Weekly Neuroscience Update

Scientist fitting EEG cap on seated woman while others work on brain imaging and data analysis

Results from a small clinical trial suggest it may be possible to reduce the risk of dementia by eating during fewer hours of the day. The pilot study, which involved a weight-loss program for older women with overweight or obesity, showed modest cognitive improvements among those who limited their daily eating window instead of just reducing their calorie intake.

Scientists have introduced the world’s first chip capable of matching the operational speed of the human brain.

Researchers have developed a methodology that uses artificial intelligence to analyse the brain’s electrical activity during sleep, facilitating early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. The study, published in the journal GeroScience, shows that analysing nocturnal brain waves through machine learning techniques allows for the identification of early neuronal alterations and the classification of patients into three distinct biological subgroups.

A new study demonstrates that whether an individual’s eyes are open or closed completely reverses the relationship between alpha band brain activity and mind wandering.

A study on human intracranial recordings shows that memory consolidation during sleep relies on coordinated activity among the orbitofrontal cortex, thalamus, and hippocampus. It provides direct evidence of how interactions between these regions affect memory performance, highlighting that synchronised neural signalling during sleep enhances memory retention.

New blood tests for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease offer a less invasive diagnostic alternative to brain scans and spinal taps, allowing for earlier identification and potentially more effective treatment options.

A recent study found that the human brain experiences significant changes in gene regulation and genome structure starting in midlife, particularly in the hippocampus. Researchers identified a notable shift in the brain’s immune system between ages 50 and 75, where embryonic-derived microglia decrease and are replaced by cells from peripheral blood with increased inflammation. These changes, along with a reduction in cells that maintain the blood-brain barrier, could explain why ageing is a key risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.

Scientists have shed new light on Alzheimer’s disease that could point to new directions for treatment.

Widespread evidence suggests that years of heading, tackling, and collisions in football and rugby may increase the risk of dementia and neurological diseases. A preliminary study presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in July 2026 examined 142 former professional footballers aged 30–60 alongside 56 individuals without a history of contact sports. While both groups performed similarly in cognitive tests, the retired footballers reported worse mood, higher anxiety levels, and poorer cognitive function.

A landmark study by scientists at King’s College London has identified new genetic risk factors for fibromyalgia syndrome, emphasising the nervous system’s role in the disorder’s development.

A pan-European study highlights key behavioural factors impacting health care professionals’ decisions to prescribe new treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. The findings emphasise the potential of behaviour change frameworks to enhance the adoption of these transformative therapies, addressing the rising global health care challenge posed by diseases like Parkinson’s. Understanding these prescribing influences is crucial for ensuring patient access to the best treatment options.

Analyzing UK sugar rationing data shows that limiting sugar exposure in utero and during the first two years of life reduces dementia risk by up to 23% and delays disease onset by 2.6 years

Researchers have developed an AI-powered speech neuroprosthesis that decodes high-density intracortical signals into fluent, high-fidelity synthetic speech. The dual-stage deep learning pipeline leverages a phonetic decoding layer paired with a large language model linguistic processor to achieve greater than 99% word accuracy with a processing latency of just 30 milliseconds.

A recent study showed that a three-week digital training program alongside standard drug treatment for Parkinson’s significantly improved patients’ motor function and brain motor circuits.

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*Credit: Biological Psychiatry / Volpi et al.*

A new brain imaging study published in eBioMedicine, provides the strongest evidence to date that long COVID is associated with injury to dopamine-releasing neurons in the brain—a finding that may explain symptoms such as lack of motivation due to fatigue, slowed movement and memory difficulties, and could open the door to new treatment strategies.

New research shows that sleep disorders are associated with structural changes in brain regions involved in attention, motivation and decision-making.

A new study reports that sensors can accurately monitor disease progression in patients with Parkinson’s, addressing the limitations of wearable technologies. The research, conducted by scientists from the UK Dementia Research Institute, aims to create a zero-burden method for tracking movement changes in affected individuals

Drugs commonly used for weight loss, known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, have been found to reduce the key symptoms of binge eating disorder, in a new review of evidence led by University College London (UCL) researchers.

