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Science, Ahead of Print.

Science, Ahead of Print.

Science, Ahead of Print.

Osteopenia is a common but often overlooked condition that causes bones to become less dense and more fragile. Because it develops silently, many people only discover they have it after a fracture or bone scan. Aging, menopause, poor diet, and inactivity can all contribute to bone loss. Fortunately, exercise, adequate calcium and vitamin D, and other healthy habits can slow or even partially reverse the decline.

In pursuit of human-level intelligence, researchers are developing agents that learn by acting in virtual environments rather than simply absorbing more text

What if consciousness isn’t limited to brains like ours? Philosophers Eric Schwitzgebel and Jeremy Pober argue that consciousness could arise in many different forms of life, even in beings built from radically different materials than those found on Earth. Drawing on the vastness of the universe and the likely existence of countless alien civilizations, they suggest it would be surprisingly Earth-centric to assume that only Earth-like biology can support conscious experience.

Scientists have discovered a tiny group of neurons in an ancient brain region that acts like a built-in focus filter, helping the brain ignore distractions and zero in on what matters most. When researchers temporarily switched off these neurons in mice, the animals became unusually distractible—similar to what is seen in ADHD—but regained normal focus as soon as the neurons were reactivated.

Scientists have uncovered a surprising new twist in what happens when cells die. As dying cells break apart, they leave behind tiny “footprints of death” packed with newly discovered particles that help guide the immune system to clean up the remains. But researchers found that influenza viruses can exploit this process, hiding inside these microscopic packages and potentially using them to spread to nearby cells.

Investigation finds problems in a key clinical trial that critics said was too good to be true

Analysis of fossil proteins deepens mystery of the enigmatic Homo naledi

Neurofeedback, which consists of recording and visualizing neural activity in real-time, is a method currently being investigated as a supplementary treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD). By using implanted deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrodes with interleaved sensing capability, previous studies have demonstrated the efficacy of neurofeedback based on beta oscillations in the basal ganglia. Herein, for the first time, we explored short-term neurofeedback ability over the course of multiple...

Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) is a serine/threonine kinase that plays a central role in regulating cellular processes, including growth, proliferation, survival, and migration. ROCK exists as two isoforms, ROCK1 and ROCK2, which function as the principal downstream effectors of Rho GTPases. Activation of the RhoA-ROCK signaling pathway is induced by a variety of extracellular stimuli, including angiotensin II (Ang II), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), integrins, and vascular...

CONCLUSIONS: Pharmacotherapies targeting neurotransmitters, the gut-brain axis, and inflammatory pathways may offer comparatively favorable cognitive benefits in AD. However, variations in safety profiles across intervention classes highlight the need for careful benefit-risk assessment. Given the limited evidence base for certain strategies, further high-quality RCTs are warranted to confirm these findings.

Metabolic alterations are increasingly implicated in neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease (AD), highlighting the relevance of the peripheral metabolome, shaped by genetic and environmental exposures, for brain health. We examined the relation of 991 blood metabolites with cognition and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures cross-sectionally in 1,082 dementia-free middle-aged participants of the population-based Rotterdam Study and quantified contributions of genetic...

CONCLUSION: Aging is associated with simplified muscle synergies and strengthened coactivation, which helps preserve stability under cognitive load but elevates energetic cost. These findings demonstrate that cognitive interference strengthens the coupling between neuromuscular organization and energetic expenditure, identifying synergy entropy and dual-task energy cost as potential targets for monitoring and improving mobility in older adults.

Aging is frequently associated with a progressive loss of physiological integrity, with immunosenescence and chronic inflammation playing pivotal roles in this process. While natural compounds like Dihydromyricetin (DHM) exhibit significant anti-aging potential, its precise upstream immunomodulatory targets and cross-species conservation remain largely elusive. Through a combination of transcriptomic analyses and cross-species assays, we demonstrated that DHM systematically downregulates basal...