brain

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To Offset, or Even Reverse, Cognitive Decline, Train Your Brain

Older adults saw a key brain chemical, acetylcholine, increase after BrainHQ exercises

(Newser) - A new study offers the first strong evidence in humans that cognitive training can increase levels of a brain chemical that plays a key role in learning and memory, which normally drops as people age. Researchers at McGill University tracked 92 healthy adults aged 65 and older over a 10-week...

Even Light Drinking Boosts Dementia Risk
Even Light Drinking
Jacks Your Dementia Risk
NEW STUDY
Oct 16, 2025 7:51 AM CDT

Even Light Drinking Jacks Your Dementia Risk

Prior 'one drink a day' advice was based on skewed data, new research suggests

(Newser) - A decades-old belief that a daily drink might do the brain some good just took another hit. According to a new study in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine , light, regular alcohol consumption can raise the risk of developing dementia. Researchers tracked more than 550,000 people aged 56 to 72 and...

School Shooting Survivor's Recovery Is 'Miraculous'

Sophia Forchas, 12, set to begin rehabilitation after suffering a bullet to the brain

(Newser) - After being shot in the head during a Mass celebration at her Minneapolis Catholic school, 12-year-old Sophia Forchas is defying the odds with a remarkable recovery that has stunned doctors and inspired her community. The seventh grader was gravely injured during last month's shooting at Annunciation Catholic School,...

At High Risk for Dementia? This Diet Helps
At High Risk for Dementia?
This Diet Helps
NEW STUDY
Aug 25, 2025 6:53 AM CDT

At High Risk for Dementia? This Diet Helps

Mediterranean diet found to cut risk by at least 35% in those with 2 copies of APOE4 gene

(Newser) - A new study finds that sticking to a Mediterranean diet can slash the risk of dementia—especially in those with the highest genetic risk. Researchers tracked more than 5,700 participants over 34 years and found that those who closely followed the Mediterranean diet lowered their dementia risk, in...

It's a Dangerous Chemical, Yet It Might Treat Alzheimer's
A Dangerous Chemical
Might Treat Alzheimer's
NEW STUDY
Aug 7, 2025 7:56 AM CDT

A Dangerous Chemical Might Treat Alzheimer's

Lithium orotate found to reverse markers of the disease in mice

(Newser) - Long used to stabilize moods in bipolar disorder, lithium may hold a surprising new promise: reversing memory loss and brain changes linked to Alzheimer's disease. In a Wednesday study in Nature , researchers found lithium, which the brain naturally produces, is captured by beta-amyloid plaques—the same plaques associated...

'I Got in My Car and I Smelled Death'
'I Got in My Car
and I Smelled Death'
Jul 26, 2025 11:00 AM CDT

'I Got in My Car and I Smelled Death'

Pennsylvania couple sue 2 funeral homes, say they were given deceased son's brain in a box

(Newser) - Two funeral homes allegedly gave grieving parents their deceased son's brain in a box, which began to smell, leaked into their car, and got on the father's hands, per an updated lawsuit filed this week. Dad Lawrence Butler said Thursday at a presser that the discovery was overwhelming,...

Optimists' Brains Really Do Think Alike
Optimists' Brains
Really Do Think Alike
NEW STUDY
Jul 22, 2025 10:44 AM CDT

Optimists' Brains Really Do Think Alike

Brain scans reveal similar brain activity in the more upbeat among us

(Newser) - If you tend to see the glass as half full, your brain may have more in common with other optimists than you think. A new study from researchers at Japan's Kobe University suggests that people with positive outlooks actually share similar patterns of brain activity when imagining the...

Billy Joel Talks Handling 'Water on the Brain'

Singer opens up about recovery, canceled concerts after normal pressure hydrocephalus diagnosis

(Newser) - Billy Joel is breaking his silence on his health with an update, two months after revealing a brain disorder diagnosis that sidelined his tour. The 76-year-old music legend announced in May that he'd been diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus , or NPH, a condition that leads to a buildup...

Need a Eureka Moment? There's a Special Kind of Nap for That

N2 sleep stage appears best for problem-solving in a study involving a visual computer task

(Newser) - Struggling to solve a problem? Try a short nap, but not just any nap. A new study indicates people who enter the second of three stages of non-rapid eye movement sleep are likely to experience a "eureka" in the face of a problem. The study involved 90 people aged...

Why Does Your Brain Go Blank?
Why Does Your Brain Go Blank?
Jun 21, 2025 5:40 PM CDT

Why Does Your Brain Go Blank?

A new study has a theory about what happens when nothing is on your mind—literally

(Newser) - Sometimes your brain seems like it's not working, and that might actually be a sign that it's doing its job very well. Popular Science reports that according to a recent study published by cognitive neuroscientist Athena Demertzi, mind blanking—those strange moments when nothing's going on upstairs—...