Scientists at Trinity College Dublin have discovered that, for a short period of around one to two seconds, the brain can begin following a new conversation before it has fully let go of the previous one. The findings challenge the long-held view that we can only focus on one speaker at a time.

People with dementia, mild cognitive impairment, alcohol addiction or psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia show increased brain ageing, each in specific patterns within the brain, according to a study published in PLOS Medicine.

Individuals with psychiatric conditions have less flexibility in their brain network dynamics, as found in a new Rutgers study. The brain is made up of networks that adapt and reorganise to handle changing cognitive and emotional needs. This ability to reconfigure supports how we manage our thoughts and behaviours.

A new neuroimaging study published in the journal Brain Imaging and Behavior provides some of the first evidence that strengthening your brain health through daily habits rewires its physical architecture

Researchers have conducted one of the most comprehensive studies on how the autistic brain processes faces. Some hallmark characteristics of autism include tendencies to avoid looking at others’ faces and to make less eye contact. The research is published in the journal Nature Mental Health.

A new study highlights “gut jet lag”, the desynchronization between host biological clocks and gut microbiota rhythms during long-haul travel.

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*Credit: Jeffrey Parr/University of Southern Mississippi*

New research indicates that athletes with ADHD need even more scrutiny when head injuries are involved.

Scientists have made progress in finding better pain treatments with a new study aimed at reducing the addictive effects of morphine. They found that activating a dopamine receptor called D4 boosts morphine’s pain-relieving effects and helps prevent tolerance.

Prefrontal transcranial pulse stimulation is associated with antidepressant effects, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open

Cerebrovascular disease can cause serious problems if not treated quickly, but it’s hard to spot before symptoms show up. Researchers have developed an AI technology that analyses daily activities and environmental data from older adults to identify signs of cerebrovascular disease risk based on small changes in their home lives.

Researchers have developed a small graphene-based sensor to noninvasively measure dopamine in artificial tears, enabling rapid neurodegenerative screening.

The Consortium for Biomedical Research and Artificial Intelligence in Neurodegeneration (C-BRAIN) has launched three open-source AI tools. These tools act as team members in biomedical research, analysing global neuroscience literature, identifying patterns in hidden data, and providing objective peer reviews to accelerate the development of life-saving treatments.

A retrospective cohort study of 19,824 NFL players confirms that professional football veterans face a fourfold increase in neurodegenerative mortality, including a 3.8-fold surge in all-cause dementia and Parkinson’s disease.

A study in Neurology found that people with early-onset dementia had lower work productivity up to 15 years before they were diagnosed, with variations by type of dementia. Early-onset dementia refers to anyone under 65 diagnosed with dementia. The study only shows a link between early-onset dementia and reduced productivity, not that one causes the other.

A research team created a brain implant that can modulate neural activity with temperature, offering new opportunities for brain-computer interfaces and neurological treatments.

New research has used advanced EEG-fMRI tracking to show that the brain doesn’t operate as a single process. Instead, the human connectome manages multiple separate, asynchronous streams of information processing that happen simultaneously, providing new insights into clinical neuro-diagnostics and cognitive complexity.

A new study has introduced a novel machine learning method for analysing how the brain organises complex behaviours, offering fresh evidence that neural activity is built from reusable “building blocks.” The study is published in Neuron.

Scientists have conducted a study that enhances the understanding of the brain’s neuromodulators—acetylcholine, dopamine, and serotonin. The research integrates advanced experimental measurements with detailed computational models of the brain, demonstrating how these chemical messengers influence the electrical activity of numerous neurons in the developing brain.

Exposure to high temperatures during pregnancy and early infancy is linked to slower thalamic growth in childhood, as indicated by research from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health.

A new study has found that older adults who participated in a structured, 2-year healthy lifestyle program saw a significant improvement in memory and thinking skills, approximately 55% greater per year, compared with those who received only general health advice.

