Tag

Brain

All articles tagged with #brain

health6 hours ago•5 min saved

Midlife brain-immune shift linked to higher dementia risk

A study of postmortem hippocampus tissue from 40 adults suggests that after about age 50 the brain’s resident immune cells (microglia) are increasingly replaced by blood-derived immune cells carrying stronger inflammatory signals, potentially driving neuroinflammation and dementia risk. The researchers also reported deterioration of blood-brain barrier–related cells and DNA/gene activity changes. While the findings hint at new therapeutic directions, the study’s small sample size and postmortem design mean it cannot establish causation or guide lifestyle changes.

via New York Post|

#aging #alzheimers-disease #brain

wellbeing9 hours ago•20 min saved

Ten minutes of easy running can sharpen the brain and lift mood

A Washington Post Well+Being report suggests that a brief, easy 10‑minute run can improve thinking skills and mood, indicating that short, low‑effort workouts may still benefit brain health without feeling taxing.

via The Washington Post|

#brain #cognition #fitness

health23 hours ago•2 min saved

New study flags widespread CTE risk among former NFL players who died (2016–2021)

A study of 878 former NFL players who died from 2016–2021 found 235 brains were donated, with 215 showing CTE—roughly one in four—highlighting that most head trauma occurred before NFL play and urging broader prevention and evaluation for cognitive symptoms across all levels of football.

via NBC News|

#brain #cte #dementia

science4 days ago•45 min saved

Consciousness Could Be Universal, Not Brain-Born, Says Neuroscientist

Prominent neuroscientist Christof Koch argues that consciousness may be a fundamental aspect of reality rather than solely produced by the brain, challenging the long-held brain-centric view. In an unpublished ScienceAlert essay, he calls for rethinking baseline assumptions, exploring a mind-at-large, and translating these ideas into empirically testable hypotheses about consciousness.

via Yahoo|

#brain #christof-koch #consciousness

science5 days ago•53 min saved

Lab-Grown Brain Organoids Track Time and Retain Developmental Memory

Scientists have created long-lived brain-like organoids that can sense the passage of time and preserve a cellular memory of their developmental age. These organoids remain alive for nearly six years—the longest observed—showing ongoing maturation across cell types and even retaining developmental history when older and younger cells are reassembled into chimeroids. Using epigenetic clocks, researchers demonstrated aging patterns similar to real brains, suggesting a cell-intrinsic clock. The work, published in Nature by Faravelli and Bolaños, offers a new platform to study human brain maturation and neoteny in vitro.

via Yahoo|

#brain #chimeroids #maturation

science5 days ago•5 min saved

Lab-Grown Brain Organoids Reveal Time Memory and Long-Term Maturation

Researchers have created brain organoids that can sense the passage of time, retain a developmental age, and remain viable for up to six years in culture. Using epigenetic clocks and experiments where different-aged organoid components were reassembled into “chimeroids,” the study shows cells preserve a memory of their maturation history and can influence the pace of development, providing a powerful model for studying human brain maturation and neoteny in vitro.

via ScienceAlert|

#aging #brain #epigenetics

life-style-health-and-families6 days ago•16 min saved

When the brain’s predictions go wrong: understanding functional neurological disorder

Functional neurological disorder (FND) causes real, disabling symptoms like weakness or seizures even when brain tests are normal. Brain networks and predictive processing may misread signals, leading the brain to rely on prior expectations and produce symptoms; stigma and misdiagnosis persist, but multidisciplinary care can retrain brain networks and help recovery when patients are believed.

via The Independent|

#brain #functional-neurological-disorder #life-style-health-and-families

health9 days ago•43 min saved

Alzheimer’s Sleep Breakthrough: Blocking Brain Immune Cells Reverses Sleep Loss in Mice

UK researchers found microglia drive sleep loss in an Alzheimer's mouse model; temporarily removing these brain immune cells with the drug PLX3397 for 14 days restored more than two hours of restorative sleep, without reducing amyloid plaques, suggesting inflammation—not plaques alone—drives sleep disruption and offering a new target for therapies and potential EEG-based biomarkers.

