Neuroscience News

February 6, 2026

Top Headlines

A 25-year Study Found an Unexpected Link Between Cheese and Dementia

Feb. 4, 2026 A massive Swedish study tracking nearly 28,000 people for 25 years found an unexpected link between full-fat dairy and brain health. Among adults without a genetic risk for Alzheimer’s, eating more full-fat cheese was associated with a noticeably ...

MIT's New Brain Tool Could Finally Explain Consciousness

Feb. 4, 2026 Scientists still don’t know how the brain turns physical activity into thoughts, feelings, and awareness—but a powerful new tool may help crack the mystery. Researchers at MIT are exploring transcranial focused ultrasound, a noninvasive ...

Alzheimer’s Scrambles Memories While the Brain Rests

Feb. 1, 2026 When the brain rests, it usually replays recent experiences to strengthen memory. Scientists found that in Alzheimer’s-like mice, this replay still occurs — but the signals are jumbled and poorly coordinated. As a result, memory-supporting brain ...

Middle Age Is Becoming a Breaking Point in the U.S.

Feb. 1, 2026 Middle age is becoming a tougher chapter for many Americans, especially those born in the 1960s and early 1970s. Compared with earlier generations, they report more loneliness and depression, along with weaker physical strength and declining memory. ...

“Existential Risk” – Why Scientists Are Racing to Define Consciousness

Feb. 1, 2026 Scientists warn that rapid advances in AI and neurotechnology are outpacing our understanding of consciousness, creating serious ethical risks. New research argues that developing scientific tests ...

A Simple Blood Test Could Spot Parkinson’s Years Before Symptoms

Jan. 29, 2026 Scientists in Sweden and Norway have uncovered a promising way to spot Parkinson’s disease years—possibly decades—before its most damaging symptoms appear. By detecting subtle biological signals in the blood tied to how cells handle stress and ...

Why Long COVID Brain Fog Seems so Much Worse in the U.S.

Jan. 28, 2026 A massive international study of more than 3,100 long COVID patients uncovered a striking divide in how brain-related symptoms are reported around the world. In the U.S., the vast majority of non-hospitalized patients described brain fog, ...

The Fat You Can’t See Could Be Shrinking Your Brain

Jan. 28, 2026 Where your body stores fat may matter just as much as how much you carry—especially for your brain. Using advanced MRI scans and data from nearly 26,000 people, researchers identified two surprising fat patterns tied to faster brain aging, ...

AI That Talks to Itself Learns Faster and Smarter

Jan. 28, 2026 AI may learn better when it’s allowed to talk to itself. Researchers showed that internal “mumbling,” combined with short-term memory, helps AI adapt to new tasks, switch goals, and handle complex challenges more easily. This approach boosts ...

A Common Parasite in the Brain Is Far More Active Than We Thought

Jan. 27, 2026 A common parasite long thought to lie dormant is actually much more active and complex. Researchers found that Toxoplasma gondii cysts contain multiple parasite subtypes, not just one sleeping form. Some are primed to reactivate and cause disease, ...

Scientists Found a Survival Switch Inside Brain Cells

Jan. 27, 2026 Findings could create new opportunities to treat and study neurodegenerative diseasesScientists discovered that sugar metabolism plays a surprising role in whether injured neurons collapse or cling to life. By activating internal protective ...

Obesity and High Blood Pressure May Directly Cause Dementia

Jan. 26, 2026 A new genetic study suggests that obesity and high blood pressure may play a direct role in causing dementia, not just increasing the risk. By analyzing data from large populations in Denmark and the U.K., researchers found strong evidence that ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:27pm EST

Doctors Test Brain Cell Implants to Restore Movement in Parkinson’s

Feb. 6, 2026 Scientists at Keck Medicine of USC are testing an experimental stem cell therapy that aims to restore the brain’s ability to produce dopamine, the chemical whose loss drives Parkinson’s disease. ...

Two-Month-Old Babies Are Already Making Sense of the World

Feb. 5, 2026 At just two months old, babies are already organizing the world in their minds. Brain scans revealed distinct patterns as infants looked at pictures of animals, toys, and everyday objects, showing ...

This Brain Discovery Is Forcing Scientists to Rethink How Memory Works

Feb. 3, 2026 A new brain imaging study reveals that remembering facts and recalling life events activate nearly identical brain networks. Researchers expected clear differences but instead found strong overlap ...

Alzheimer’s May Trick the Brain Into Erasing Its Own Memories

Jan. 26, 2026 Alzheimer’s may destroy memory by flipping a single molecular switch that tells neurons to prune their own connections. Researchers found that both amyloid beta and inflammation converge on the ...

Researchers Tested AI Against 100,000 Humans on Creativity

Jan. 25, 2026 A massive new study comparing more than 100,000 people with today’s most advanced AI systems delivers a surprising result: generative AI can now beat the average human on certain creativity tests. ...

A Natural Aging Molecule May Help Restore Memory in Alzheimer’s

Jan. 25, 2026 Researchers have found that a natural aging-related molecule can repair key memory processes affected by Alzheimer’s disease. The compound improves communication between brain cells and restores ...

Brain Waves Could Help Paralyzed Patients Move Again

Jan. 24, 2026 People with spinal cord injuries often lose movement even though their brains still send the right signals. Researchers tested whether EEG brain scans could capture those signals and reroute them to ...

A Brain Glitch May Explain Why Some People Hear Voices

Jan. 23, 2026 New research suggests that auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia may come from a brain glitch that confuses inner thoughts for external voices. Normally, the brain predicts the sound of its own ...