Research has shed new light on the biological basis of schizophrenia by directly measuring synaptic connections in the human brain using specialised positron emission tomography (PET) imaging.

A major study involving over 214,000 older adults from 14 countries shows that common risk factors for dementia—like low education, high blood pressure, and smoking—differ greatly between countries. This indicates that a single approach to prevention won’t be effective everywhere.

Natural plant compounds called polyphenols, found in foods such as berries, tea, cocoa, coffee, and extra-virgin olive oil, may positively influence biological processes associated with Alzheimer’s disease and nerve cell loss, claims a recent review.

A recent study found that poor sleep affects brain communication in adults, particularly highlighting that older women with poor sleep exhibited abnormal connectivity between the Default Mode Network and the Frontal Parietal Network. This over-communication correlated with worse memory performance and resembled brain patterns observed in early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

Rare DNA changes are most strongly linked to cognition in early childhood, but the link fades as children age, while common DNA changes show stronger links later in childhood, a new study finds.

Researchers have demonstrated a novel AI model that can predict which DNA molecules bind with which other DNA molecules. Providing a more thorough understanding of these hypercomplex binding relationships has utility in applications ranging from biomedical diagnostic tools to DNA computing.

A study revealed that heightened amygdala activity in adolescents viewing emotional faces can forecast their social health two years later, showing that for girls it indicated greater peer engagement, while for boys it indicated less.

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Researchers have conducted a psychophysical study using virtual reality (VR) to investigate how humans flexibly use exploratory behaviours—such as changing their viewpoint by moving their head and manipulating objects with their hands—when discriminating the material properties of objects. The study was published in the Journal of Vision.

A new study establishes a robust link between long-term exposure to air pollution and the risk of Parkinson’s disease.

An international team of scientists and clinicians have developed a generative artificial intelligence framework that unmasks these previously hidden cortical lesions by analysing existing legacy MRI scans. By synthesising minor, sub-visual discrepancies across multiple image contrasts, the AI acts as a computational lens, extracting vital diagnostic data from ordinary scans and revealing an entirely invisible layer of MS pathology.

New research in General Psychiatry has uncovered a link between higher levels of daytime light exposure and a lower risk of dementia.

A recent study discovered that randomly played sounds during sleep can actively impair memory consolidation. By utilising real-time electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring, the researchers proved that ambient sound clicks disrupt deep slow-wave sleep, arresting the physical propagation of slow brain waves across the cortex and fracturing the crucial transfer of information required to form long-term memories.

A research team has uncovered new insight into how the brain senses movement. Their findings could potentially help improve sensation and movement for prosthetic limbs.

A new study has demonstrated that introducing inflammatory signalling molecules directly into human hippocampal stem cells halts new neuron production. Instead of simply dying or becoming damaged, the brain’s neural stem cells abandon their regenerative responsibilities, entering an “immune alert” state that fuels localised neuroinflammation.

People who speak more than one language seem to have younger brains, according to research presented at the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) Forum 2026.

A new research framework that combines large language models (LLMs) with choice mathematics to evaluate human decision-making. By deploying LLMs to automatically interpret and code thousands of free-text participant thought justifications, the framework provides a scalable, validated methodology demonstrating that human reasoning strategies shift dynamically with a problem’s structure.

Scientists have found that human cortical neurons function like advanced microchips, demonstrating computational abilities comparable to those of deep artificial neural networks, rather than merely acting as simple switches.

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Regions-of-interest representing delay discounting neural processes. Nucleus accumbens activation represents reward valuation (orange). Hippocampal activation is involved in imagining the future or prospection (yellow). The middle frontal gyrus is involved in cognitive control (red). Regions were defined from the Desikan-Killiany atlas. Credit: *Alcohol, Clinical and Experimental Research* (2026). DOI: 10.1111/acer.70300

Brain activity in young adults regarding reward valuation is connected to long-term drinking habits, as shown in a study of college students with family histories of alcohol use disorder (AUD). The research suggests the potential for precision medicine to create tailored interventions for those at risk of addiction, highlighting that a family history of AUD triples or quadruples the likelihood of alcohol-related issues.

