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Even under general anesthesia, the human brain can analyze language, recognize different types of words, and predict what comes next in a story, according to a surprising discovery by Baylor researchers. The findings challenge our understanding of consciousness and suggest that the unconscious brain is far more capable than scientists previously realized.

Eating late at night could be putting your liver at risk, according to a large study led by Oregon Health & Science University. Researchers analyzed data from nearly 200,000 people and found that those who regularly ate after dinner or around bedtime had a 20% to 30% higher risk of liver disease, including fatty liver disease and cirrhosis.

Scientists have discovered that unusually small cancer cells carrying extra chromosomes can be far more aggressive than larger ones, growing faster, spreading more readily, and resisting common treatments. The surprising finding could help explain why some tumors are especially dangerous and provide a new way to predict cancer outcomes.

A rare examination of an Alzheimer’s patient’s brain revealed that regions cleared of amyloid plaques had remarkably little of the harmful tau buildup associated with memory loss, while neighboring areas showed extensive damage. The discovery suggests that removing amyloid may have lasting protective effects and could help slow Alzheimer’s progression, especially when treatment begins early.

APOE4 is the strongest genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease, yet the cellular mechanisms linking APOE variants to disease risk remain unclear. We previously found that APOE4 expression causes lipid droplet accumulation in oligodendrocytes, reducing myelination, but the underlying mechanisms were unknown. Using a genome-wide CRISPR screen and assay for transposase-accessible chromatin (ATAC) sequencing in human-induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived oligodendrocytes, we...

Gamma oscillations are fundamental for cognitive processing, but the cellular and circuit dynamics that generate them remain poorly defined. Establishing a method for simultaneous calcium imaging and electrocorticography recordings in awake mice, we found that spontaneous gamma oscillations are accompanied by dynamic transitions between parvalbumin (PV) interneuron states. Rather than acting as a uniformly synchronized population, PV interneurons showed sequential recruitment, transient...

CONCLUSIONS: Self-reported gait speed and grip strength measures demonstrated limited validity compared with objective assessments in older adults with mild frailty and should be used cautiously as substitutes for measuring weakness and slowness in this population. Trial Registration: ISRCTN Registry: ISRCTN54268283.

Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) is a rare premature aging disorder most commonly caused by a de novo synonymous mutation (c.1824C>T) in the LMNA gene. This mutation activates aberrant splicing of prelamin A, leading to the production and accumulation of progerin, which drives accelerated aging, with patients predominantly succumbing to cardiovascular disease. However, while cardiac pathologies are well documented, the cell-autonomous contribution of cardiomyocytes to HGPS-associated...

Mitochondria are central regulators of retinal bioenergetics and innate immune signaling, yet how mitochondrial genetic background and aging jointly influence immunometabolic responses in the retina remains poorly defined. Here, we investigated the effects of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation on retinal function and the combined effects of mtDNA variation and age on bioenergetic composition, mtDNA damage, and the microglial expression and intracellular localization of stimulator of interferon...

To investigate whether CT-derived radiomic features capture imaging patterns associated with chronological age groups in mice and to assess the influence of imaging platform and photon-counting CT reconstruction strategy on classification performance. Female C57BL/6NRj mice from three chronological age groups (28, 88, and 99 weeks; n = 11) underwent clinical photon-counting CT (PCCT) and preclinical Albira II CT. Heart, liver, and spleen were segmented and radiomic features were extracted. The...

Aging is closely associated with dysregulation of lipid metabolism, making the modulation of lipid metabolism a promising strategy for promoting healthspan. Streptococcus thermophilus, a widely utilized probiotic, has shown potential in regulating host metabolism. However, whether and how it can promote healthspan by modulating specific lipid metabolic pathways remains unclear. Using the Caenorhabditis elegans model, this study investigated the effects of Streptococcus thermophilus on healthspan...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and dementia with Lewy bodies (LBD) are the most widespread forms of degenerative dementia. However, little is known about the molecular aspects that link these conditions with each other and with aging itself. Whole transcriptome analysis and Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) have been carried out on brain samples from hippocampus (HI), temporal and parietal cortex (TC, PC), cingulate cortex (CG), and substantia nigra (SN) of subjects with a neuropathological...

Although a loss-of-function variant of TM6SF2 is a highly penetrant risk factor for steatotic liver disease, including progression to cirrhosis and cancer, its normal function is largely unknown. Here we show that endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-localized TM6SF2 forms membrane contact sites (MCSs) with late endosomes/lysosomes, where it activates the small GTPase RAB7 to enable an endolysosomal route for selective secretion of lipid-rich very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) particles. In accord,...

Skeletal muscle atrophy and weakness resulting from loss of motor neuron innervation are shared hallmarks of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and age-associated sarcopenia. However, muscle wasting in ALS is rapid and severe, whereas sarcopenia progresses gradually over decades, peaking at an advanced age. The molecular mechanisms underlying muscle wasting in these conditions remain incompletely defined. Here, we used the SOD1^(G93A) ALS mouse model and wild-type mice across the lifespan to...

Defects in crystals are usually considered to be consequences of deformation, but they can also be engineered as strengthening features. Planar defects can strengthen structural alloys but usually form only during deformation or service, limiting control over their density, stability, and chemistry. We show that predeformation followed by aging can convert such defects into a designed architecture of ordered defect phases. In a single-crystal cobalt-nickel-based superalloy and a polycrystalline...

Every cell in the human body carries its own genome, shaped by mutations acquired over a lifetime, yet this vast somatic variation has been nearly impossible to measure. The SMaHT Network now delivers benchmarked tools and the first body-wide map of somatic mosaicism, establishing a baseline of "normal" against which its roles in development, aging, and disease can finally be tested.

CONCLUSION: In this analytic NHATS sample, self-reported chewing or swallowing problems were not independently associated with a statistically significant difference in episodic-memory trajectory after sensory and other prespecified adjustment. The item may warrant oral, swallowing, functional, or neurological assessment, but it is not a specific marker of masticatory dysfunction or cognitive risk.

CONCLUSION: Cortical alpha slowing was detected in PD and MSA-C, but not in MSA-P. Age independently contributes to alpha slowing and strengthens its association with non-motor symptom burden, supporting age-aware interpretation of resting-state electroencephalography biomarkers in synucleinopathies.

CONCLUSION: These findings provide initial evidence for a candidate kinematic index of motor reserve in healthy aging. Motor reserve was not reducible to global motor speed or chronological age but expressed as a multidimensional profile of timing stability, lateralized motor organization, and consistency across task contexts.

Normal aging compromises behavioral functions supported by cortical circuits, yet how age-related cellular reorganization relates to weakened circuit-behavior correspondence remains poorly defined. Here, we examined layer 4 (L4) of the mouse primary somatosensory barrel cortex, a thalamorecipient lamina in which dendritic organization, microglial process architecture, and whisker-dependent tactile function can be analyzed within the same sensory system. Aged mice showed impaired...