Brain News and Research

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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.

LSD deconstruction reveals promising new drug candidates

University of California, Davis researchers have stripped down LSD to the base features responsible for its hallucinogenic and therapeutic effects.

7 Sep 2026

GLP-1 drugs looked promising for depression. The evidence tells a more complicated story

A systematic review of 43 studies found highly heterogeneous results for GLP-1 receptor agonists across animal models and human research assessing depression-, anxiety-, and stress-related outcomes. No study directly tested these drugs as a treatment for PTSD, and the available evidence does not currently support their use for depression or PTSD, although people with metabolic dysfunction may warrant further investigation.

7 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

Inhibitory neurons act as a brake on brain tumor growth

Brain tumors do not grow in isolation. They develop within the highly active environment of the brain, where neurons continuously exchange electrical and chemical signals.

7 Sep 2026

Experimental cancer drug could protect against osteoporosis and weight gain

An experimental cancer drug could stop osteoporosis and help women stay slim after the menopause – according to new research from the University of East Anglia.

7 Sep 2026

Scientists traced a hidden immune route that may worsen tau-linked brain damage

In a mouse model of tauopathy, conventional type 1 dendritic cells (cDC1s) cross-presented brain-derived antigens in deep cervical lymph nodes, priming CD8+ T cells that accumulated in the brain and promoted neurodegeneration. Disrupting cDC1s or their cross-presentation activity reduced CD8+ T-cell infiltration and protected against neuronal loss, while human primary tauopathy samples also showed increased brain CD8+ T cells, although cDC1 involvement in humans remains unconfirmed.

6 Sep 2026

GLP-1 drugs appear psychiatrically safe, but one finding still raises questions

A systematic review of 11 observational studies representing more than 4.9 million patients found that GLP-1 receptor agonists were generally associated with neutral or potentially protective psychiatric outcomes, although one obesity-focused cohort reported increased risks of depression, anxiety, and suicidal behavior. Direct evidence for antidepressant effects remains limited, with only one cross-sectional study using validated mood scales and no randomized trials in the final synthesis, meaning causality cannot be established

6 Sep 2026

Some popular drinks were linked to depression and anxiety. Coffee was different

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6 Sep 2026

ART-conceived children show reassuring long-term health outcomes

The birth of Louise Brown in 1978, the world's first baby conceived through assisted reproductive technology (ART), was a major breakthrough that reshaped the field of reproductive medicine.

4 Sep 2026

More Americans with disabilities found work despite broader employment decline

More Americans with disabilities were working in August, tying the record high reached in November 2025, even as employment among people without disabilities declined, according to today's National Trends in Disability Employment–Jobs Report (nTIDE), issued by Kessler Foundation and the University of New Hampshire's Institute on Disability.

4 Sep 2026

JMIR Publications: Emerging health tech trends

JMIR Publications released three feature News and Perspectives articles this week, covering an emerging application of drone delivery, the implications of AI tools used in early education, the nascent field of cancer neurotech, and the future of consumer wearable devices.

4 Sep 2026

Preschool children show contrasting effects after brief gameplay

A study of preschool children found that brief digital or traditional gameplay improved performance on tasks requiring quick responses, but reduced performance on tasks demanding greater concentration and self-control.

4 Sep 2026

New V-UNet model improves efficient medical image segmentation

Segmentation tools help doctors identify and delineate tumors, lesions, and other abnormalities in medical images.

4 Sep 2026

Younger and older brains respond differently to traumatic injury

Conventional wisdom holds that younger brains are better equipped to recover from injury. Their greater flexibility allows them to adapt, rebuild connections and compensate for damage in ways older brains often cannot.

4 Sep 2026

Dual-drug microneedle patch targets inflammation and fat browning

The worldwide obesity crisis has become a dominant public health crisis across the globe. Over 3 billion people worldwide currently suffer from obesity, and forecasts warn the number will rise above 4 billion by 2035, accounting for more than half the global population.

4 Sep 2026

Community brain health programs successfully improve attention in older adults

As aging populations drive rising global healthcare demands, finding scalable ways to prevent cognitive decline has become a vital public health priority.

4 Sep 2026

Crucial brain stem cells rely on metabolic pathways to make decisions

As the human brain takes shape before birth, a remarkable type of stem cell helps give it many of the features that make it distinctly human.

4 Sep 2026

Submicron IR map of the human cell: Label free cellular imaging with O-PTIR, FTIR and Raman

What if you could map the chemistry inside a human cell - without fluorescent labels or stains?

From Photothermal Spectroscopy Corp 4 Sep 2026

What your gut microbes may have to do with how your brain ages

This review examines how diet-driven changes in the gut microbiota and microbial metabolites may influence cognitive aging through immune, metabolic, neural, endocrine, and barrier-related pathways. It highlights SCFAs, tryptophan-derived metabolites, and bile acids as key signaling mediators while emphasizing that much of the mechanistic evidence remains preclinical and human evidence is largely associative.

3 Sep 2026

The obesity-microbiome story is more complicated than ‘good’ and ‘bad’ bacteria

This review finds that obesity is linked to reciprocal interactions between diet, the gut microbiome, microbial metabolites, and host metabolic pathways that influence appetite, insulin sensitivity, inflammation, and energy balance across the lifespan. It highlights diet as a particularly tractable way to influence this system, while emphasizing that microbiome changes associated with GLP-1 therapies remain difficult to separate from weight loss and that functional multi-omics approaches may help enable more personalized interventions.

3 Sep 2026