A research team has developed technology that uses artificial intelligence to analyse electroencephalogram signals triggered by thermal stimuli and objectively classify pain intensity.

A recent study analysed 73 research articles on dietary patterns and their effect on cognitive performance in youth aged 8 to 19, highlighting that nutritional deficiencies in early life can lead to lower intelligence scores in adolescence, and indicating a need for more high-quality research on potential nutritional interventions during this period.

An 8-month-old infant with severe genetic epilepsy has become the first patient in the world to receive an experimental gene replacement therapy designed to restore the function of the WWOX gene directly in the brain.

Researchers employed machine learning to detect neurological warning signs in the brain’s electrical rhythms, enabling epilepsy diagnosis without capturing active seizures. An advanced algorithm identified EEG abnormalities associated with genetic epilepsy accurately.

A recent study has found a dynamic relationship between brief physical activity and improved mood, utilising data from over 8,000 global participants with wearable sensors.

A new AI platform has been developed to decode and measure human pain, surpassing reliance on subjective self-reporting. It employs a self-correcting algorithm to analyse EEG signals in response to thermal stimuli, mapping brainwave activity to produce an objective measure of physical suffering.

Researchers found postoperative delirium was strongly associated with long-term cognitive decline, and the effect was not explained by rehospitalisations, highlighting the long-term impact of delirium on brain health.

A new study reveals that menopause is a significant neurological phase rather than just a reproductive milestone, tracking brain activity during premenopause, perimenopause, and postmenopause. It finds that “resting-state” neural networks experience substantial changes linked to estrogen fluctuations, shedding light on the biological factors affecting midlife cognitive changes and long-term brain ageing in women.

The largest genome-wide association study on anxiety has identified the polygenic basis of worry and fear responses by analysing data from 693,869 individuals, shifting the focus from binary diagnoses to the spectrum of symptom severity.

Analysing 12 years of deidentified patient electronic records using AI, researchers discovered that glucosamine use among individuals with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is associated with a 25% higher likelihood of progressing to full dementia, alongside a 25% spike in mortality for established Alzheimer’s patients.

Finally this week, a recent study has found that the relationship between a person’s progesterone and estradiol levels at a given moment, measured in saliva, could help predict participants’ performance in a learning and memory task.

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Illustration of human brain surrounded by glowing neurons and synapses with scientific terms

A pioneering, first-of-its-kind study demonstrated that a personalised, machine-learning-guided lifestyle coaching program can nearly double the remission rates of mild-to-moderate depression. The research tracks how individual behavioural factors uniquely predict low mood states.

Scientists say they’ve uncovered striking new evidence of how alcohol addiction impacts the brain’s learning systems—and how those systems may slowly adapt during recovery—in a new study published in Clinical Neurophysiology.

New research by a collaboration of U.K.-based scientists has revealed that common indoor and outdoor air pollutants can alter both brain and respiratory function within just four hours of exposure, offering key insights into how air pollution impacts brain health and may contribute to dementia risk.

Children recover significantly faster from concussion after receiving early, multidisciplinary care designed to treat persistent symptoms, according to a new study.

Researchers have discovered the first definitive neural evidence of how the brain creates and reuses abstract symbols to think creatively. The research tracks the neural substrates of “compositional generalisation”, the foundational cognitive ability to take familiar components and recombine them into entirely fresh ideas.

A neuroimaging study has challenged the idea that chronic brain inflammation causes Long COVID, using PET and MRI scans to analyse patients with Long COVID, healthy individuals, and MS patients.

Scientists have uncovered a vital mechanism of the “heart-brain axis,” showing that a heart attack can alter brain function, leading to depression, anxiety, and cognitive decline. After such an event, a toxic byproduct called methylglyoxal (MG) increases in the bloodstream and accumulates in the brain’s mood and memory centres.

