Mind & Brain News

September 29, 2026

Top Headlines

Scientists Just Discovered What Coffee Really Does to Your Gut and Brain

Sep. 28, 2026 A new study suggests coffee may influence mood and brain function by changing the activity of microbes in the gut. Both caffeinated and decaf coffee were linked to lower stress, depression, and impulsivity, while also producing measurable changes in ...

Resetting the Body Clock Could Help the Brain Recover After Stroke

Sep. 28, 2026 Strengthening the body’s natural daily rhythms helped mice recover after stroke by improving the brain’s waste-clearing system and reducing lingering inflammation. The approach worked even when treatment began three days after the stroke, ...

Scientists Found a Surprising Driver of Alzheimer’s Outside the Brain

Sep. 27, 2026 Scientists found that immune cells contributing to Alzheimer’s-related brain damage may be activated in lymph nodes outside the brain before traveling into the nervous system. Blocking this pathway in mice dramatically reduced neurodegeneration ...

Glucosamine, a Popular Joint Supplement, Linked to Faster Alzheimer’s Progression

Sep. 27, 2026 A large health-record analysis found that glucosamine use was associated with a 25% higher likelihood of mild cognitive impairment progressing to dementia. Lab experiments suggest the popular joint ...

Why Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain May Persist Even When Inflammation Is Under Control

Sep. 27, 2026 Pain and fatigue in rheumatoid arthritis can persist even after inflammation improves, with depression, poor sleep, obesity, smoking, and chronic pain potentially helping sustain symptoms. ...

This “Rare” Autism-linked Genetic Disorder May Be Far More Common Than Scientists Thought

Sep. 25, 2026 A major analysis suggests Phelan-McDermid syndrome, a genetic disorder closely linked to autism, may affect about 1 in 7,300 people and more than 45,000 Americans. Researchers warn that thousands of ...

More REM Sleep Linked to Lower Risk of 83 Diseases

Sep. 23, 2026 A large study tracking more than 95,000 people suggests that how you sleep may be linked to your risk of developing dozens of diseases. People who spent more time in REM sleep had lower risks of 83 conditions, including dementia, heart failure, and ...

Rare Pregnancy Infections May Triple the Risk of Autism

Sep. 23, 2026 A major Swedish study of 3.7 million people has found that rare TORCH infections passed from a pregnant woman to the fetus are linked to much higher risks of autism and intellectual disability later in life. Children with a congenital TORCH ...

Coffee Doesn’t Have to Keep You Awake to Disrupt Your Sleep

Sep. 22, 2026 Caffeine may make sleep less restorative even when you fall asleep normally and stay in bed for eight hours, with EEG recordings revealing fewer of the slow brain waves associated with deep sleep. Individual sensitivity varies dramatically, meaning ...

Brain Scans Reveal a Possible Cause of Long COVID Fatigue and Brain Fog

Sep. 21, 2026 Researchers have found evidence that long COVID may damage dopamine releasing neurons in the brain, potentially explaining persistent fatigue, low motivation, slowed movement, and memory difficulties. The discovery could lead to new treatments that ...

Stem Cells Reverse Stroke Damage and Restore Movement in Mice

Sep. 21, 2026 Stem cell transplants helped regenerate stroke-damaged brain tissue in mice, producing new neurons and restoring lost motor function. The treatment also improved blood vessels, inflammation, and the blood-brain barrier, raising hopes that a similar ...

Scientists Create a Needle-thin Brain Implant That Can Do Three Jobs at Once

Sep. 21, 2026 A new needle-thin brain implant can record neural activity, deliver drugs, and stimulate multiple brain regions using a single flexible fiber. Successful tests in mice suggest it could give ...

Latest Headlines

updated 6:42am EDT

REM Sleep Paradox: Dreaming May Drain the Brain’s Energy Even as Fuel Supply Rises

Sep. 26, 2026 Scientists discovered a surprising energy paradox in the brain during REM sleep, the stage most closely associated with dreaming. Blood supply to the ...

When What You See Doesn’t Make Sense, Your Brain Does Something Remarkable

Sep. 24, 2026 The brain may have a built-in way to quickly settle disagreements between regions processing the same scene. Researchers found that matching signals ...

Stanford Scientists Discover the Human Brain May Actually Be Two Separate Organs

Sep. 21, 2026 Scientists have found that the human brain develops from two distinct cellular systems, suggesting that evolution fused together two ancient nervous ...

Scientists Find That “perfect” Systems May Be Surprisingly Fragile

Sep. 19, 2026 Complex systems may work better when their parts are not perfectly alike. Northwestern physicists found that carefully balanced variation, or “disorder,” can make networks such as power grids, ...

These Blood Thinners May Have an Unexpected Benefit for Alzheimer’s Patients

Sep. 18, 2026 Newer blood thinners may do more than prevent strokes in people with Alzheimer’s disease and atrial fibrillation. Researchers found that patients ...

Textbooks May Have Misdrawn This Basic Brain Structure for 100 Years

Sep. 17, 2026 Scientists discovered that brain-cell axons may not be smooth tubes as textbooks have shown for more than a century, but instead naturally resemble strings of tiny pearls. Those pearl-like structures ...

Hidden “immune Organ” in the Skull May Help Fight Brain Cancer

Sep. 16, 2026 Scientists discovered a hidden “immune organ” inside the skull that acts as a rapid first responder against brain cancer in mice. Strengthening this local immune defense improved tumor rejection ...

Scientists Recreated What Mice Saw from Brain Activity Alone

Sep. 16, 2026 Scientists reconstructed videos from the brain activity of mice, producing 10-second clips based only on signals from neurons in the visual cortex. The breakthrough could help reveal how the brain ...

