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First map of nerve circuitry in bone helps physicians identify key signals for bone repair

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-nerve-circuitry-bone-physicians-key.html

Published: January 8, 2026 16:53

When a house catches on fire, we assume that a smoke alarm inside will serve one purpose and one purpose only: warn the occupants of danger. But imagine if the device could transform into something that could fight the fire as well.

Facial expressions decoded: Brain regions work together in surprising new ways

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-brain-choreographing-scientists-facial-gestures.html

Published: January 8, 2026 14:00

When a baby smiles at you, it's almost impossible not to smile back. This spontaneous reaction to a facial expression is part of the back-and-forth that allows us to understand each other's emotions and mental states.

Simulating dyslexia: Human model can safely mimic symptoms in neurotypical adults

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-simulating-dyslexia-human-safely-mimic.html

Published: January 8, 2026 13:25

Dyslexia is a common developmental disorder, affecting around 7% of the global population. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate or fluent reading and spelling, despite average intelligence and adequate schooling. Without appropriate support,…

A new approach to assessing patients with disorders of consciousness

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-approach-patients-disorders-consciousness.html

Published: January 8, 2026 12:30

In intensive care units, some patients who appear unconscious occupy a gray zone in their relationship to the world. To better diagnose them and predict their recovery potential, Dragana Manasova, Jacobo Sitt, and their colleagues have developed an…

Stem cell therapy for stroke shows how cells find their way in the brain

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-stem-cell-therapy-cells-brain.html

Published: January 8, 2026 11:00

Some parts of our bodies bounce back from injury in fairly short order. The outer protective layer of the eye—called the cornea—can heal from minor scratches within a single day. The brain is not one of these fast-healing tissues or organs. Adult brain…

Widely used pesticide linked to more than doubled Parkinson's risk

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-widely-pesticide-linked-parkinson.html

Published: January 8, 2026 08:54

A new study from UCLA Health has found that long-term residential exposure to the pesticide chlorpyrifos is associated with more than a 2.5-fold increased risk of developing Parkinson's disease.

'Memory manipulation is inevitable': How rewriting memory in the lab might one day heal humans

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-memory-inevitable-rewriting-lab-day.html

Published: January 7, 2026 19:10

We often think of memories like the contents of a museum: static exhibits that we view to understand the present and prepare for the future.

Post-stroke injection protects the brain in preclinical study

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-brain-preclinical.html

Published: January 7, 2026 19:00

When a person suffers a stroke, physicians must restore blood flow to the brain as quickly as possible to save their life. But, ironically, that life-saving rush of blood can also trigger a second wave of damage—killing brain cells, fueling inflammation…

How neuron groups team up to embed memories in context

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-neuron-groups-team-embed-memories.html

Published: January 7, 2026 16:20

Humans have the remarkable ability to remember the same person or object in completely different situations. We can easily distinguish between dinner with a friend and a business meeting with the same friend. "We already know that deep in the memory…

Stimulating immune cell cleanup process may ease chronic pain after nerve injury

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-immune-cell-cleanup-ease-chronic.html

Published: January 7, 2026 16:20

Researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have discovered that targeting a specific immune process could help improve recovery after nerve injury and reduce chronic pain.

Researchers reveal high-fat diet-induced dysfunction in brain's lateral septum that exacerbates obesity

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-reveal-high-fat-diet-dysfunction.html

Published: January 7, 2026 14:37

The prevalence of overweight and obesity is largely driven by the widespread availability of high-calorie and highly palatable foods. Even without feeling hungry, some people tend to eat food for the taste. This pleasure-driven eating leads to overeating,…

The neurotechnology shift: How next-generation wearables interface with the brain itself

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-neurotechnology-shift-generation-wearables-interface.html

Published: January 7, 2026 13:29

Imagine you're shopping for a dinner party this weekend and you spot some nice, but expensive, bottles of wine. You're not sure if you can afford them, but before you can even open your banking app to check, a lightweight head-worn wearable has already…

Pain-sensing neurons kick-start immune responses that drive allergies and asthma

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-pain-neurons-immune-responses-allergies.html

Published: January 7, 2026 12:33

Pain-sensing neurons in the gut kindle inflammatory immune responses that cause allergies and asthma, according to a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine. The findings, published in Nature, suggest that current drugs may not be as effective because they…

Common brain parasite can infect your immune cells—here's why that's probably OK

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-common-brain-parasite-infect-immune.html

Published: January 7, 2026 11:55

The parasite that may already live in your brain can infect the very immune cells trying to destroy it, but new UVA Health research reveals how our bodies keep it under control.