Frequent changes in blood pressure could affect cognitive health and contribute to brain changes associated with dementia risk, according to new research.

A new study identified the architectural and evolutionary principles that govern how both children and artificial neural networks absorb language. The research bridges cognitive linguistics and deep learning to demonstrate the power of “iterated learning”, the process where language reshapes itself over multiple generations to become increasingly structured and structured data becomes easier to learn.

New research has uncovered how a protein strongly linked to Alzheimer’s disease plays a critical role in forming long-lasting memories—opening up new directions for future dementia treatments.

A new study finds that caffeine negatively impacts sleep quality by reducing slow-wave activity, even if total sleep duration seems normal. Researchers used electroencephalography (EEG) to show that this reduction leads to a more wakeful brain state, hindering the central nervous system’s ability to regenerate physically and cognitively.

In people with epilepsy, a new study has found a smartwatch application accurately detected tonic-clonic seizures, seizures with major convulsions, with a low rate of false alarms.

A recent study identified sleep behaviours as early indicators of brain ageing in healthy adults by analysing MRI data from over 23,000 individuals. It found that sleep durations outside the recommended seven-to-nine hours, frequent daytime napping, and chronic sleeplessness are associated with greater white matter lesions, a marker of cognitive decline, regardless of other factors.

Finally this week, quitting smoking is associated with a lower risk for dementia, especially for those with no or modest weight gain after cessation, according to a study published in Neurology.

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Credit: *Biological Psychiatry* (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2026.03.002

A longitudinal study tracking children over a period of seven years has identified distinct brain-wave patterns emerging from age 9 that can forecast a child’s vulnerability to anxiety or depression by age 13. These predictive markers reveal divergent, hemisphere-specific neurodevelopmental trajectories. Anxiety is linked to activity on the right side of the brain, while depression is tied to the left.

Researchers developed transparent, flexible contact lenses that use electrical stimulation to treat depression, enhancing brain connectivity and increasing serotonin levels by 47%, comparable to top antidepressants.

A Phase 2 clinical trial found that a single 25 mg dose of psilocybin, alongside psychotherapeutic support, significantly reduces symptoms of recurrent depression, with antidepressant effects appearing by day two and 53% of participants reaching remission by six weeks. While well-tolerated, the study identified long-term efficacy issues and the challenge of patient blinding in psychedelic research.

A new study maps the functional remodelling strategies the brain deploys during simulated visual impairment.

Researchers are developing a multi-organ “organ-on-chip” device called the GlucoBrain project to connect human cellular models of the gut, pancreas, and brain in a biochip. This study will investigate the biological mechanisms linking diabetes to cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s by monitoring molecular signaling and cellular responses to glucose and hormone levels.

A healthy brain may help protect thinking and memory skills from the early effects of Alzheimer’s disease, a new study has found.

A major longitudinal cohort study revealed a compelling neuroprotective link between smoking cessation and a lowered risk of developing dementia. While the study does not definitively prove causation, the empirical data shows that individuals who quit smoking experience a 16% reduction in dementia risk compared to those who continue smoking, eventually matching the baseline risk levels of lifelong non-smokers after approximately seven years.

Researchers are investigating whether existing dementia assessment methods may overlook signs of cognitive decline in autistic adults because many screening tools were developed around neurotypical populations.

A multi-site study reveals that combining cannabis and tobacco, a trend known as “co-use”, significantly increases the long-term risk of developing full psychotic disorders like schizophrenia. The study tracked over 1,000 participants from the North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study, specifically focusing on adolescents and young adults already at “clinical high risk” for psychosis.

A new study reveals that long-term exposure to low levels of air pollution is directly linked to worse memory, comprehension, and processing speed.

A milestone pilot randomized controlled clinical trial delivered the first targeted clinical evidence that immunotherapy could serve as a powerful new treatment paradigm for treatment-resistant depression. The study investigated whether tocilizumab, an existing anti-inflammatory drug traditionally used to treat autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, could alleviate depressive symptoms by blocking a specific inflammatory pathway.

