Summary: A pilot clinical trial led by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai reports that a portable, non-invasive magnetic headset used at home significantly improved cognition and emotional well-being in adults experiencing long COVID-related “brain fog.” Published in Brain Communications, this triple-blind, sham-controlled study found that twice-weekly sessions of Microtesla Magnetic Therapy (MMT) … Read more

Summary: A pilot clinical trial at the University of Missouri found that a short course of low-dose rapamycin meaningfully increased cerebral blood flow in cognitively healthy, middle-aged carriers of the APOE4 gene—the strongest genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease. The vascular improvements were most pronounced in female carriers, suggesting rapamycin could offer a targeted, … Read more

Summary: Researchers at SUNY Upstate Medical University have solved a long-standing question in neurobiology: how the central nervous system senses axon diameter to set myelin sheath length. Their work shows that oligodendrocytes use the mechanosensitive ion channel Piezo1 to read the physical size of axons during early development, adjusting the length of each myelin segment … Read more

Summary: A new study from McMaster University shows that common respiratory infections — including influenza A and SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) — can accelerate the onset and functional decline of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In preclinical models, a single, sublethal respiratory infection triggered a long-lasting inflammatory response in the spinal cord (gliosis) that … Read more

Summary: Researchers at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine report that analyzing how a person speaks during a routine paragraph-recall memory test—rather than counting only correct or incorrect facts—can identify current cognitive impairment and predict decline up to seven years later. Using automated natural language processing (NLP) on recorded spoken responses, the team … Read more

Summary: Researchers at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa have reversed core behavioral features in a mouse model of autism by restoring healthy blood vessel function in the brain. The team found that endothelial cells in a common genetic model of autism have impaired purinergic signaling and low ATP levels, and that stimulating … Read more

Summary: Surgical removal of cervical lymph nodes during treatment for head and neck cancer can block normal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) outflow from the skull, which may accelerate brain tissue loss and increase the risk of cognitive decline. A multicenter study published in Neuron reports that interrupting cervical lymphatic drainage produces CSF stasis, neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, … Read more

Summary: Researchers using the artificial intelligence tool AI-MARRVEL together with functional fruit fly models have identified rare variants in the BRSK1 gene as the cause of a previously undiagnosed neurodevelopmental disorder. The study shows that reduced BRSK1 function disrupts microtubule organization and alters synaptic structure, producing developmental delays, speech and language deficits, autism traits, and … Read more

Summary: A retrospective clinical review found that adults with drug-resistant epilepsy who used recreational cannabis nearly every day experienced more than twice the annual rate of convulsive (tonic–clonic) seizures compared with nonusers. Frequent users also reached drug-resistant status and required specialized inpatient monitoring much faster—on average within five years of their first seizure versus 18 … Read more

Summary: Researchers at the University of Missouri report that bullfrog brains can manufacture ketone bodies locally when glucose becomes scarce, rather than relying solely on liver-produced ketones circulating in the blood. This on-site ketogenesis acts as an emergency metabolic reserve that sustains essential neural circuits during prolonged winter hibernation and low-oxygen conditions, and it points … Read more