Tag Archives: brain

Severe flu seasons in recent years have brought to light a little-known danger of influenza infections in kids: a rare brain disease called acute necrotizing encephalopathy, or ANE. It’s a fast-moving condition usually triggered by the flu, causing sudden brain swelling. It’s thought that the virus prompts the immune system to go haywire. Affected children can go from having mild …

The rhythmic click of needles. The softness of yarn running over fingertips. The satisfying logic of knit, purl, repeat. Knitting—and other so-called “grandma hobbies”—is making a comeback, especially among younger generations. According to Eventbrite data, Gen Z’s interest in “grannycore” gatherings, such as knitting circles and needlework workshops, has surged in recent months, driven in part by a search for …

Denied of sleep, we find it but impossible to keep our eyes open and our thoughts focused. A new study based on fruit flies may have pin-pointed the origins of this biological lullaby, and with it a deeper understanding of our need for rest on a cellular level. Researchers from the University of Oxford in the UK have identified our …

More than five years after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are still discovering the after-effects of not only the virus but also the prolonged period of stress, isolation, loss, and uncertainty that the pandemic caused. A new scientific study, published this month in Nature Communications, has revealed that the pandemic may have accelerated brain aging in people even …

A big new study finds that diet, exercise and other lifestyle changes can significantly enhance the health of aging brains. J Studios/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption J Studios/Getty Images Scientists have unveiled the strongest evidence yet that a combination of diet, exercise, and brain training can improve thinking and memory in older Americans. A study of more than 2,100 …

Memories of places “drift” across the brain as they are carried by different sets of neurons over time, a new study in mice suggests. Historically, neuroscientists thought that memories of locations and features of our immediate environment were encoded by specific “place cells.” These place cells, located in a key memory center called the hippocampus, light up when a mammal …

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UCSF scientists have discovered how microglia engulf and break down amyloid beta, a protein that builds up in Alzheimer’s, with devastating consequences for the brain. In Alzheimer’s disease, proteins like amyloid beta form clumps, known as plaques, that damage the brain. But in some people, immune cells called microglia break down these proteins before they can cause harm. This leads …

Children with a restrictive eating disorder show recognizable changes in brain structure, according to a new study. Identifying the causes of these changes could help researchers understand how these conditions relate to other neurodevelopmental disorders and how they might be better treated. Magnetic resonance imaging scans of 174 children aged under 13 who had been diagnosed with an early-onset restrictive …

Long before becoming a patient, Ilene Sue Ruhoy was a prominent neurologist in Seattle, accustomed to treating disease.  She had been practicing for a decade when, in 2014, she noticed mounting fatigue, dizziness, nausea, migraines, and irritability that various doctors chalked up to stress, a hormone imbalance, and a sinus infection. None of them, she felt, truly listened or took …