Migraine with aura is linked to a higher risk of ischemic stroke in middle-aged and older individuals, as per a study in Neurology, while migraine without aura does not show this association; however, the study does not confirm causation.

New research argues that Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) must be reframed from a simple disruption of motor pathways into a fundamental systems-level disorder. The framework posits that SCI permanently fractures communication, desynchronizes physiological states, and halts learning across the entire brain–body–environment loop.

Finally, a new study has created a real-time method to detect alcohol-induced blackouts during drinking, tackling the challenge of identifying blackouts only after harmful incidents occur.

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Red indicates parts of the brain with more histamine-related gene expression, blue regions have comparatively less. The genes (HDC, HNMT, ALDH7A1, MAOB, HRH1, HRH2, HRH3, HRH4) play many different roles in histamine signaling, including histamine production (HDC), histamine breakdown (HNMT) or encoding histamine receptors (HRH1, HRH2, HRH3, HRH4). Credit: *Nature Mental Health* (2026).

New research has created the first comprehensive map of the histamine system in the brain, highlighting its role beyond allergies and linking it to genetics, behavior, and mental health conditions.

A pilot study suggests that transcranial temporal interference stimulation (TIs), a noninvasive brain stimulation method, may effectively treat motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease by improving movement significantly in patients compared to a sham treatment, specifically when targeting the subthalamic nucleus.

A comprehensive analysis of biological clocks across the human body reveals that both insufficient and excessive sleep are associated with accelerated aging in nearly every organ system.

Scientists have the first direct evidence from human studies that brain-controlled hearing technology can help people single out a voice in a crowd. These early findings suggest that researchers may one day develop a hearing augmentation device that can, among other feats, overcome the problems that conventional hearing aids have with noisy surroundings.

A new study presents evidence that hormonal changes, from monthly cycles to menopause, significantly alter how the brain processes sound.

Baylor College of Medicine researchers discovered that the human brain can process language while under general anaesthesia, challenging our understanding of consciousness and cognition, and potentially offering new insights into memory, language, and brain-computer interfaces.

Individuals with diabetes face a significantly higher risk of developing dementia, as highlighted in research from the 28th European Congress of Endocrinology in Prague, indicating they are more than twice as likely to develop the disease.

New research shows that as we form online connections, our brains prioritise “social mapping” over “content learning.” This shift is even more dramatic for those with high working memory, who use their digital networks as external storage, resulting in a 40% drop in content recall.

A longitudinal study reveals that the accumulation of visceral fat, the “hidden” fat stored deep within the abdominal cavity, is a primary driver of brain atrophy and cognitive decline in late midlife.

Scientists have discovered new evidence that disputes previous beliefs about the causes of lacunar ischemic stroke, revealing that fatty deposits in arteries may not be the reason for this type of stroke, which constitutes about 25% of ischemic strokes. Instead, researchers identified a different vascular abnormality—enlargement and widening of arteries in the brain—as being strongly linked to lacunar stroke.

New research provides a breakthrough in understanding the biological mechanisms linking Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) and psychosis.

A new study has found that while “brain fog” predicts a first episode of depression in healthy adults, those with a history of the disorder are actually more likely to relapse if their cognitive scores are high. This “confounding” result suggests that the relationship between how we think and how we feel is far more complex than previously believed.

Finally, multiplexed imaging technology using standard clinical MRI systems can simultaneously map more than 20 biomarkers in high resolution, providing a comprehensive view of the brain with a single scan.

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*Alterations within the central nervous system in painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy. Credit: Journal of Diabetes (2026).*

Changes within the central nervous system, including the brain and spinal cord, can be a key reason for pain in people with diabetes, and future treatments could focus on restoring the brain’s pain-blocking systems, according to new research.

A long-term MRI study reveals that lower abdominal fat accumulation is linked to slower brain atrophy, preserved brain structures, and improved cognitive performance in late midlife, regardless of weight loss. This relationship appears to be mainly influenced by glucose control and insulin sensitivity. The study uniquely connects repeated MRI observations of visceral fat with brain aging and cognitive changes over time.

