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Plague was already a deadly killer 5,500 years ago, long before cities, farming, or the rat-infested conditions usually linked to historic outbreaks. By analyzing ancient DNA from hunter-gatherer cemeteries in Siberia, researchers discovered early plague strains in nearly 40% of the individuals studied and found evidence of rapid family-based outbreaks that wiped out many children and young teenagers.

Cognitive decline is a major challenge in aging. Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) modulates neural oscillations, potentially aiding cognition. Due to variation in late-life tACS studies, we conducted the first meta-analysis in older adults (≥ 60 years) to estimate pooled cognitive effects and determine if protocol parameters explain outcome variability. We searched Medline/PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.gov (up to September 17, 2025) for studies examining...

CONCLUSIONS: These findings emphasize the importance of sex-specific nutritional interventions and stable food supply systems for preventing frailty in aging populations.

Metformin use may be associated with reduced risk of all-cause mortality as well as prevent the onset of diseases of aging, namely cardiovascular diseases (CVD), cancer, and dementia. We systematically reviewed recent studies to determine whether metformin can promote healthspan in people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). A comprehensive literature search was conducted using Medline, Embase, and Scopus for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and cohort studies evaluating the effect of...

Aging-related declines in spatial navigation pose significant challenges for older adults' independence and quality of life. Among navigational deficits, older adults have been shown to demonstrate deficits in utilizing allocentric (i.e., world-centered) information and rely on egocentric (i.e., body-centered) cues during navigation, resulting in reference frame bias. We investigated naturalistic navigation performance and allocentric knowledge formation in younger adults (N = 30) and older...

INTRODUCTION: Healthy aging is often accompanied by a loss of hearing sensitivity and a reduced ability to understand speech in both quiet and noisy environments. From a physiological perspective, neural oscillations are thought to fundamentally contribute to parse the speech signal into meaningful units and to extract linguistically relevant information at multiple hierarchical levels. Given that syllables are essential structural elements of the speech signal that recur with quasi-rhythmic...

CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that amyloidosis is associated with reduced reliability of spatial memory performance and impaired handling of competing spatial information, particularly under conditions requiring flexible updating of overlapping mnemonic representations. The results further suggest increased vulnerability to interference-related spatial memory deficits with age. Together, these findings support the utility of the OUL paradigm for studying memory updating impairments in...

A major study of more than 112,000 people found that eating foods containing common preservatives may be linked to a higher risk of high blood pressure and heart-related diseases. Researchers tracked participants for up to eight years and discovered that people consuming the highest amounts of certain preservatives had significantly greater risks of hypertension, heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular problems.

Scientists have taken a surprising step toward unlocking regeneration in mammals, showing that the ability to rebuild complex body parts may not be lost after all—it may simply be switched off. Using a two-stage treatment, researchers redirected the body’s normal healing response away from scar formation and toward regrowth, successfully restoring bone, joints, ligaments, and tendons after amputation in animal studies.

A Rutgers study suggests GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy may weaken the link between impulsive tendencies and violent behavior. The surprising finding hints that these medications could affect how people act on impulses, though researchers stress that cause and effect have not been proven.

Vehicle will attempt a daring capture-and-boost mission to extend the life of the Swift observatory

Exposure to a common plastic chemical before and shortly after birth may have lasting effects on behavior. Researchers found that male rats exposed early in life to DEHP—a plasticizer used in products ranging from medical devices to toys—showed significantly higher anxiety as adults, even long after exposure had ended. The animals were more hesitant to explore open spaces and spent more time frozen in place, classic signs of anxiety in rodents.

The Bundibugyo virus only emerged twice before. Now, scientists see a chance to get to know it better

Ancient hunter-gatherers may have contracted the pathogen from marmots