Brain and Nervous System News & Features

February 2, 2023 — A new study suggests that following a healthy lifestyle is linked to slower memory decline in older adults, even in people with the apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4) gene—one of the strongest known risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

January 24, 2023 — People hospitalized with viral infections like the flu are more likely to have disorders that degrade the nervous system, like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, later in life, a new analysis shows

January 19, 2023 — Medical research on the benefits of smell in virtual reality may start to move faster, thanks to breakthroughs in the entertainment industry.

January 4, 2023 — Losing your teammate or player to a potentially career-ending – or fatal – injury can weigh heavy.

December 22, 2022 — People who smoke are more likely to report memory problems and cognitive decline in midlife, a study from Ohio State University found. Study results also noted that former smokers who have quit face less likelihood of cognitive decline.

December 21, 2022 — Surprising Things Sense of Smell Reveals About Your Health

December 20, 2022 — A University of Michigan study highlights a possible mechanism for why exercise benefits the brain, providing insights on how intensely we need to exercise to fight cognitive decline.

December 12, 2022 — People who died of severe COVID-19 had brain tissue similar to that of people who were at least 71 years old, prompting Harvard Medical School researchers to recommend that recovered COVID-19 patients seek neurological follow-up care.

November 28, 2022 — New research suggests eating more berries and drinking tea may help slow mental decline as you age.

November 17, 2022 — Allowing young patients to return to their TikTok feeds may be better than screen-time bans, Canadian researchers say.

November 15, 2022 — Her ALS, also called Lou Gehrig’s disease, “has made it impossible to sing and not easy to speak,” manager Suzanne Koga said in a statement to the AP. “But it will take a lot more than ALS to silence this icon.”

November 9, 2022 — Researchers report they've identified a specific group of cells in the lower spine that appear necessary for movement recovery to happen.

November 2, 2022 — A new study finds crossword puzzles may help older adults slow down memory loss.

October 26, 2022 — Researchers have discovered a previously unknown part of the brain that lights up when we see food. Dubbed the “ventral food component,” this part resides in the brain’s visual cortex, in a region known to play a role in identifying faces, scenes, and words.

October 25, 2022 — A new study shows one-third of Americans age 65 or older have mild cognitive impairment or dementia.

October 12, 2022 — Brain implants can help paralyzed people move and minimally conscious people speak. But if we don’t address complicated ethical questions now, we could risk serious consequences.

September 30, 2022 — The NFL's top health official said he was worried about the player's health, and pointed to a joint review the league and its players association was conducting into the Miami Dolphins' handling of the quarterback's initial injury on Sunday.

September 16, 2022 — Cedars-Sinai neuroscientists have developed the most complex brain cell models to date, the latest advance in our decades-long pursuit to understand how the brain works.

September 16, 2022 — Hours of mentally hard work can lead to a buildup of toxic byproducts in the brain and alter its ability to function, French researchers found.

September 7, 2022 — New research suggests patients suspected of ALS may soon be able to get a diagnosis much more quickly, not wasting their precious time.

August 24, 2022 — Without the use of any medication, this device under development cools and numbs the nerve sending pain signals to the brain without affecting surrounding nerves or tissue.

August 23, 2022 — Electrically stimulating the brain improved immediate recall of words in people over 65, a report published in Nature Neuroscience says.

August 22, 2022 — More than 740 million adults worldwide have had at least one symptom of tinnitus, and about 120 million are severely affected, according to a new report.

August 3, 2022 — University of Copenhagen researchers have linked brief nighttime awakenings to better memory in mice, adding to our understanding of what happens in the brain during sleep.

July 28, 2022 — College coeds who play action video games make faster, better decisions than non-gamers, a study shows.

July 28, 2022 — Prize is the third-largest in recent history

July 27, 2022 — Sleep is crucial to our ability to make connections from information we pick up during the day, according to a computer model of two areas of the brain.

June 23, 2022 — Research shows humans can develop a bat-like ‘sixth sense’ with training.

June 8, 2022 — A Connecticut woman died after contracting the tick-borne Powassan virus, state health officials announced this week.

May 23, 2022 — Essential tremor “is one of the most common neurological conditions, affecting about 5% of people over age 60. It may affect as many as 7 million people in the United States, according to a 2014 study.

May 16, 2022 — Our ability to try new things and learn from successes and failures depends a lot on cells in the brain's frontal lobe behind the forehead, report researchers who learned more from new lab tests.

May 11, 2022 — Neuroscientists use mathematical models to reproduce how the brain processes smell.

April 22, 2022 — It’s happened to presidential candidates, Wheel of Fortune contestants, and (let’s be honest) you too – anyone can choke when stakes are high. Science explains why, and how to stop it.

April 18, 2022 — Managing fatigue is a big part of living with myasthenia gravis. See how one person deals with the daily “roller coaster” of changing energy levels.

April 18, 2022 — Learn tips and strategies from an expert for what to expect when you have myasthenia gravis and how to make the most of your treatment.

April 18, 2022 — The key to living well with myasthenia gravis is managing triggers. Learn the common triggers, how to avoid them, and make the best of it when you can’t.

April 15, 2022 — While experts urge caution about jumping to any conclusion about Putin based on the limited speech samples, they do agree that voice analysis, when done by experts and used with other vital pieces of information, has enormous potential for health care.

April 8, 2022 — An analysis of published papers in Chinese language journals provides evidence of decades of widespread organ harvesting from individuals who are still alive.

April 5, 2022 — A new international study the smells that people like or loathe are determined not by cultural experiences but mostly by the structure of the odor molecule.

April 5, 2022 — A new British study that included almost 800,000 older women found no link between using a cell phone and brain tumors.

April 4, 2022 — A new study reveals that many Americans now believe that kids should not play the tackle version of the game.

March 31, 2022 — A FDA advisory committee is unconvinced by that a new drug for ALS is effective.

March 30, 2022 — Bruce Willis will step away from acting after being diagnosed with aphasia, a disorder that affects areas of the brain that produce and process language.

March 25, 2022 — The FDA is reviewing a drug that has shown little evidence that it might help treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

March 17, 2022 — A device that’s about the size of a stapler can help doctors diagnose tricky diseases affecting the nervous system.

March 16, 2022 — New research dispels the notion that "mild" concussions have no lasting impact on mental skills like thinking, remembering, and learning.

March 14, 2022 — There’s one group the pandemic has hit with a particularly vicious wallop: college students

February 25, 2022 — Headphones have a much stronger effect than external speakers on listeners' perceptions, judgments and behaviors.

February 24, 2022 — In a snap, we showcase one of the fastest motions in the human body, and it’s about 20 times faster than the blink of an eye. With power like this at our fingertips, inventors hope to leverage it.