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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

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

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

Some mice showed signs of stress resilience before the stress even began

Researchers found that mice later classified as resilient showed stronger coordination between neuronal OFF-periods and slow-wave activity in the prelimbic cortex even before social stress. After social defeat, resilient mice also showed a distinct reorganization of neuronal silence during NREM sleep, linking local sleep dynamics with behavioral resilience.

17 Sep 2026

New MRI measure maps blood flow and cellular organization

Researchers from the Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute (Stevens INI) at the Keck School of Medicine of USC have developed a new, noninvasive way to examine how blood flow and cellular organization align across the layers of the living human brain.

17 Sep 2026

Bulimia nervosa linked to structural differences in brain regions

16 Sep 2026

Cold plunges may boost your mood, but the evidence is still on thin ice

A Molecular Psychiatry review examined evidence linking cold exposure with mood and mental health outcomes, alongside proposed roles for catecholamines, the HPA axis, and immune-inflammatory pathways. Early studies report short-term mood improvements and physiological changes, but clinical evidence remains limited, and the proposed mechanisms have not been established as drivers of lasting psychiatric benefits.

16 Sep 2026

The music in psychedelic therapy may be more than background sound

A narrative review examines how music interacts with psychedelics, psychological support, and treatment context in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, arguing that its role cannot be understood as an isolated component. The authors highlight limited evidence on music-specific effects and propose studying PAP as a complex intervention, with music described according to its therapeutic function rather than fixed playlists or genres.

16 Sep 2026

One brain implant could give people with paralysis a more expressive way to communicate

Researchers showed that a single high-density ECoG implant could decode attempted speech and upper-body gestures in parallel in people with severe paralysis, allowing two participants to control a personalized full-body avatar. Training the decoders on both isolated and concurrent behaviors improved performance across contexts and reduced false activations, offering proof-of-concept evidence for more expressive multimodal BCIs.

16 Sep 2026

Scientists discover brain spot that drives risk-taking decisions

Every day, your brain runs the same calculation: take a risk or play it safe? Your gas tank might be low, but there's just enough to make it to work on time.

15 Sep 2026

New brain computer interface restores simultaneous speech and physical gestures

A National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded scientific team has shown that a new brain-computer interface (BCI) can allow people with vocal tract and bodily paralysis to convey both speech and upper-body gestures simultaneously.

15 Sep 2026

Rare cortical neurons actively promote the transition into sleep

What makes the brain fall asleep? For nearly a century, scientists have looked to structures deep within the brain for the answer.

11 Sep 2026

Study uncovers dynamic brain coding during decision-making

A new study by neuroscientists in The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT shows how the brain encodes information throughout the decision-making process to keep options clearly in mind and to ensure that chosen and unchosen options are remembered.

10 Sep 2026

Brain interference explains why multitasking becomes difficult

Multitasking feels like a required skill in modern life, but as anyone who has tried keeping track of multiple chat windows, an email inbox, and a stream of phone notifications during a video call can tell you, figuring out which messages are important comes at a cost.

10 Sep 2026

Study reveals how brain reward circuitry builds psychological resilience

New research has uncovered that how the brain responds to anticipated rewards plays a key role in building psychological resilience after a traumatic experience.

10 Sep 2026

Why researchers are looking at psilocybin for repeated mild head injuries

In female rats with repetitive mild head injury, psilocybin reduced acute imaging measures consistent with vasogenic edema and phosphorylated tau while altering vascular reactivity, functional connectivity, neurotrophic proteins, and lipid signaling. The findings provide preclinical evidence of potential therapeutic effects, but behavioral benefits were limited, and whether these biological changes translate into lasting neurological protection or benefits in humans remains unknown.

9 Sep 2026

Ten minutes of slow running boosts brain function and mood

A growing body of evidence shows that exercise improves mood and cognitive function. However, much of this evidence comes from cycling, which allows researchers to precisely control exercise intensity in the laboratory.

9 Sep 2026

Deep sleep brain activity helps mice resist social stress

Most adult sleep is non-rapid eye movement (REM), which is restorative and promotes resilience to stressful conditions. However, the brain mechanisms for non-REM sleep's relationship to stress resilience remain unclear.

7 Sep 2026