Behavior News

November 21, 2025

Top Headlines

How to Keep Ozempic/Wegovy Weight Loss Without the Nausea

Nov. 18, 2025 Scientists are uncovering how GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy act on brain regions that control hunger, nausea, pleasure-based eating, and thirst. These discoveries may help create treatments that keep the benefits of weight loss while reducing ...

Scientists May Have Found How to Reverse Memory Loss in Aging Brains

Nov. 5, 2025 Virginia Tech researchers have shown that memory loss in aging may be reversible. Using CRISPR tools, they corrected molecular disruptions in the hippocampus and amygdala, restoring memory in older rats. Another experiment revived a silenced memory ...

Breakthrough Brain Discovery Reveals a Natural Way to Relieve Pain

Nov. 4, 2025 Using powerful 7-Tesla brain imaging, researchers mapped how the brainstem manages pain differently across the body. They discovered that distinct regions activate for facial versus limb pain, showing the brain’s built-in precision pain control ...

A Groundbreaking Brain Map Could Revolutionize Parkinson’s Treatment

Nov. 3, 2025 Duke-NUS scientists unveiled BrainSTEM, a revolutionary single-cell map that captures the full cellular diversity of the developing human brain. The project’s focus on dopamine neurons provides crucial insight for Parkinson’s treatment. Their ...

Alzheimer’s Might Be Powered by a Broken Sleep-wake Cycle

Nov. 3, 2025 Disrupted sleep patterns in Alzheimer’s disease may be more than a symptom—they could be a driving force. Researchers at Washington University found that the brain’s circadian rhythms are thrown off in key cell types, changing when hundreds of ...

Gum Disease May Quietly Damage the Brain, Scientists Warn

Oct. 29, 2025 People with gum disease may have higher levels of brain white matter damage, a new study finds. Researchers observed that participants with gum disease had significantly more white matter hyperintensities, even after accounting for other risk ...

Running Fixes What Junk Food Breaks in the Brain

Oct. 21, 2025 New research reveals that exercise counteracts the mood-damaging effects of a Western-style diet through specific gut and hormonal mechanisms. Running restored metabolites tied to mental well-being and balanced key hormones like insulin and leptin. ...

Brain Fog During Menopause? Here’s What’s Really Going On

Oct. 21, 2025 Menopause brings profound shifts not just in hormones but in the very structure of the brain. Scientists have found that gray matter in regions tied to memory and thinking can shrink, while white matter may show damage linked to blood flow issues. ...

Scientists Discover Brain Circuit That Can Switch Off Chronic Pain

Oct. 10, 2025 Scientists have pinpointed Y1 receptor neurons in the brain that can override chronic pain signals when survival instincts like hunger or fear take precedence. Acting like a neural switchboard, these cells balance pain with other biological needs. ...

Scientists Find Brain Circuit That Traps Alcohol Users in the Vicious Cycle of Addiction

Oct. 7, 2025 Addiction often isn’t about chasing pleasure—it’s about escaping pain. Researchers at Scripps Research have discovered that a tiny brain region called the paraventricular nucleus of the ...

Brain Cancer That Eats the Skull Stuns Scientists

Oct. 5, 2025 A new study shows glioblastoma isn’t confined to the brain—it erodes the skull and hijacks the immune system within skull marrow. The cancer opens channels that let inflammatory cells enter the brain, fueling its deadly progression. Even drugs ...

Junk Food Can Scramble Memory in Just 4 Days

Sep. 29, 2025 Scientists discovered that high-fat junk food disrupts memory circuits in the brain almost immediately. Within just four days, neurons in the hippocampus became overactive, impairing memory. Restoring glucose calmed the neurons, showing that ...

Latest Headlines

updated 9:53am EST

Supercomputer Creates the Most Realistic Virtual Brain Ever

Nov. 18, 2025 Researchers have created one of the most detailed virtual mouse cortex simulations ever achieved by combining massive biological datasets with the extraordinary power of Japan’s Fugaku ...

