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Scientists have discovered that the brain’s short-range wiring may help protect cognition even as gray matter shrinks with age. Healthier connections just beneath the brain’s surface were linked to better language skills and appeared to weaken the impact of gray matter loss.

A wearable device has revealed nighttime hormone surges that may expose a frequently missed cause of high blood pressure. The discovery could help explain why primary aldosteronism often escapes standard blood tests and point toward a more accurate way to diagnose it.

Low vitamin D levels may make recovery from breast cancer surgery more painful, according to a study of 184 women undergoing mastectomy. Patients with vitamin D deficiency were three times more likely to experience moderate to severe pain during the first 24 hours after surgery and also used substantially more of the opioid painkiller tramadol. They received slightly more fentanyl during surgery and experienced more postoperative nausea as well.

By decoding two kinds of signals from one brain area, multitasking device offers step toward more natural communication

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder influenced by both genetic and epigenetic mechanisms. Among these mechanisms, DNA methylation has emerged as a key regulatory process affecting gene expression without altering the DNA sequence. The synuclein alpha (SNCA) gene is a well-established contributor to Parkinson's disease pathogenesis, yet the extent and consistency of its methylation changes remain unclear. This scoping review aimed to map and summarise existing...

Dementia is a progressive neurodegenerative syndrome characterised by cognitive decline, synaptic dysfunction, and neuronal loss. In recent years, growing attention has been given to the role of the gut-brain axis in neurodegenerative disease. Emerging evidence indicates that changes in gut microbiota composition and metabolic activity may affect various systemic processes that contribute to dementia. This review examines the current evidence linking gut microbiota imbalance to dementia through...

Rapid population aging has markedly increased the exposure of elder humans to invasive mechanical ventilation (MV). Mounting evidence suggests that aging fundamentally alters pulmonary structure and stress responses, predisposing the aged lung to ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI). However, the biological basis of this heightened vulnerability remains insufficiently synthesized. The review was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. To this end, PubMed, Web of Science, and...

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) reduce major adverse cardiovascular events, all-cause mortality, and systemic inflammation in randomized controlled trials, with effect sizes exceeding those predicted from glycemic and weight-related improvements alone. The convergence of these findings with a maturing body of evidence linking metabolic dysfunction to accelerated epigenetic aging has prompted renewed interest in GLP-1 RAs as candidate gerotherapeutic agents. The present...

Physical multimorbidity and loneliness are increasingly recognised as public health concerns, but the nature of their potential relationships remains unclear. Here we report bidirectional associations between physical multimorbidity and loneliness in middle-aged and older adults and the mediating role of social inactivity. Longitudinal data from adults aged ≥45 years are analysed across 19 countries from five prospective cohorts: US Health and Retirement Study; English Longitudinal Study on...

This study investigated environmental justice by developing and comparing four contemporary urban segregation typologies (persistent exclusivity, persistent disadvantage, recent gentrification, and recent displacement-hosting) with historical Homeowners' Loan Corporation (HOLC) zones and 104 variables spanning the natural and built environments, pollution, environmental hazards, health, and disability. We applied principal component analysis to the 2010 and 2020 American Community Survey and the...

Aging is associated with impairments in cognitive flexibility, a key executive function supported by the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), yet the biological mechanisms underlying individual variability in age-related decline remain poorly understood. Here we investigated behavioral, ultrastructural, and proteomic correlates of cognitive inflexibility in mice across aging. Using a touchscreen-based attentional set-shifting task, we observed substantial individual variability in cognitive...