Brain & Aging
109 stories
Mayo's Tomato Compound Against 'Zombie Cells' Was Tested in Old Mice, Not People
Tomatidine quieted aging cells in elderly mice and in human cells grown in a dish. Two of its coauthors run the company licensing tomatidine patents, and trials of other senolytic drugs in people have missed their primary endpoints.
Brain & AgingThe Omega-3 Trial Headlined as a Brain-Health Bust Was Built to Measure Spinal Fluid
Two years of high-dose DHA reached the spinal fluid of older adults exactly as planned. The memory scores behind the "no benefit" headlines were an exploratory outcome, and 38 percent of volunteers dropped out.
Brain & AgingYour Aging Brain May Be Swapping Details for Wisdom. Nobody Has Measured the Wisdom.
Three neuroscientists argue that midlife forgetting is the brain shifting toward meaning. Older studies document the lost detail and the confident false memories that come with it. The promised wisdom has never been measured.
Brain & AgingPull One Protein Out of a Human Cancer Cell and Its Jumping Genes Wake Up Within Two Hours
Removing either of two CCR4-NOT proteins from a human colorectal cancer cell line raised transcription at about 77 percent of tracked LINE jumping genes within two hours, yet the two removals pushed jumping-gene RNA lifespans in opposite directions.
Brain & AgingPsilocybin Trial's Banked Blood Shows Parkinson's Inflammation Markers Still Lower a Month Later
Five inflammatory signals were still below baseline a month after the second psilocybin session, in blood banked from nine Parkinson's patients in an uncontrolled UCSF pilot whose investigators carry psychedelic-industry ties.
Brain & AgingThe Amino Acid That Sharpened Old Mice's Memory Made Neuron Loss Worse in Alzheimer's Mice
D-serine improved memory in old mice in a 2023 study now recirculating as news. Given to Alzheimer's model mice, the same amino acid made neuron loss worse, and the human trial behind the hype was a single dose.
Brain & AgingClear Most of the Brain's Microglia and Alzheimer's Mice Sleep Two Hours More, Plaque Load Unchanged
In amyloid mice, plaque piled up while lost sleep held flat, and the sleep came back when most microglia were cleared. That is an awkward result for an industry selling plaque removal.
Brain & AgingThe Growth Hormone Mice Release in Sleep Circles Back to Wake Them Up
In mice, growth hormone released during sleep makes the brain's alertness center more excitable and pushes the animal toward waking. The viral headline about building muscle and burning fat describes something the study never tested.
Brain & AgingThe MIND Diet's '2.5 Younger Brain-Years' Meet the Trial That Couldn't Find Them
Framingham brain scans linked closer MIND-diet adherence to grey matter aging about 2.5 years slower. A 604-person randomized trial that put older adults on the diet for three years found no edge over a control diet.
Brain & AgingSusumu Tonegawa Caught Your Immune Cells Rewriting Their Own DNA, Then Went Hunting for Memories
Tonegawa, who died in July at 86, won the 1987 Nobel alone for showing how immune cells cut and paste their own genes to make antibodies, then moved to neuroscience and helped tie specific memories to brain cells that can be switched on with light in mice.
Brain & AgingScientists Watched a Cannabinoid Cut the Brake on Fear Neurons in Mice
In mice, a synthetic cannabinoid switched off the inhibition holding a cluster of fear neurons in check, and higher doses plus stress released that brake together. It is a possible mechanism for why a heavy high can curdle into dread.
Brain & AgingIn Aging Brains, Thicker Myelin Showed Up Where Thinking Fell Fastest
In brain tissue from a subset of 866 Scots tested from age 70 to 82, the fastest decliners had smaller nerve fibers, thicker myelin and fewer myelin-making cells carrying the stress protein NRF2.
Brain & AgingDrugs Aimed at This Week's Brain-Inflammation Target Have Already Failed in Patients
AstraZeneca and Pfizer each took a P2X7 blocker into rheumatoid arthritis trials, and neither beat placebo. A Birmingham lab now says the same receptor could tame inflammation in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
Brain & AgingCounting Your Kid's Screen-Time Hours Is Measuring the Wrong Thing
Follow 4,285 kids for four years and the hours on the clock were not associated with suicidal thoughts or behavior. A compulsive, can't-stop pattern of use tracked with more than double the risk.
Brain & AgingA Helsinki Team Sorted Depression Into Five Brain Patterns. The Last Famous Attempt Collapsed on Replication.
A Helsinki team used magnetic brain scans to sort 263 depressed patients into five connectivity profiles, then said the scans still can't pick anyone's treatment.
Brain & AgingA Gut Molecule Tied to Diabetes and Clogged Arteries Now Tracks With Alzheimer's Decline
In 1,196 cognitively healthy adults, the people with the most of one gut-made molecule in their blood declined fastest, and a genetic variant carried by about 43 percent was linked to higher levels.
Brain & AgingAfter 30 Hours Awake, a 20-Minute Bike Ride Saved About as Much Memory as a 90-Minute Nap
Sleepless volunteers who cycled for 20 minutes recognized nearly as many photos three days later as those given a 90-minute nap, even though the ride left their fatigue markers right where they were.
Brain & AgingUnder Propofol, the Hippocampus Still Sorts Nouns From Verbs and Leans Toward the Next Word
Recordings from 651 neurons in seven anesthetized patients show the hippocampus learning tones and tracking word meaning, and a German trial suggests that what reaches those ears can change how much opioid a patient needs afterward.
Brain & AgingWhen the Shocks Stopped, People With Insomnia Got More Aroused, Not Less
In a third analysis of the same Boston volunteers, people with insomnia grew more aroused once the shocks stopped. The signal showed up only after engineers modeled the slow background sweat, and the next-day test missed significance.
Brain & AgingIn Lab Tests, the Alzheimer's Fragment Labeled 'Non-Amyloidogenic' Builds Amyloid Faster Than Amyloid Beta
For decades the alpha pathway was billed as the safe way to cut the Alzheimer's precursor protein. Its leftover fragment, p3, builds fibrils in less than half the time amyloid beta needs in lab tests, forms ring-shaped pores, and turns up in plaques where a common antibody stain can't tell the two a
Brain & AgingFeeling Fine in Pregnancy Was No Shield Against Dirty Air's Link to Postpartum Depression
Among 475 Mexico City mothers, each 5 microgram per cubic meter rise in fine-particle pollution during pregnancy tracked with 2.67 times the risk of depression symptoms that first appeared after birth. The link was stronger in women who reported little stress.
Brain & AgingIn a Toronto Husky Study, Owners Moved First More Than Twice as Often as Their Dogs
Earlier sensor studies had the dog moving and the owner following. Among 22 synchronized Toronto owner-dog pairs, the human led in 10 and the dog in 4, and bedsharing showed no significant link to owners' measured sleep.
Brain & AgingD-Serine Helped Old Mice in the Maze and Did Nothing for Their Skin or Bones
Restoring the protein menin in one patch of hypothalamus gave 20-month-old mice thicker skin, more bone and better learning. D-serine, the amino acid now in the headline, improved only the learning, and the one trial in healthy older adults that both news stories cite gave each person a single dose
Brain & AgingThe Eye's 'Hidden Cleanup System' Has So Far Been Mapped Only in Mice
Toronto and UBC researchers traced a tracer from the back of a mouse eye to the neck in 20 minutes. The coverage aimed it at glaucoma patients. Nobody has looked for the pathway in a human eye yet, and a space agency helped pay for the work.