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Brain scans find no evidence of widespread inflammation in long COVID

A new brain imaging study has found no evidence of widespread brain inflammation in patients suffering from prolonged symptoms after COVID-19 infection. Instead, the most severe long COVID symptoms were associated with increased brain activity in regions involved in mood and emotion.

22 May 2026

Anxiety and depression linked to mirror opposite sides of the brain's emotional center

A longitudinal study tracking children over a period of seven years identified distinct brain-wave patterns emerging from age 9 can forecast a child's vulnerability to anxiety or depression by age 13.

20 May 2026

How does the brain recognize new faces and places in milliseconds?

This Communications Biology study used intracranial EEG in 22 epilepsy patients to map how the human brain processes new images of faces and places within milliseconds.. It found that visual information flows from the occipital cortex through parallel dorsal and ventral pathways toward frontal and limbic regions, with distinct timing patterns for faces and places.

19 May 2026

Timing of trauma strongly influences adult brain function and behavior

A research team from the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT-Italian Institute of Technology), in collaboration with the IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini in Genoa (Italy), has demonstrated that traumatic experiences occurring at specific stages of life - particularly from childhood through the early years following adolescence - have persistent effects on brain development and adult behavior.

12 May 2026

GLP-1 drugs may reshape how brain values rewarding foods

A new study from the University of Virginia reveals that a widely used class of weight-loss drugs does more than suppress appetite-it directly alters brain circuits that control motivation and reward.

6 May 2026

GLP-1 weight-loss drugs modulate brain reward circuits to suppress eating for pleasure

A National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study has found that an emerging class of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs suppress eating for pleasure, or hedonic feeding, in mice by modulating a reward circuit deep within the brain.

6 May 2026

Teen cannabis use alters brain development and raises addiction risk

A systematic review reveals adolescent cannabis use alters brain structure, elevates addiction risk, and impacts cognitive outcomes during critical development.

29 Apr 2026

Stronger slow-wave sleep helps older adults regulate anxiety overnight

Researchers at Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas have identified a specific feature of sleep that helps older adults regulate anxiety overnight - and shown that, as it deteriorates with age, emotional wellbeing deteriorates along with it.

27 Apr 2026

Threat-response in the brain's amygdala linked to sex-specific patterns of alcohol use

New research shows that the threat-response in the brain's amygdala (which processes emotions) is linked to different patterns of drinking by sex.

13 Apr 2026

What happens in the brain on psychedelics? Scientists identify a common circuit pattern

Researchers combined 11 international resting-state fMRI datasets to map how psychedelic drugs reshape brain connectivity across cortical and subcortical circuits. The mega-analysis found a shared signature of stronger coupling between transmodal association networks and unimodal or sensorimotor systems, alongside selective and variable reductions in within-network connectivity.

7 Apr 2026

Smoking shrinks key brain regions while cannabis shows weaker effects

The study highlights brain changes from tobacco use and calls for more research on cannabis, as its effects on brain structure remain inadequately understood.

7 Apr 2026

Brain pathway explains how stress drives alcohol-seeking behavior

Why do stressful moments so often push people toward habits like drinking? A new study from Texas A&M University offers one of the clearest answers yet, identifying a direct connection inside the brain that links stress to addiction‑related behaviors.

30 Mar 2026

Burnout crisis demands science-based strategies beyond self-care solutions

Burnout is at an all-time high, with some studies saying two-thirds of employees now cite job burnout as a major challenge.

18 Mar 2026

Physical activity may reshape brain effects of childhood trauma

New research indicates that the long-term neurological impact of childhood trauma is not permanently etched onto the brain.

17 Mar 2026

Machine learning detects early brain changes linked to Alzheimer's disease

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) researchers have used a form of artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze anatomical changes in the brain and predict Alzheimer's disease with nearly 93% accuracy.

5 Mar 2026

Nature reduces stress by shifting brain activity

This review examines how nature exposure impacts brain function, stress reduction, and emotional well-being, highlighting gaps and future research directions.

3 Mar 2026

Study reveals nature's profound impact on brain health and well-being

Spending time in nature, even briefly, triggers changes in the brain that calm stress, restore attention and quiet mental clutter, a new study has found.

26 Feb 2026

Study reframes amygdala as the sophisticated learning arbiter

A Dartmouth study challenges the conventional view that the amygdala-the two-sided structure deep in the brain involved in emotion, learning, and decision making-is simply the brain's primitive "fear center," reflexively driving us to avoid the things we fear, from high places and tight spaces to spiders and large crowds.

24 Feb 2026

Low-fiber diets quickly impair emotional memory in aging brains

Past studies in animals have shown that a highly processed diet is linked to memory problems and inflammation in the aged brain – and the effect can happen fast, after just three days of poor eating.

19 Feb 2026

Study identifies neural mechanism underlying chills during infection

When running a fever during infection, we often feel chills, which prompt us to take action to warm ourselves, such as turning on a heater or adding layers of clothing.

10 Feb 2026