Summary: Our memories don’t flow like a continuous stream—they’re divided into meaningful events, thanks to a tiny brain region called the locus coeruleus. New research shows this region acts like a “reset button,” activating at event boundaries to signal the hippocampus to store distinct memories.Using fMRI and pupil measurements, scientists...

Summary: Long-term musical training may help older adults maintain youthful brain patterns and better speech perception in noisy environments, according to new research. Scientists found that older musicians showed more efficient brain connectivity and better performance than non-musicians of the same age.This suggests that musical training builds cognitive reserve, preserving...

Summary: A new study reveals that childhood emotional trauma increases social avoidance and distress in adolescents, but resilience can help mitigate these effects. Surveying 577 junior high students, researchers found resilience acted as a buffer, enabling traumatized teens to engage more positively with peers.However, adolescents who grew up as “left-behind”...

Summary: Trained detection dogs can identify Parkinson’s disease (PD) with remarkable accuracy by sniffing skin swabs, according to a new study. In double-blind trials, the dogs achieved up to 80% sensitivity and 98% specificity, even when samples came from patients with other health conditions.This non-invasive method could help uncover reliable...

Summary: A large Danish study found that common infections during pregnancy, such as pneumonia and urinary tract infections, do not harm a child’s brain development or cognitive abilities later in life. Researchers analyzed data from over 270,000 children, comparing school exam results and intelligence test scores with records of maternal...

Summary: A new study explored how the hippocampus and insula interact during the encoding of emotional memories in humans. Sixteen participants with implanted electrodes viewed emotionally valenced words and attempted to recall them while neural activity was recorded.Certain insular neuronal populations showed distinct activity patterns that predicted successful memory encoding,...

Summary: Researchers have discovered hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the brain lining of individuals with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, suggesting a possible link between infection and psychiatric symptoms. The study found HCV specifically in the choroid plexus, a structure producing cerebrospinal fluid, but not inside brain tissue itself.Analysis of medical...

Summary: New research uncovers how a hormonally tuned brain circuit in mice governs sex-specific mating behaviors. Scientists identified a subset of neurons in the prefrontal cortex that integrate oxytocin, ovarian hormones, and social cues to modulate sexual receptivity in females and suppress mating interest in males.Activating these neurons made non-fertile...

Summary: Scientists have discovered that a locally developed cancer drug, PRL3-zumab, may offer a groundbreaking treatment for two major causes of blindness: wet age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy. Pre-clinical studies showed that intravenous PRL3-zumab reduced abnormal eye blood vessel leakage by 86% more than standard eye injections, with fewer...

Summary: New research shows that signs of Alzheimer’s disease can already be detected in the blood of people as young as their 40s. Finnish scientists found elevated Alzheimer’s-related biomarkers in middle-aged adults, especially among those with maternal history or kidney disease.These findings suggest that blood-based testing could one day allow...