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California scientist wins a Nobel Prize, then makes school lunches for his kids

California scientist wins a Nobel Prize, then makes school lunches for his kids

Dr. Karl Deisseroth spent hours fielding congratulatory calls after learning that he had won a Nobel Prize for medicine for helping to open a new field of brain science called optogenetics

Penn State Researchers Receive NIH Grant to Study Aging's Impact on Long-Term Memory

Penn State Researchers Receive NIH Grant to Study Aging's Impact on Long-Term Memory

Penn State Associate Professor of Biology Janine Kwapis has been awarded a two-year, $432,575 grant from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Aging (NIA). This funding will support her research into how aging affects long-term memory, specifically focusing on the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying cognitive decline. The research aims to understand why memory updating, the ability to modify existing memories with new information, becomes impaired with age and why memories become rigid. Kwapis's preliminary work in mice suggests that memory impairments may stem from disrupted 'overlap' between neuronal ensembles. Her team will manipulate the activity of repressive histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3), a protein that inhibits gene expression, to investigate its role in age-related memory deficits and explore potential therapeutic targets to improve memory flexibility in older adults. The grant is part of NIH’s R21 award mechanism, designed to foster new areas of inquiry and early...

Your Brain Does Not Remember Experiences the Way You Think

Your Brain Does Not Remember Experiences the Way You Think

The peak-end rule is a fascinating psychological heuristic that reveals how people evaluate their past experiences. Instead of remembering every mo...

Five-Country Study Reveals Cultural and Dietary Influence on U.S. Gut Microbiomes

Five-Country Study Reveals Cultural and Dietary Influence on U.S. Gut Microbiomes

A comprehensive five-country study, The Human Diets and Microbiome Initiative (THDMI), led by the Center for Microbiome Innovation (CMI) at the University of California San Diego, has uncovered significant insights into how cultural and dietary habits influence gut microbiomes, including those in the United States. The study, published in Nature Communications, analyzed 1976 samples and corresponding diet and lifestyle data from industrialized nations: Japan, Mexico, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. Researchers found substantial differences in food consumption, nutrient intake, and microbial composition across these countries. While some diet-microbiome links were universally consistent with healthy eating, many were country-specific. Strain-level analyses further revealed greater genomic differences among microbes, correlating with the dietary and ecological aspects of each participating country. Co-author Jan Knol, senior director of global research & innovation at Danone Nutricia Research, stated...

Kellogg School of Management Emphasizes Adaptability and Decision-Making in Business Education

Kellogg School of Management Emphasizes Adaptability and Decision-Making in Business Education

Kellogg School of Management Emphasizes Adaptability and Decision-Making in Business Education

Inflammation Linked to Less Healthy Food Choices in Individuals with Obesity, Study Finds

Inflammation Linked to Less Healthy Food Choices in Individuals with Obesity, Study Finds

Research by neuroscientist Judith Scholing of the Donders Institute at Radboud University indicates that mild inflammation, common in severely overweight individuals, can lead to a reduced willingness to exert effort for food, often resulting in choices of easier, less healthy options. The study, published in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, involved 150 severely overweight female participants, half with inflammation and half without. Participants were asked to choose between foods requiring varying levels of effort to obtain. The findings showed that those with inflammation were less likely to opt for options demanding more effort, regardless of whether the food was healthy or unhealthy. A follow-up experiment demonstrated a causal link: participants with inflammation given anti-inflammatory medication were more willing to exert effort for food.

Moms' brains really do change in pregnancy. What a neuromaternal expert wants you to know

Moms' brains really do change in pregnancy. What a neuromaternal expert wants you to know

Neuroscientist Susana Carmona has been studying brain changes for years. Here's what she wants pregnant women to know.

Endocrine Society Opposes NIH Proposal to Withhold Peer Review Impact Scores

Endocrine Society Opposes NIH Proposal to Withhold Peer Review Impact Scores

The Endocrine Society has formally opposed proposed changes by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) regarding the reporting of outcomes from its peer review process. Specifically, the Society objects to the NIH's proposal to withhold an investigator's final overall impact score from applicants. Peer review is a critical mechanism for evaluating the scientific rigor and merit of research proposals. The Endocrine Society emphasizes that the impact score, when combined with reviewer comments, provides invaluable feedback to applicants. This feedback helps researchers understand how their applications were scored and prioritized against others. The Society argues that removing this score would diminish transparency and devalue the peer review process itself. This proposed change is outlined in NIH notice NOT-OD-26-088.

Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Research Explores Consciousness and Meditation States

Transcranial Focused Ultrasound Research Explores Consciousness and Meditation States

Ongoing research is investigating the use of transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS) for neuromodulation, specifically targeting the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) to influence consciousness and meditation states. One study, Ehmann et al. (2025), involved experienced meditators on a ten-day silent retreat, administering PCC-suppressive sessions. While daily state nondual awareness increased during the retreat, scores did not significantly differ on the first sonication day and showed only a trend on the second. Interviews during stimulation days indicated 'reduced identification with and solidification of mental phenomena,' with themes of 'Effortlessness' and 'Spaciousness' noted as independent of stimulation. Another study by Lord et al. (2024) randomized 30 undergraduate students to active or sham tFUS. Although default-mode network (DMN) midline connectivity decreased within the active group, a comparison between active and sham groups revealed no significant effects on DMN connectivity or subjective m...

What color is a tennis ball?

What color is a tennis ball?

A neuroscientist and artist argue there's no such thing as a color.

UCLA Research Links Brain Aging to Gut Microbiota and Metabolites

UCLA Research Links Brain Aging to Gut Microbiota and Metabolites

Researchers at UCLA Health in the United States have identified a connection between a higher brain aging index, the composition of gut microbiota, and specific metabolites. The study, published in the journal eBioMedicine, involved analyzing brain scans from nearly 1,500 adults across three distinct groups. The scientists employed a method that assesses interactions between different brain regions during rest to create a computer model that predicts brain age. The difference between the predicted brain age and a participant's chronological age was termed the Brain Aging Index. A higher index indicated that the brain appeared older than expected based on functional connection patterns. Participants with a higher brain aging index generally performed worse on tasks involving working memory and executive function, and more frequently reported symptoms of depression. In a subset of participants, stool samples were also examined, revealing associations between a higher brain aging index and certain gut bacteri...