Gene therapy 'switch' may offer non-addictive pain relief

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-gene-therapy-addictive-pain-relief.html

Published: January 7, 2026 11:00

A preclinical study uncovered a new gene therapy that targets pain centers in the brain while eliminating the risk of addiction from narcotics treatments, a breakthrough which could provide hope for the more than 50 million Americans living with chronic…

Restoring mitochondria shows promise for treating chronic nerve pain

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-mitochondria-chronic-nerve-pain.html

Published: January 7, 2026 11:00

For millions living with nerve pain, even a light touch can feel unbearable. Scientists have long suspected that damaged nerve cells falter because their energy factories known as mitochondria don't function properly.

Immune system plays a major role in brain damage after repeated concussions, study suggests

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-immune-plays-major-role-brain.html

Published: January 7, 2026 10:04

From football fields to military training grounds, head injuries are leaving lasting marks on the brain in ways we're only beginning to understand. Repeated concussions can increase the risk of mood issues, memory loss and movement problems as well as…

As we age, immune cells protect the spinal cord, study reveals

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-age-immune-cells-spinal-cord.html

Published: January 7, 2026 09:53

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have discovered that the nervous system's own immune cells help protect the spinal cord from age-related damage. The results, which may contribute to new knowledge about how certain neurological diseases arise, are…

Want to speed brain research? It's all in how you look at it.

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-brain.html

Published: January 7, 2026 09:11

To get a better look at brains, Harvard researchers are making microscopes work more like human eyes.

Research reveals how children's play links to social skills and brain activity

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-reveals-children-play-links-social.html

Published: January 7, 2026 08:41

A new study has uncovered the ways different types of play are linked to children's social abilities and brain activity. The research, conducted by researchers at King's College London and Cardiff University, has uncovered how children's play styles differ…

Bright light suppresses eating and weight gain in mice

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-bright-suppresses-weight-gain-mice.html

Published: January 7, 2026 08:00

Past research has found that exposure to bright lights and high levels of noise can alter both physiological processes and human behavior. For instance, an elevated or limited exposure to bright lights and noise has been found to influence people's…

Humans may be predisposed to understanding the complexities of music

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-humans-predisposed-complexities-music.html

Published: January 6, 2026 15:52

There is a long-standing debate in the field of music cognition about the impact of musical training and whether formal training is needed to pick up higher-order tonal structures—the overarching harmonic framework of a piece of music.

Mathematics uncovers shifting brain connectivity in autism and aging

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-mathematics-uncovers-shifting-brain-autism.html

Published: January 6, 2026 14:53

It is a central question in neuroscience to understand how different regions of the brain interact, how strongly they "talk" to each other. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences Leipzig, Germany, the Institute of…

Proteins that spread Parkinson's pathology in the brain identified

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-proteins-parkinson-pathology-brain.html

Published: January 6, 2026 13:10

Two proteins found on the surface of motor neurons in the brain may be essential in the progression of Parkinson's disease, according to new Yale School of Medicine (YSM) research.

Infant brain development reflects families' financial ability to meet everyday needs

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-infant-brain-families-financial-ability.html

Published: January 6, 2026 11:55

Decades of research show that early psychosocial stress, including chronic exposure to adversity, can shape how a child's brain develops, with effects that last well beyond childhood. But families rarely experience just one source of stress at a time.…

AI gives a clearer picture of functional MRI brain data

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-ai-clearer-picture-functional-mri.html

Published: January 6, 2026 11:30

Obtaining clearer functional MRI data about the brain and its disorders is possible using artificial intelligence, according to Boston College researchers who report in Nature Methods that they have developed an AI-assisted method to remove "noise," or…

Successful 40-Hz auditory stimulation in aged monkeys suggests potential for noninvasive Alzheimer's therapy

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-successful-hz-auditory-aged-monkeys.html

Published: January 6, 2026 10:20

A research team from the Kunming Institute of Zoology (KIZ) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has demonstrated for the first time in non-human primates that auditory stimulation at 40 Hz significantly elevates β-amyloid levels in the cerebrospinal fluid…

Alzheimer's symptoms often diverge from tau levels, study suggests

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-alzheimer-symptoms-diverge-tau.html

Published: January 6, 2026 09:30

One of the biggest challenges in treating Alzheimer's disease (AD) is how heterogeneous it is in terms of speed of decline and presence of other pathologies. That is, more than 50% of people with AD have other pathologies that influence how fast or slow…

A stress-related chemical could initiate symptoms of depression

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-stress-chemical-symptoms-depression.html

Published: January 6, 2026 08:50

Depression, one of the most prevalent mental health disorders worldwide, is characterized by persistent feelings of sadness, impaired daily functioning and a loss of interest in daily activities, often along with altered sleeping and eating patterns. Past…

How stressors during pregnancy impact the developing fetal brain

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-stressors-pregnancy-impact-fetal-brain.html

Published: January 6, 2026 05:00

The maternal microbiome and immune system have both independent and synergistic effects on fetal brain health—changes in the mother's immune system have been linked to an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in children.

