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The human brain is the center of the human nervous system and is a highly complex organ. Enclosed in the cranium, it has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times as large as the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size.

Salivary cortisol patterns predict cognitive decline in older adults

An irregular pattern and consistently higher levels of a stress hormone called cortisol found in the saliva were associated with cognitive decline later in life - Blacks specifically had lower overall cortisol levels and less change in their levels during the day than whites - according to newly published research.

18 Sep 2026

Study identifies brain mechanism behind pregnancy-related food cravings

Why do food cravings become so strong during pregnancy? Researchers at LSU's Pennington Biomedical Research Center, in collaboration with colleagues, have identified a brain mechanism that may help explain how pregnancy changes the motivation to seek certain highly palatable foods.

18 Sep 2026

Intracortical microstimulation: Evoking artificial perception and engaging plasticity-based modulation

But creating a long-lasting electronic connection with the brain is complicated. Conventional microwire and silicon electrodes are much stiffer than soft brain tissue.

18 Sep 2026

Largest neuroimaging study of bulimia nervosa finds structural brain differences linked to diagnosis and binge-eating severity

Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai found that individuals with bulimia nervosa have structural differences in brain regions involved in reward and motivation, as well as social and sensory processing, and that more frequent binge eating is associated with more widespread differences in brain structure, according to research published today in JAMA Psychiatry.

18 Sep 2026

New study defines rare TCF7L2-related neurodevelopmental disorder

Researchers have completed the largest study to date of TCF7L2-related neurodevelopmental disorder (TRND), a rare genetic condition caused by changes in the TCF7L2 gene, which plays an important role in brain development.

18 Sep 2026

Otolaryngologists gather to present latest advances in ear, nose, and throat care

The latest treatments and research advances in ear, nose, and throat care will take center stage in Los Angeles October 17-20, when more than 5,000 of the world's leading otolaryngologists gather for the 2026 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO of the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Foundation.

18 Sep 2026

New discovery overturns a prevailing model of brain development

For centuries, scientists have thought of the brain as a single, unified organ. But new research led by Stanford Medicine reveals that what we call the brain is two distinct organs that evolved independently over hundreds of millions of years.

18 Sep 2026

Scientists discover metabolite fueling aggressive brain tumor growth

Virtually all high-grade, aggressive gliomas in adults accumulate massive amounts of a metabolite called guanidinoacetate (GAA) that overstimulates nearby neurons and promotes tumor growth, according to new research from scientists at Children’s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) published in Cell.

18 Sep 2026

New clues link Long COVID and POTS

Dizziness, fatigue, brain fog and a racing heart. They’re commonly associated with Long COVID, but new Adelaide University research suggests that for some people, these symptoms may also be indications of Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a debilitating and difficult-to-diagnose condition.

18 Sep 2026

Transplanted human cortical organoids filled most of a mouse cortex. Then they began to connect

Researchers created xenocortical mice by transplanting human cortical organoids into animals genetically depleted of much of their native cortex, allowing the human tissue to occupy most of the available cortical space and form anatomical connections throughout the host nervous system. The grafts developed diverse cortical cell types, including L5-ET and VEN-like neurons, generated organized neural activity, and produced measurable cellular and behavioral responses to hypoxic injury.

18 Sep 2026

Better fitness was linked to healthier brain structure, but not better memory

Researchers studying 353 cognitively unimpaired adults aged 60 to 94 found that higher muscular capacity was associated with lower basal ganglia perivascular space volume, while greater aerobic fitness was associated with greater gray matter volume and medial temporal lobe thickness. Fitness was not directly associated with global cognition or episodic memory, and evidence for cognitive reserve was limited, although VO₂max explained additional variation in delayed verbal memory beyond tau burden.

18 Sep 2026

Study identifies two opposing molecular patterns in autism models

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with more than 1,200 risk genes, raising a fundamental question: Do these diverse genetic changes affect the brain in entirely different ways, or do they converge on shared biological mechanisms?

17 Sep 2026

Sex-specific biological clocks reveal how aging differs across the body in women and men

Researchers developed 38 sex-specific biological aging clocks across 15 organ systems, finding differences between females and males in genetic architecture, molecular signatures, disease associations, and mortality patterns. Brain aging clocks were linked to progression from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer’s disease in both sexes and to sex-dependent cognitive trajectories among solanezumab-treated A4 participants, while the authors stressed that sex-pooled and sex-interaction models remain complementary approaches.

17 Sep 2026

Scientists reveals how cancer-causing p53 mutations remain invisible to the immune system

One of the biggest challenges in cancer immunotherapy may not be that immune cells are too weak, but that some tumors give them too little to see.

17 Sep 2026

Deafness prompts brain rewiring to enhance peripheral vision

The brains of people who are deaf from an early age re-wire to see more of what is happening in their visual periphery, new research has revealed.

17 Sep 2026

New indicators could accelerate development of anti-aging drugs

Twelve candidate indicators, based on studies in mice, could make developing anti-aging interventions faster-while offering new insights into age-related diseases.

17 Sep 2026

Time-restricted eating may slow early-stage Huntington's disease

A simple change in when people eat may offer a promising new approach for Huntington's disease, according to research led by Oregon Health & Science University.

17 Sep 2026

Existing anti-seizure drug slows the growth of diffuse midline gliomas

An existing anti-seizure drug slows the growth of a devastating group of childhood cancers, new Stanford Medicine-led research has shown.

17 Sep 2026

Groundbreaking technology uses quantum sensors to measure heart activity

Physicists at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) have developed a groundbreaking technology that uses quantum sensors to measure biomagnetic signals, such as heart activity.

17 Sep 2026

Post-concussion irritability linked to PTSD, chronic pain, and auditory difficulties

New research from the CU Anschutz Marcus Institute for Brain Health shows that irritability is strongly associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, chronic pain and difficulty understanding speech in noisy environments among military veterans with chronic mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), or concussion.

17 Sep 2026