Smelling Chocolate Helped Men Complete More Reps Without Feeling More Tired

Sep. 15, 2026 Simply smelling chocolate helped men complete more leg extension repetitions without making the workout feel harder, with dark chocolate producing the strongest effect. The researchers think familiar ...

Scientists Discover a Major Brain Shift Between Ages 50 and 75

Sep. 15, 2026 Scientists have uncovered sweeping changes in how the human brain controls and organizes its genome beginning in midlife, offering new clues to why aging sharply increases the risk of Alzheimer’s ...

Study of 1.9 Million People Finds a Striking Link Between ADHD and Gut Problems

Sep. 11, 2026 Researchers analyzing data from more than 1.9 million people found that ADHD is associated with substantially higher rates of digestive problems. People with ADHD had nearly double the odds of ...

Scientists Reveal the Hidden Instructions That Build the Human Brain

Sep. 4, 2026 UCLA researchers have discovered two powerful influences that help guide how the human brain forms before birth. Radial glia, stem cells responsible for producing much of the cerebral cortex, change ...

Scientists Find Ozempic May Slow Aging Itself

Sep. 12, 2026 Semaglutide helped older healthy mice live longer while improving memory, muscle function, blood sugar control, and several biological signs of aging. Its effects went beyond those seen with calorie ...

Your Personality May Be More Genetic Than Scientists Realized

Sep. 8, 2026 More than 1,200 genetic variants have been linked to the Big Five personality traits, and many of the same variants are also associated with health, longevity, careers, income, and everyday habits. ...

Early Statin Use Linked to 15% Lower Dementia Risk

Sep. 8, 2026 Starting statins soon after a type 2 diabetes diagnosis may do more than protect the heart. In a nationwide Danish study of more than 132,000 people, those who began statin treatment within a year of ...

Ozempic and Wegovy May Have an Unexpected Mental Health Benefit

Sep. 8, 2026 Semaglutide, the drug behind Ozempic and Wegovy, may have benefits that extend well beyond weight loss and diabetes. In a large Swedish study of nearly 15,000 people with bipolar disorder, its use ...

Depression May Shut Down the Brain’s Ability to Make New Neurons

Aug. 25, 2026 A major study found that adults with depression show disrupted production of new neurons in the hippocampus, potentially weakening the brain’s ability to separate new experiences from painful ...

Hidden Brain Wiring May Help Keep the Mind Sharp as Gray Matter Shrinks

Sep. 14, 2026 Scientists have discovered that the brain’s short-range wiring may help protect cognition even as gray matter shrinks with age. Healthier connections just beneath the brain’s surface were linked ...

Alzheimer’s May Leave a Mark on the Brain Long Before Plaques Appear

Sep. 2, 2026 Brain changes associated with Alzheimer’s may begin at least seven years before amyloid plaques become detectable with current PET scans. Researchers uncovered the signal by tracking healthy older ...

This Common Vitamin Was Linked to 13% Better Cognitive Scores

Aug. 23, 2026 Older adults with mild cognitive impairment and sleep problems who took at least 5,000 IU of vitamin D daily scored more than 13% higher on a cognitive test than those taking none. The preliminary ...

Scientists Discover a Brain “brake” That Can Shut Down Chronic Pain

Aug. 27, 2026 Researchers discovered a brain-based “brake” that can shut down chronic nerve pain in mice by calming an overactive pain circuit. Targeting this system more precisely could one day lead to ...

Scientists Reveal How the Brain Changes Its Connections When Uncertainty Strikes

Aug. 19, 2026 The brain has a remarkably flexible system for handling uncertainty and changing situations. Researchers found that the frontoparietal cortex constantly shifts how it communicates with other brain ...

Quitting Alcohol May Prime the Brain for Relapse

Aug. 22, 2026 Mice that developed compulsive drinking after alcohol abstinence showed more than double the activity in a brain region associated with stress and addiction. Because the signal appeared before they ...

A Surprising Brain Discovery Could Help Explain Why We Overeat Fatty Foods

Aug. 13, 2026 A protein inside appetite-controlling brain cells may play an important role in preventing overeating and obesity, particularly when high-fat foods are readily available. Unexpected differences ...

Scientists Tracked Kids for 8 Years — the Screen Time Result Was Unexpected

Aug. 15, 2026 An eight-year Finnish study found that children who spent more time on screens tended to show better cognitive processing as teenagers, challenging common assumptions about screen use. Researchers ...

Women Taking Estrogen Had Fewer Signs of Alzheimer’s in Their Brains

Aug. 14, 2026 Women who used estrogen-only hormone therapy later in life were less likely to develop dementia and showed fewer signs of Alzheimer’s disease in their brains, according to a large study of more ...

Your Sleep May Be Hiding an Early Clue to Alzheimer’s

Aug. 28, 2026 Frequent micro-awakenings during sleep were linked to higher genetic risk for Alzheimer’s in healthy middle-aged adults who had no symptoms. The discovery raises the possibility that subtle changes ...

Researchers Followed 400,000 Kids for 20 Years and Found a Lasting Pre-K Advantage

Aug. 28, 2026 A 20-year study of 400,000 students found that children who attended public school pre-K earned better grades and test scores through high school than those in other childcare settings. ...

Ozempic Does Something Unexpected to the Brain’s Hunger Neurons

Aug. 20, 2026 Ozempic may work in the brain in almost the opposite way scientists expected, activating hunger-linked neurons that appear essential for sustaining fat loss. The surprising discovery in mice could ...

The Adult Brain Can Repair Itself Better Than Scientists Thought

Aug. 12, 2026 The adult brain may be far better at repairing itself than scientists once believed. In mice, researchers discovered a special group of support cells called astrocytes that respond to damaged brain ...