Schizophrenia and osteoporosis share 195 genetic loci, highlighting unexpected biological bridges between brain and bone

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-schizophrenia-osteoporosis-genetic-loci-highlighting.html

Published: January 6, 2026 01:00

A comprehensive genetic investigation led by Dr. Feng Liu at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital has uncovered striking molecular connections between schizophrenia and bone health, identifying 195 shared genetic loci that may explain why…

Protein disposal system may accelerate Alzheimer's by transferring toxins between brain cells

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-protein-disposal-alzheimer-toxins-brain.html

Published: January 5, 2026 17:04

A research group led by Professor Michael Glickman, dean of Technion's Faculty of Biology, has uncovered a key mechanism in the development of Alzheimer's. The mechanism in question identifies toxic proteins and disposes of them.

Medications may help the aging brain cope with surgery and memory impairment

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-medications-aging-brain-cope-surgery.html

Published: January 5, 2026 15:40

Simple pharmaceutical interventions could help older brains cope with memory impairment and recovery after surgery, new studies in mice suggest.

Enzyme replacement therapy offers hope for ultra-rare Hunter syndrome

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-enzyme-therapy-ultra-rare-hunter.html

Published: January 5, 2026 15:03

Ongoing clinical research at UNC could lead to a first-of-its-kind enzyme replacement therapy for Hunter syndrome, an ultra-rare disorder that causes progressive multisystem disease and neurologic decline.

AI uncovers two distinct multiple sclerosis types

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-ai-uncovers-distinct-multiple-sclerosis.html

Published: January 5, 2026 13:10

Artificial intelligence (AI), using a simple blood test combined with standard brain images has, for the first time, been able to identify two biologically distinct types of multiple sclerosis (MS), in research led by UCL and Queen Square Analytics, a UCL…

Targeting aberrant learning may improve Parkinson's treatment

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-aberrant-parkinson-treatment.html

Published: January 5, 2026 13:02

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered that targeting neuronal signaling controlling aberrant learning in the striatum may improve the efficacy of a first-line therapy for Parkinson's disease and has the potential to reduce therapy-related side…

Neuroscientists devise formulas to measure multilingualism

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-neuroscientists-formulas-multilingualism.html

Published: January 5, 2026 12:50

More than half of the world's population speaks more than one language—but there is no consistent method for defining "bilingual" or "multilingual." This makes it difficult to accurately assess proficiency across multiple languages and to describe language…

CRISPR screen uncovers hundreds of genes required for brain development

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-crispr-screen-uncovers-hundreds-genes.html

Published: January 5, 2026 05:00

Which genes are required for turning embryonic stem cells into brain cells, and what happens when this process goes wrong? In a new study published today in Nature Neuroscience, researchers led by Prof. Sagiv Shifman from The Institute of Life Sciences at…

Potential biomarker linked to multiple sclerosis progression and brain inflammation

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-potential-biomarker-linked-multiple-sclerosis.html

Published: January 2, 2026 11:12

A new University of Toronto-led study has discovered a possible biomarker linked to multiple sclerosis (MS) disease progression that could help identify patients most likely to benefit from new drugs.

Creating cells that help the brain keep its cool

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-cells-brain-cool.html

Published: January 2, 2026 10:22

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have created a method that makes it possible to transform the brain's support cells into parvalbumin-positive cells. These cells act as the brain's rapid-braking system and are significantly involved in…

How my time-space synesthesia affects how I experience and 'feel' the new year

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-space-synesthesia-affects-year.html

Published: January 2, 2026 09:47

I have a form of time–space synesthesia, so the new year arrives for me in a very physical way. I feel myself move around the year, almost like I'm traveling along a structure. December sits low and to my left; January lifts and slides forward. The…

Why procrastination isn't laziness—it's rigid thinking that your brain can unlearn

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-01-procrastination-isnt-laziness-rigid-brain.html

Published: January 2, 2026 09:42

Most of us have experienced it: a deadline approaches, the task is perfectly doable, yet instead of starting, we suddenly feel compelled to tidy a drawer or reorganize the apps on our phone. Procrastination feels irrational from the outside but gripping…