Researchers have shown that a single dose of psilocybin, the psychedelic compound found in magic mushrooms, causes likely anatomical brain changes that last for up to a month after the experience.

A study in Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology indicates that children with epilepsy are at a higher risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), often having intellectual disabilities (56.5% vs. 15.4%), being mostly female (38.2% vs. 25.8%), and receiving an autism diagnosis at a younger age (7.4 vs. 8.7 years) compared to those without autism.

Researchers at Loma Linda University Health found that consuming one egg per day, five days a week, is linked to a 27% lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease in individuals aged 65 and older.

A recent study reveals that Parkinson’s disease can be categorised into distinct subtypes, highlighting the limitations of a one-size-fits-all treatment approach. The research identified two main groups and five subgroups through machine-learning analysis, paving the way for personalised therapies. The findings are published in Nature Communications.

A new study indicates that both extremely low and high resting heart rates are associated with a higher stroke risk, contradicting the idea that lower heart rates always signify good cardiovascular fitness.

A meta-analysis of 55 studies involving over 3 million people revealed that 31% of individuals with cannabis use disorder (CUD) also have major depressive disorder (MDD), and CUD is present in 10% of those with MDD, highlighting a mutual relationship between the two conditions.

Omega-3 supplements, commonly used by older adults for cardiovascular health and to reduce cognitive decline, may be associated with a quicker deterioration in cognitive function, according to recent research.

New research challenges the long-held belief that the brain makes decisions in a simple, top-down hierarchy. By discovering decision-making signals in the primary somatosensory cortex, researchers have revealed a system of bidirectional feedback loops that could be the key to building the next generation of energy-efficient, truly intelligent AI.

A recent study indicates that cognitive decline is not unavoidable with ageing, showing that individuals aged 19 to 94 can enhance their brain performance through consistent brain-healthy practices.

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*Mapping MNPs in the diseased brain. Credit: Nature Health (2026).*

Tiny micro- and nanoplastic fragments seem to be turning up everywhere, including one of the most well-protected parts of the human body—the brain. In a recent study conducted by Chinese researchers, they found microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) in nearly all the brain samples they tested, both healthy and diseased human brains.

Researchers have identified four distinct mental states that occur regardless of whether we are asleep or awake, revealing a “neural fingerprint” for bizarre, dream-like thoughts that can surface even in the middle of the day.

Scientists have mapped a functional gradient in the rostral prefrontal cortex that connects our spontaneous “daydreaming” mind with our “logical” executive control. By studying patients with frontotemporal dementia, researchers discovered that creativity isn’t about how much these networks overlap, but about the functional distance between them. The more distinct and well-connected these two “islands” are, the more creative the individual.

For older adults, deterioration in cognitive function is seen prior to cardiovascular disease (CVD) events, according to a study published online April 20 in JAMA Network Open.

Some brains are resistant to Alzheimer’s despite the disease’s presence, with research from the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience suggesting that this resistance may relate to how immature neurons respond to damage, aiding understanding of cognitive resilience in ageing.

Researchers propose a new model for how the brain encodes and recalls emotionally meaningful touch, highlighting its role in lifelong mental health.

A new study is the first to show that two of our most sophisticated cognitive functions, using and understanding language and being able to sense how other people feel, have distinct origins in the brain in young children—matching what we know about the adult brain.

Neuroscientists have discovered a secret second network in the brain. AI-mapped astrocyte webs connect distant brain regions, challenging 100 years of neuron-centric theory.

Research indicates that early diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy can enhance outcomes, yet timing for intervention has been unclear. A recent study proposes that treatment could begin as early as 15 weeks gestation to potentially benefit those with certain epilepsy disorders before symptoms manifest.

Finally this week, the World Stroke Organization is warning that climate change poses an escalating threat to brain health, with extreme heat in particular increasing the risk of having a stroke and of patients dying from stroke.