THE LATEST RESEARCH
New findings about the brain, behavior and mental health—with the evidence and limits in view.
TL;DR: Many people with Parkinson's still have hours of "off" time each day, when medicine stops working, even on the best regular treatment. Two German neurologists argue that fast-acting "rescue" medicines should be part of everyday care, especially for slow…
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TL;DR: In 32 healthy young adults, fast brain waves recorded during 2.5 minutes of rest were linked to how well people later remembered names paired with faces. More fast activity over the front of the head and less over the back went with better recall. Key F…
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TL;DR: Female rats taken off alprazolam (Xanax) after 8 days of rising doses moved less and avoided the open middle of a test arena, signs of anxiety. Their amygdala, a fear center, showed more excitatory signaling and fewer connection points on nerve cells. K…
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TL;DR: In female mice, both too little and too much estrogen led to depression-like and anxious behavior, and both lowered one estrogen receptor in a mood-related brain area. Boosting that receptor eased the effects of stress. Key Findings U-shaped pattern in…
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TL;DR: In a driving simulator, 30 drivers felt more strained and tired in rain, snow or fog than in clear weather. Each kind of bad weather showed up differently, with drivers slowing down most in fog. Key Findings Workload up in all bad weather: Scores rose 1…
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TL;DR: In female rats, a single concussion-type head hit or a brief strangulation weakened a brain-cell signal linked to memory a week later. Getting both injuries together was no worse than getting one. Key Findings 51 female rats, 4 groups: No injury, head h…
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TL;DR: A person with severe inherited retina disease saw a wide blue glow each time a weak, humming magnetic field was aimed near the eyes, but nothing when it was aimed at the back of the head or switched off. It's a single-person experiment that points to su…
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TL;DR: A review of 10 years of research found no consistent evidence that radio waves from cell phones or phone towers harm children or pregnancies. Some studies did find links to sleep, behavior or birth size, but most relied on self-reported phone use and co…
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TL;DR: In 20 healthy young adults, one session of LiuZiJue, a Chinese breathing practice done with six spoken sounds, was followed by faster answers on a color-word test, compared with sitting quietly with eyes closed. Accuracy didn't change, and the speed-up…
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TL;DR: In 21 stroke survivors with swallowing problems, one acupuncture session at a point under the chin was linked to more activity in movement and touch areas on the healthy side of the brain, compared with 29 healthy adults. There was no fake-needle compar…
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