Revenge Is Like an Addiction
Essay: Revenge
Is Like an Addiction
OPINION
Jun 6, 2025 8:45 AM CDT

Essay: Revenge Is Like an Addiction

WSJ columnist talks about addiction to revenge, how forgiveness can serve as a detox of sorts

(Newser) - If you've ever wanted to go the Count of Monte Cristo route and take vengeance on all of your enemies, your ego may revel, but your brain may not thank you. That's because "your brain on revenge looks very much like your brain on drugs," according...

A Big First for This Neuralink Rival

Paradromics tests its Connexus brain implant in human patient for the first time

(Newser) - Startup Paradromics has taken a major step forward in the brain-computer interface (BCI) race, announcing that its implant, Connexus, has been temporarily tested in a human for the first time. The 10-minute procedure was carried out during a May 14 epilepsy surgery at the University of Michigan, per Wired ...

Scientists Warn: 'Transient' Strokes Aren't So Transient

Researchers say people shouldn't dismiss or ignore ministrokes, tied to risk of cognitive decline

(Newser) - Many people ignore or downplay the sudden symptoms of a transient ischemic attack (TIA), also called a ministroke—but new research suggests that's a mistake. A large study published in JAMA Neurology by the University of Alabama-Birmingham and University of Cincinnati tracked more than 30,000 adults and...

Small Changes Could Lower Your Risk of Brain Disease
Scientists Find 17 Risk
Factors for Brain Disease
NEW STUDY
Apr 14, 2025 8:35 AM CDT

Scientists Find 17 Risk Factors for Brain Disease

Healthy adjustments to physical activity, diet, sleep, stress could make a real difference

(Newser) - Looking for ways to keep the brain healthy in later life? A new study has identified 17 risk factors tied to three age-related brain diseases—all of which can be altered through behavioral changes. Researchers at Mass General Brigham reviewed meta-analyses of risk factors associated with stroke, dementia, and late-life...

With Help From The Matrix, Scientists Map a Mouse Brain

Researchers create largest functional map of a brain to date, after having mouse watch video clips

(Newser) - Thanks to a mouse watching clips of The Matrix, scientists have created the largest functional map of a brain to date—a diagram of the wiring connecting 84,000 neurons as they fire off messages. Using a piece of that mouse's poppy seed-size brain, the researchers identified those neurons...

In Vesuvius, a Human Brain Turned Into Stunning Glass

Vesuvius victim's brain liquified at up to 1,100 degrees, then quickly cooled: study

(Newser) - They are tiny pieces of black glass. They are also, technically, fossilized brains. The pea-sized pieces of shiny glass, actually quite beautiful close up, were discovered around 2018 inside the skull of a man who died when Italy's Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD, destroying Roman cities including Herculaneum and...

After Trip, Her Legs Were Burning. Culprit: a Brain Worm
Woman's Unwelcome Souvenir
From Trip: a Brain Worm
in case you missed it
Feb 23, 2025 3:10 PM CST

Woman's Unwelcome Souvenir From Trip: a Brain Worm

Parasite contracted in Hawaii or Southeast Asia caused patient's legs to feel like they were burning

(Newser) - A woman on a whirlwind three-week junket to Hawaii, Japan, and Thailand returned home with an unwanted memento: a parasite that embedded itself in her brain and made her legs feel like they were burning. That odd sensation started out in the New England 30-year-old's feet after she got...

Behind Gal Gadot's Pregnancy Headaches, a 'Terrifying Truth'

Wonder Woman actor had blood clot in her brain, needed emergency surgery before giving birth

(Newser) - What Gal Gadot thought were simply painful headaches during her fourth pregnancy turned out to be much more, and she's now warning other patients to stay alert for similar symptoms. Per TMZ , the 39-year-old Wonder Woman actor revealed over the weekend that she suffered a giant blood clot in...

On Popular Asthma Pill, 'Something That's Concerning'

FDA ties Singular (aka montelukast) to mental health issues; it's not necessarily cause-effect

(Newser) - When Merck debuted its Singulair asthma pill in the late '90s, an appealing alternative to asthma sufferers who relied on inhalers, the pharmaceuticals company compared it to a "sugar pill" in terms of side effects, calling any distribution of the drug to the brains of the millions of...

Researchers Zero In on First, Subtle Phase of Alzheimer's

Study describes early die-off of certain neurons

(Newser) - Alzheimer's disease appears to damage the brain in two phases, and treatment before the latter stage, when "suddenly things get really bad," is key. That's according to Ed Lein, a senior investigator at the Allen Institute for Brain Science, who worked with nearly 100 colleagues to...

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