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Scientists uncover 3 key brain pathways linked to lasting depression relief
Researchers have uncovered three brain pathways linked to lasting improvements in people receiving deep brain stimulation for severe, treatment-resistant depression. They also discovered that patients who failed to improve after two years shared a striking pattern: insufficient stimulation of a crucial brain connection. The findings suggest that millimeters in electrode placement could make a major difference in treatment outcomes.
Scientists discover that male and female skin play by different rules
Scientists have uncovered a surprising difference in how male and female skin repairs and renews itself. By tracking individual skin stem cells in living mice for five months, researchers discovered that female cells work together in a highly coordinated way, while male cells operate more independently. This synchronization, driven by sex hormones, helps explain why wounds heal faster in female mice, especially during the first few days.
The shifting landscape of brain-wide myelination across the human lifespan
Despite the central role of myelination in brain function and plasticity, its characterization remains fragmented, with existing studies typically constrained either spatially, by focusing on selected brain structures, or temporally, by covering only limited age ranges. Here, we provide a comprehensive brain-wide map of myelination across the lifespan, leveraging T1w/T2w ratios from 214 brain regions in individuals aged 0-100 years. This fine-grained spatiotemporal mapping reveals regional...
Systemic Loss of Chromosome Y Associates With Age-Related Ophthalmic Diseases in Middle-Aged Men: A Longitudinal Multi-Omic Study
Maintaining health during global population aging represents a critical challenge, where mosaic loss of chromosome Y (LOY) in the hematopoietic system surfaces as a prevalent somatic mutation in aging men. However, its longitudinal impact on sensory organ degeneration remains insufficiently characterized. Analyzing 223,051 male participants from the UK Biobank, we demonstrated that LOY uniquely and independently predicted an increased risk of incident age-related macular degeneration (AMD)...
Zona incerta circuits in cognition and the regulation of sleep and wakefulness: potential relevance to Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by progressive cognitive decline and prominent disturbances in sleep and wakefulness, reflecting dysfunction across distributed neural networks. The zona incerta (ZI) is a highly heterogeneous subthalamic structure whose organization is defined by spatial location, molecular identity, neurochemical phenotype, and circuit connectivity. Recent studies demonstrate that distinct ZI cell populations and projections contribute to memory processing, novelty...
Comparative evaluation of time-to-event analysis methods for mobility limitation in older adults: A multi-cohort benchmarking study
Time-to-event models are central to aging research, quantifying both whether and when an event occurs. However, guidance on selecting among traditional statistical and machine learning (ML) methods for prediction modeling remains limited, particularly for epidemiologic aging cohorts with wide assessment intervals. Mobility limitation, as a clinically important aging outcome with such complexities, provides a relevant test case for methodological benchmarking. We conducted a systematic benchmark...
Pain Management Strategies for Older Adults in Palliative Care: A Scoping Review
CONCLUSION: This review mapped pain management strategies for older adults in palliative care, identified key evidence gaps, particularly among oldest-old individuals and those with non-cancer conditions, and highlighted the need for stronger research.
Effects of Finasteride exposure on lifespan and locomotor phenotypes
Finasteride is one of the core medications for treating androgen-associated diseases in men. It exhibits multiple therapeutic functions, including inhibiting 5α-reductase, reducing dihydrotestosterone levels, and improving conditions, including prostate enlargement and hair loss. Using Drosophila as the primary model and a mouse behavioral assay as a complementary approach, we combined developmental and behavioral assessments, morphological analyses of motor and sensory neurons, transcriptomics,...
Physical activity, sedentary behavior, sleep quality and the biological aging clocks
Physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior, and sleep quality are known lifestyle factors modulating the rate of aging but less is known about their putative interactions. We investigated the cross-sectional independent and interactive associations of these lifestyle factors with various biological aging clocks in adults of large age range. Eight hundred and ninety adults recruited from the INSPIRE-t cohort, aged 20 to 102 years old with a measure of at least one biological clock among PhenoAge,...