The Genetic Advantage That Helps Some People Stay Sharp for Life

Jan. 22, 2026 A new study reveals that super agers over 80 have a distinct genetic edge. They are much less likely to carry the gene most associated with Alzheimer’s risk, even when compared with other healthy ...

MRI Scans Show Exercise Can Make the Brain Look Younger

Jan. 22, 2026 New research suggests that consistent aerobic exercise can help keep your brain biologically younger. Adults who exercised regularly for a year showed brains that appeared nearly a year younger than ...

Scientists Identify Hidden Protein Interaction Driving Parkinson’s Disease

Jan. 20, 2026 Researchers have identified a key molecular interaction that accelerates Parkinson’s disease by damaging the brain’s energy systems. They designed a new treatment that intercepts this harmful ...

Cannabis Was Touted for Nerve Pain. The Evidence Falls Short

Jan. 19, 2026 Cannabis-based medicines have been widely promoted as a potential answer for people living with chronic nerve pain—but a major new review finds the evidence just isn’t there yet. After analyzing ...

Scientists Found Hidden Synapse Hotspots in the Teen Brain

Jan. 16, 2026 Scientists have discovered that the adolescent brain does more than prune old connections. During the teen years, it actively builds dense new clusters of synapses in specific parts of neurons. These ...

Patients Tried Everything for Depression Then This Implant Changed Their Lives

Jan. 20, 2026 Researchers report that vagus nerve stimulation helped many people with long-standing, treatment-resistant depression feel better—and stay better—for at least two years. Most participants had ...

Massive Brain Study Reveals Why Memory Loss Can Suddenly Speed Up With Age

Jan. 14, 2026 A massive international brain study has revealed that memory decline with age isn’t driven by a single brain region or gene, but by widespread structural changes across the brain that build up over ...

Scientists Found the Brain Rhythm That Makes Your Body Feel Like Yours

Jan. 14, 2026 A new study reveals that alpha brain waves help the brain decide what belongs to your body. Faster rhythms allow the brain to match sight and touch more precisely, strengthening the feeling that a ...

Millions With Dementia Still Prescribed Drugs Linked to Falls and Confusion

Jan. 13, 2026 Despite longstanding guidelines, many dementia patients are still prescribed brain-altering medications that can raise the risk of falls and confusion. A new study shows that while prescribing has ...

Scientists Find ‘master Regulator’ That Could Reverse Brain Aging

Jan. 16, 2026 Researchers have identified OTULIN, an immune-regulating enzyme, as a key trigger of tau buildup in the brain. When OTULIN was disabled, tau vanished from neurons and brain cells remained healthy. ...

A Massive Gene Hunt Reveals How Brain Cells Are Made

Jan. 11, 2026 A large genetic screen has revealed how stem cells transform into brain cells, exposing hundreds of genes that make this process possible. Among the discoveries is PEDS1, a gene now linked to a ...

The Secret to Human Intelligence? It Might Be in Our Gut

Jan. 5, 2026 New research shows gut bacteria can directly influence how the brain develops and functions. When scientists transferred microbes from different primates into mice, the animals’ brains began to ...

The Hidden Timing System That Shapes How You Think

Jan. 3, 2026 The brain constantly blends split-second reactions with slower, more thoughtful processing, and new research shows how it pulls this off. Scientists discovered that brain regions operate on different ...

This Tiny Nerve May Help Keep the Heart Young

Jan. 1, 2026 A new study suggests the vagus nerve may be one of the heart’s most important defenders against aging. Researchers found that keeping this nerve connected to the heart helps protect heart cells and ...

ADHD Drugs Don’t Work the Way We Thought

Dec. 25, 2025 ADHD stimulants appear to work less by sharpening focus and more by waking up the brain. Brain scans revealed that these medications activate reward and alertness systems, helping children stay ...

The Brain Has a Hidden Language and Scientists Just Found It

Dec. 29, 2025 Researchers have created a protein that can detect the faint chemical signals neurons receive from other brain cells. By tracking glutamate in real time, scientists can finally see how neurons ...

Scientists Reverse Alzheimer’s in Mice and Restore Memory

Dec. 24, 2025 Alzheimer’s has long been considered irreversible, but new research challenges that assumption. Scientists discovered that severe drops in the brain’s energy supply help drive the disease—and ...

A "herculean" Genetic Study Just Found a New Way to Treat ADHD

Jan. 2, 2026 Attention depends on the brain’s ability to filter out distractions, but new research suggests this works best when background brain activity is quieter. Scientists found that lowering certain ...

Scientists Found a Way to Restore Brain Blood Flow in Dementia

Dec. 25, 2025 A new study suggests that dementia may be driven in part by faulty blood flow in the brain. Researchers found that losing a key lipid causes blood vessels to become overactive, disrupting circulation ...

Why Consciousness Can’t Be Reduced to Code

Dec. 24, 2025 The familiar fight between “mind as software” and “mind as biology” may be a false choice. This work proposes biological computationalism: the idea that brains compute, but not in the ...

What Cannabis Really Does for Chronic Pain

Dec. 30, 2025 Cannabis products with higher THC levels may slightly reduce chronic pain, particularly nerve pain, according to a review of multiple clinical trials. The improvement was small and short-lived, while ...

A Surprising Brain Cleanup Reduced Epileptic Seizures and Restored Memory

Dec. 25, 2025 A new study suggests temporal lobe epilepsy may be linked to early aging of certain brain cells. When researchers removed these aging cells in mice, seizures dropped, memory improved, and some ...