via Good News Network|

#alzheimers #brain #health

science12 days ago•5 min saved

Tiny Brain Cells, Big Computations: Human Neurons as Deep Processors

A Hebrew University-led study reports that individual human cortical neurons perform far more complex computations than those in other mammals, acting like tiny deep processors due to their dendritic structure and nonlinearities. By pairing computer modeling with AI to test how hard it would be for an artificial network to mimic a neuron’s response, researchers found human neurons carry out sophisticated computations—enabling capabilities linked to language, imagination, and math—and suggest intelligence arises as much from neuron complexity as sheer numbers. The work offers a framework connecting neuronal structure to computing power and could influence future AI design toward deeper, brain-like units.

via ScienceDaily|

#artificial-intelligence #brain #cognition

science13 days ago•2 min saved

Crocodile Brains Unchanged for 100 Million Years, Study Finds

Researchers used CT scans to examine 43 crocodilian species (both living and extinct) and found that the brains and inner-ear structures have changed very little over about 100 million years, suggesting an exceptionally effective brain design that helped these reptiles endure climate shifts and mass extinctions.

via BBC Wildlife Magazine|

#brain #crocodiles #ct-scan

health13 days ago•10 min saved

Estrogen-only HRT linked to lower dementia risk in older women, study finds

A study of more than 20,000 women found that oestrogen-only hormone replacement therapy used later in life was associated with significantly lower odds of a clinical dementia diagnosis (about 39% reduced risk) and 33% lower odds of memory/functional decline, with post-mortem data showing 35% fewer biological signs of Alzheimer’s in users. Experts caution the findings show association, not causation, and the results largely reflect women who had a hysterectomy around age 70—not representative of current HRT use—so larger, more diverse studies are needed. In the meantime, general dementia prevention steps (regular exercise, not smoking, limiting alcohol) remain important.

via independent.co.uk|

#aging #alzheimers-disease #brain

neuroscience13 days ago•10 min saved

Brain blends goals to pursue multiple aims simultaneously

A Nature Briefing reports that humans can pursue several goals at once by blending strategies. Using control theory applied to a simple video game, researchers identified a trio of brain regions that coordinate to implement compositional control, illuminating how the brain can concurrently pursue multiple objectives.

via nature.com|

#brain #compositional-control #control-theory

health16 days ago•57 min saved

Midlife TV Binging Linked to Later Brain Shrinkage, Study Finds

A USC study of about 1,700 adults (average enrollment age ~53) found that those who reported watching TV very often in midlife had smaller memory-related brain regions and broader brain-structure changes two decades later, including smaller frontal and occipital lobes and more white matter damage. These changes persisted after accounting for physical activity and other risk factors; other sedentary activities did not show the same pattern. While observational, the findings suggest what you do while sitting (TV viewing) may influence brain health, and more research is needed to test causation and whether replacing TV time with cognitively engaging activities helps preserve brain health.

via aol.com|

#aging #brain #health

neuroscience17 days ago•25 min saved

MRI Review Finds COVID-19 Ties to Widespread Brain Changes

A systematic review of 49 brain-imaging studies finds that COVID-19 is associated with widespread structural and functional brain changes, including reduced gray matter in frontal/temporal/parietal regions, white-matter integrity loss, altered resting-state connectivity in limbic networks, and reduced cerebral blood flow, changes that may relate to brain fog and fatigue. However, most studies are cross-sectional with no pre-infection baselines, making causality and persistence uncertain; long-term, whole-brain research is needed to determine if these changes are permanent or reversible.

via PsyPost|

#brain #covid-19 #gray-matter

anthropology19 days ago•8 min saved

Sugar-Fueled Brain: A Fresh Take on Early Human Evolution

A new Science study argues that dietary sugars—glucose from fruit, honey, and later cooked starches—likely powered the energy demands of the expanding human brain over the last ~4 million years, suggesting carbohydrates played a central role alongside meat in human evolution, with meat remaining part of the picture.

via Sci.News|

#anthropology #brain #carbohydrates