The cardiometabolic ageing-cardiovascular disease axis: A 32-year European study
CONCLUSIONS: Higher national income was associated with attenuation of the DOA-CVD relationship in levels models. The composite and component-specific analyses provide complementary perspectives on this pattern, with clearer evidence for diabetes and population ageing. These findings describe an income-dependent population-level association whose interpretation remains sensitive to temporal specification.
Effects of muscle length and age on neuromuscular responses to maximal eccentric contractions of the plantar flexors
CONCLUSION: Long muscle length eccentric contractions induced greater force loss in young but not older adults, with no evidence of prolonged functional impairment in healthy, physically active older adults.
Tissue coordination in ageing and disease
How cellular and microenvironmental changes are translated into tissue-level decline remains incompletely understood. Here, we view tissue maintenance through the lens of multicellular coordination, defined as the endogenous management of dependencies among component activities. These dependencies are embodied in a tissue's relational state across signalling networks, epigenetic states, cell composition, and extracellular matrix. The different turnover timescales of these substrates may permit...
Scientists tested 39 sweeteners and uncovered surprising gut effects
Scientists have discovered that many common sweeteners can interfere with gut bacteria, with some combinations involving medications producing surprisingly strong effects. One sweetener mixed with a widely prescribed antidepressant reduced beneficial bacteria and microbial diversity in laboratory experiments, raising new questions about potential effects on gut health and immunity.
Scientists find a youth protein that helps aging brain cells act young again
Scientists have discovered that a protein linked to youth helps protect the brain’s immune cells from age-related decline. Restoring the protein in older mice improved the cells’ ability to clear debris and reduced signs of inflammation, raising hopes for future treatments targeting brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease.
New drug reverses severe fatty liver disease by repairing the gut
Scientists have discovered that a potential new drug can reverse severe fatty liver disease in animal models by restoring gut health and blocking harmful substances from reaching the liver. The breakthrough could pave the way for new treatments for liver disease and potentially other serious conditions, including cardiovascular disease.
Brain cells meant to protect us may be fueling cognitive decline
Scientists have uncovered a surprising cause of age-related cognitive decline involving brain cells previously thought to be entirely beneficial. As these cells become dysfunctional, they can produce abnormal amounts of myelin, disrupting nerve fibers and potentially contributing to worsening memory and thinking skills.
Auditory performance and cortical plasticity in blind individuals with sensorineural hearing loss: insights into dual sensory impairment
CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that in late-blind individuals, visual deprivation confers selective advantages over sighted peers in temporal processing and working memory even in the presence of age-related hearing loss, whereas broader perceptual benefits and electrophysiological enhancements are limited. Viewed in the context of prior literature in normal-hearing populations, these results suggest that compensatory cross-modal plasticity may be partially constrained when accompanied by...
Cardiorespiratory fitness is associated with cerebral oxygen extraction in Alzheimer's disease
Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is a modifiable determinant of brain health and has been associated with greater brain volume, improved cognition, and reduced dementia risk. However, whether CRF influences cerebral oxygen extraction fraction (OEF), a marker reflecting the balance between cerebral oxygen delivery and metabolic demand, remains poorly understood in aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD). We performed a secondary analysis of the Acute Exercise Response on Brain Imaging and Cognition...
Longitudinal changes in hand dominance and manual dexterity in normal aging and mild cognitive impairment (MCI): a kinematic study
INTRODUCTION: Decrements on hand dominance in older populations, including neurodegenerative conditions, have been reported cross-sectionally. At present, no longitudinal research on this issue is available.
Scientists discover how deep sleep builds muscle, burns fat, and boosts the brain
Scientists have discovered a surprising two-way relationship between sleep and growth hormone, revealing how the brain carefully balances physical recovery with wakefulness. The findings could help explain why poor sleep harms metabolism and brain health, potentially opening the door to new treatments for sleep and neurological disorders.