use CPAP were nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed […]
Genes Behind Dog Behaviors Also Shape Human Emotions
Summary: Researchers analyzed the genomes and behavioral profiles of 1,300 golden retrievers and found that several behavioral traits—such as trainability, fear of strangers, and aggression toward other dogs—are shaped by specific genetic variants. Remarkably, a dozen of these same genes also influence emotional and cognitive traits in humans, revealing shared biological roots across species. The […]
Gene Discovery Reveals Hidden Risk Pathway for Delirium
Summary: A massive genetic analysis of over one million people has revealed that APOE, long known for its role in Alzheimer’s disease, also independently increases a person’s risk of delirium. The researchers found that this effect cannot be explained solely by dementia, showing that APOE directly contributes to delirium vulnerability in otherwise cognitively healthy individuals. […]
Thought Begins Before We’re Born
Summary: 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. The organoids produced complex activity signatures resembling […]
Genetics Point to a New Type of Suicide Risk
Summary: New research shows that many people who die by suicide without prior suicidal thoughts or behaviors are not simply “missed cases”—they may have an entirely different underlying risk profile. Genetic analyses of more than 2,700 deaths revealed that these individuals carry fewer genetic risk factors for major psychiatric conditions compared to those with known […]