THE LATEST RESEARCH
New findings about the brain, behavior and mental health—with the evidence and limits in view.
TL;DR: A newborn with severe brain bleeding had seizures that three standard drugs could not stop. After doctors added ketamine, visible seizures stopped, and brain-wave seizures ended once phenytoin was added too, so ketamine's own role is unclear. Key Findin…
Read article
TL;DR: In a small 21-day trial of 30 people with Parkinson's, insulin sprayed into the nose caused no low blood sugar and only mild side effects, mostly nasal irritation and nosebleeds. It did not improve thinking more than placebo. Key Findings 30 people, 4 g…
Read article
TL;DR: Levels of immature white blood cells, proposed as a simple blood marker of inflammation in migraine, were the same in people with migraine, during or between attacks, as in people without it. Two other blood ratios shifted slightly during attacks. Key F…
Read article
TL;DR: Mice given a graft of human stem-cell-derived brain cells a week after a stroke walked better and had more new blood vessels over the next 6 weeks than mice given a sham injection. This is an early animal study in mice bred without a full immune system.…
Read article
TL;DR: In a 2026 lab study, researchers ran a steady electric current for 15 or 60 minutes through tiny balls of rat brain cells grown in a dish. After 60 minutes, the balls spread outward about half as much over 3 days while their nerve fibers grew longer and…
Read article
TL;DR: In mice with tau-driven brain damage, removing a type of immune "scout" cell outside the brain cut the number of killer T cells reaching the brain and protected against brain shrinkage. Tau tangles themselves barely changed. Key Findings Less brain dama…
Read article
TL;DR: Among nearly 3,000 adults aged 70 and older in Japan, 8% of those who had eaten dark chocolate weekly for more than 2 years showed signs of depression, versus 12% of those who rarely ate chocolate. After adjusting for other factors the gap was borderlin…
Read article
TL;DR: Scanning 8 people during hours of real conversation, Japanese researchers found that speaking and listening share some brain patterns for words and sentences. But when speaking, brain activity best matched the last few seconds of talk, while listening m…
Read article
TL;DR: In mice, strengthening the body's daily clock starting three days after a stroke, with an experimental clock drug or by limiting meals to the animals' active hours, led to smaller brain injuries and better walking. This is early animal research, not a t…
Read article
TL;DR: Nesting chinstrap penguins sleep in thousands of naps lasting just a few seconds each. A math model suggests this choppy pattern can make sense as a trade-off between getting rest and staying alert at a crowded nest. Key Findings Real penguins: An estim…
Read article