Chimps Shock Scientists by Changing Their Minds With New Evidence

Nov. 16, 2025 Chimps may revise their beliefs in surprisingly human-like ways. Experiments showed they switched choices when presented with stronger clues, demonstrating flexible reasoning. Computational modeling ...

What Brain Scans Reveal About Soccer Fans’ Passion and Rage

Nov. 11, 2025 Researchers scanning soccer fans’ brains found that wins trigger bursts of reward activity while losses dampen control signals. The results show how loyalty and rivalry can override logic, turning ...

A 500-Million-Year-Old Brain "radar" Still Shapes How You See

Nov. 8, 2025 New research shows that the superior colliculus, a primitive brain region, can independently interpret visual information. This challenges long-held beliefs that only the cortex handles such complex ...

A Breakthrough Map Reveals How the Brain Really Works

Nov. 5, 2025 Scientists have shown that brain connectivity patterns can predict mental functions across the entire brain. Each region has a unique “connectivity fingerprint” tied to its role in cognition, ...

MIT Scientists Discover How the Brain Spins Back Into Focus

Nov. 4, 2025 Researchers at MIT’s Picower Institute found that rotating waves of brain activity help restore focus after distractions. In animal tests, these rotations predicted performance: full rotations ...

Online Brain Training Reverses 10 Years of Aging in Memory and Learning

Oct. 29, 2025 A new McGill-led study reveals that digital brain exercises can rejuvenate aging brain systems responsible for learning and memory. Older adults using BrainHQ for 10 weeks showed restored cholinergic ...

A Century-Old Piano Mystery Has Just Been Solved

Oct. 2, 2025 Scientists confirmed that pianists can alter timbre through touch, using advanced sensors to capture micro-movements that shape sound perception. The discovery bridges art and science, promising ...

Brain Fat, Not Just Plaques, May Be the Hidden Driver of Alzheimer’s

Sep. 24, 2025 For decades, scientists believed Alzheimer’s was driven mainly by sticky protein plaques and tangles in the brain. Now Purdue researchers have revealed a hidden culprit: fat. They found that brain ...

Why So Many Young Kids With ADHD Are Getting the Wrong Treatment

Sep. 16, 2025 Preschoolers with ADHD are often given medication right after diagnosis, against medical guidelines that recommend starting with behavioral therapy. Limited access to therapy and physician pressures ...

The Surprising Brain Chemistry Behind Instant Friendships

Aug. 13, 2025 UC Berkeley scientists found oxytocin is key for quickly forming strong friendships, but less critical for mate bonds. In prairie voles, a lack of oxytocin receptors delayed bonding and reduced ...

Lithium Deficiency May Be the Hidden Spark Behind Alzheimer’s

Aug. 29, 2025 Harvard scientists have uncovered that lithium, a naturally occurring element in the brain, may be the missing piece in understanding Alzheimer’s. Their decade-long research shows that lithium ...

Metformin’s Secret Brain Pathway Revealed After 60 Years

Sep. 10, 2025 Metformin, long trusted for diabetes, turns out to work in the brain too. By shutting down Rap1 in the hypothalamus, the drug lowers blood sugar more effectively than previously understood, opening ...

Johns Hopkins Scientists Grow a Mini Human Brain That Lights Up and Connects Like the Real Thing

Aug. 4, 2025 Scientists at Johns Hopkins have grown a first-of-its-kind organoid mimicking an entire human brain, complete with rudimentary blood vessels and neural activity. This new "multi-region brain ...

Alzheimer’s Risk May Start at the Brain’s Border, Not Inside It

Aug. 4, 2025 Your brain has its own elite defense team — and new research shows these "guardian" cells might be the real battleground for neurological diseases like Alzheimer’s and stroke. ...

Experts Warn: Smartphones Before 13 Could Harm Mental Health for Life

Sep. 6, 2025 Getting a smartphone before age 13 may drastically increase the risk of poor mental health later in life, according to data from more than 100,000 people. Early use is linked to suicidal thoughts, ...

