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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.

Sex and age play key roles in dementia biomarker levels

A new study has found important clues about the roles age, sex, hormonal changes and genetics play in how certain biomarkers for dementia are expressed in the blood, according to a study published on April 16, 2025, online in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

16 Apr 2025

Researchers simulate protein structures behind learning and memory

Our brain's remarkable ability to form and store memories has long fascinated scientists, yet most of the microscopic mechanisms behind memory and learning processes remain a mystery.

16 Apr 2025

Study reveals cellular sensitivity to sound

There's a sensation that you experience -- near a plane taking off or a speaker bank at a concert -- from a sound so total that you feel it in your very being. When this happens, not only do your brain and ears perceive it, but your cells may also.

16 Apr 2025

FOXR2 activation found in multiple pediatric brain tumor types

Physicians classify brain tumors and determine treatment options, in part, by the genes they express. According to World Health Organization standards, the abnormal activation of oncogene FOXR2 only occurs in central nervous system (CNS) neuroblastoma, but that may not be true.

16 Apr 2025

Harnessing the healing power of music in clinical care

Rhonda Winegar remembers watching the 2014 documentary "I'll Be Me," which chronicled country music legend Glen Campbell's struggles with Alzheimer's disease.

16 Apr 2025

Gold nanoparticles offer new hope for vision restoration

A new study by Brown University researchers suggests that gold nanoparticles - microscopic bits of gold thousands of times thinner than a human hair - might one day be used to help restore vision in people with macular degeneration and other retinal disorders.

16 Apr 2025

Transcranial magnetic stimulation and speech therapy boost language skills in stroke patients

Lucy Mulloor woke up one morning and realized something was terribly wrong. The 45-year-old single-mom could hear her two daughters in the kitchen but couldn't call out to them.

16 Apr 2025

New scoring system predicts stroke risk and reduces need for surgery

Researchers at UCL have tested a new scoring system to measure the risk of stroke in patients with narrowed arteries due to atherosclerosis, which could prevent unnecessary surgeries and stents.

16 Apr 2025

Study explores how Adapted Argentine tango dance therapy can help breast cancer survivors

Adapted Argentine tango dance therapy is helping some breast cancer survivors regain natural balance and sensation after experiencing neuropathy, a common side effect of chemotherapy treatment.

16 Apr 2025

Listening to favorite music activates the brain’s opioid system

A new imaging study by the Turku PET Centre in Finland showed that listening to favorite music affects the function of the brain's opioid system.

16 Apr 2025

Diabetes medications may help shield the brain from cognitive decline

A study led by researchers in the University of Florida College of Pharmacy has found that a pair of popular glucose-lowering medications may have protective effects against the development of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias in patients with Type 2 diabetes.

16 Apr 2025

Stem cell therapy shows promise for treating advanced Parkinson's disease

A stem cell–based therapy initially developed at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) may lead to a new treatment for advanced Parkinson's disease, according to results from a phase 1 clinical trial reported in Nature.

16 Apr 2025

Early detection of Alzheimer's disease through blood biomarker

Individuals with a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer's disease show altered blood levels indicating damaged neuronal contacts as early as 11 years before the expected onset of dementia symptoms.

16 Apr 2025

Study sheds light on brain regions involved in logical thinking

A team of researchers at UCL and UCLH have identified the key brain regions that are essential for logical thinking and problem solving.

16 Apr 2025

Study identifies brain area linked to social behavior and altruism

Are there areas of the brain, which regulate prosocial, altruistic behaviour? Together with colleagues from the universities in Lausanne, Utrecht and Cape Town, researchers from Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU) have studied a very special group of patients and established that the "basolateral amygdala" (part of the limbic system) plays an important role in this.

16 Apr 2025

Study: Climate trauma can have lasting effects on cognitive function

A new study from University of California San Diego suggests that climate trauma - such as experiencing a devastating wildfire - can have lasting effects on cognitive function.

16 Apr 2025

New genetic clues uncovered in epilepsy drug resistance

Certain common genetic changes might make some people with focal epilepsy less responsive to seizure medications, finds a new global study led by researchers at UCL and UTHealth Houston.

16 Apr 2025

Digital technology use linked to lower risk of cognitive decline

As the first generation that interacted with digital technology reaches an age where dementia risks emerge, scientists have asked the question: Is there a correlation between digital technology use and an increased risk of dementia?

15 Apr 2025

New study examines how obesity alters brain's reward circuits

Obesity is on the rise. Among U.S. adults aged 20 or older, 4 in 10 met the criteria for obesity in the most recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, up from roughly 3 in 10 two decades earlier.

15 Apr 2025

EAT-Lancet planetary diet shows no dementia risk, may protect against Alzheimer’s

In a large Swedish study, researchers found that the environmentally sustainable EAT-Lancet diet does not increase dementia risk and may lower the risk of Alzheimer’s and all-cause dementia, particularly in people without the APOE ε4 gene. The findings support the integration of sustainable diets into dementia prevention strategies.

15 Apr 2025