Four Hidden Types of Autism Revealed — and Each Tells a Different Genetic Story

July 24, 2025 Scientists at Princeton and the Simons Foundation have identified four biologically distinct subtypes of autism, using data from over 5,000 children and a powerful new computational method. These ...

How a Hidden Brain Circuit Fuels Fibromyalgia, Migraines, and PTSD

July 10, 2025 What if your brain is the reason some pain feels unbearable? Scientists at the Salk Institute have discovered a hidden brain circuit that gives pain its emotional punch—essentially transforming ...

Your Brain’s Hidden Defenses Against Alzheimer’s

July 10, 2025 Scientists at UCSF combined advanced brain-network modeling, genetics, and imaging to reveal how tau protein travels through neural highways and how certain genes either accelerate its toxic journey ...

This Muscle Supplement Could Rewire the Brain—and Now Scientists Can Deliver It

July 9, 2025 Creatine isn’t just for gym buffs; Virginia Tech scientists are using focused ultrasound to sneak this vital energy molecule past the blood-brain barrier, hoping to reverse devastating creatine ...

Parkinson’s Reversal? One Drug Brings Dying Brain Cells Back to Life

July 3, 2025 Stanford researchers discovered that dialing down an overactive enzyme, LRRK2, can regrow lost cellular “antennae” in key brain cells, restoring vital dopamine communication and neuroprotective ...

Ultrafast 12-Minute MRI Maps Brain Chemistry to Spot Disease Before Symptoms

July 2, 2025 Illinois engineers fused ultrafast imaging with smart algorithms to peek at living brain chemistry, turning routine MRIs into metabolic microscopes. The system distinguishes healthy regions, grades ...

Is Cheese Secretly Fueling Your Nightmares? Science Weighs in

July 1, 2025 Over a thousand students revealed a striking link between lactose intolerance and nightmare-filled nights, hinting that midnight stomach turmoil from dairy can invade dreams. Researchers suggest ...

The Gene That Hijacks Fear: How PTEN Rewires the Brain’s Anxiety Circuit

June 29, 2025 Deleting a gene called PTEN in certain brain cells disrupts the brain’s fear circuitry and triggers anxiety-like behavior in mice — key traits seen in autism. Researchers mapped how this genetic ...

Brain Scan Breakthrough Reveals Why Parkinson’s Drugs Don’t Always Work

June 29, 2025 Researchers are using an advanced brain imaging method called MEG to understand why Parkinson’s drug levodopa doesn’t work equally well for everyone. By mapping patients’ brain signals before ...

The Brain’s Sweet Spot: How Criticality Could Unlock Learning, Memory—and Prevent Alzheimer’s

June 25, 2025 Our brains may work best when teetering on the edge of chaos. A new theory suggests that criticality a sweet spot between order and randomness is the secret to learning, memory, and adaptability. ...

Iron Overload: The Hidden Culprit Behind Early Alzheimer’s in Down Syndrome

June 20, 2025 USC researchers have uncovered a hidden driver behind the early and severe onset of Alzheimer's in people with Down syndrome: iron overload in the brain. Their study revealed that individuals ...

Affordances in the Brain: The Human Superpower AI Hasn’t Mastered

June 22, 2025 Scientists at the University of Amsterdam discovered that our brains automatically understand how we can move through different environments—whether it's swimming in a lake or walking a ...

MIT Uncovers the Hidden Playbook Your Brain Uses to Outsmart Complicated Problems

June 17, 2025 When faced with a tricky maze task involving hidden information, humans instinctively toggle between two clever mental strategies: simplifying in steps or mentally rewinding. MIT researchers showed ...

Krakencoder Predicts Brain Function 20x Better Than Past Methods

June 9, 2025 Scientists at Weill Cornell Medicine have developed a new algorithm, the Krakencoder, that merges multiple types of brain imaging data to better understand how the brain s wiring underpins behavior, ...