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Researchers have uncovered a surprising hidden function of a protein that may hold the key to repairing damaged muscles and treating muscular dystrophy. Known for protecting chromosomes, TRF2 also helps muscle stem cells maintain their identity and regenerate injured tissue. When scientists removed the protein in mice, muscles struggled to repair themselves, and muscular dystrophy progressed dramatically faster.

A surprising new study suggests that where men get their protein may be linked to their testosterone levels. Researchers studying more than 2,500 men found that higher animal protein intake, particularly from dairy, was associated with lower testosterone, while plant protein was linked to higher levels. The findings raise intriguing questions about how everyday food choices might relate to male hormone levels.

Stanford researchers have discovered that children who struggle persistently with math may have underlying differences in how their brains manage problem-solving strategies. Children with developmental dyscalculia were slower to switch strategies, less responsive to changes in difficulty, and less able to improve their approach over time. Distinct patterns of brain activity were linked to these difficulties and could even predict certain math-related abilities.

Crows may be even smarter than we thought, and their brains are astonishingly fast. Researchers at the University of Tübingen discovered that crows can make visual decisions twice as quickly as humans and monkeys, taking just 235 milliseconds on average to identify the direction of moving dots while maintaining remarkable accuracy.

Colorectal cancer is making an alarming comeback in the United States after more than 20 years of declining rates, and the increase is no longer limited to younger adults. A major new study found rising rates across nearly every age group under 70, including older Americans who have historically benefited most from cancer screening.

Scientists have developed an AI-powered approach that makes experimental bionic vision technology more precise, helping predict the flashes and shapes of light perceived by a blind man with a brain implant. By learning how an individual's brain responds to electrical stimulation, the technology could bring researchers closer to restoring some degree of sight to people with blindness.

How an unpopular hypothesis linking Alzheimer's disease to the loss of crucial neurons made a comeback.

Low-grade inflammation is persistent with advancing age in healthy people and mice. Endothelial cells and large arteries increasingly express pro-inflammatory cytokines, coinciding with increased T cell infiltration into the aorta. Arterial stiffness is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, and stiffness increases with age. T cells particularly affect vascular dysfunction, and we have shown that T cell depletion in old mice prevented elevations in stiffness. We sought to...

INTRODUCTION: Declines in function occur in both "normal" aging (in the absence of disease) and age-related pathological contexts, like Alzheimer's disease (AD). Whether "anti-aging" interventions (that extend lifespan) also promote cognitive function in aging and AD remains largely unexplored.

How does one map, measure, and model the aging brain?

Parkinson's disease (PD) is marked by progressive dopamine neuron degeneration, but the phagocytic receptors and cells that clear neuronal corpses remain ill-defined. Moreover, while other cell types like glia, epithelia, and muscle are also impacted in PD, their roles in disease progression are unclear. We report that multiple nonneuronal cell types modulate dopamine neurodegeneration in Caenorhabditis elegans. Astrocyte-like CEPsh glia respond to neuronal stress and regulate dopamine...

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder for which advancing age is the major risk factor. Aging and PD share several features, including chronic neuroinflammation and pathological protein accumulation. This overlap suggests that mechanisms driving the aging process may also contribute to the onset and progression of PD. In this narrative review, we examine mitochondrial dysfunction as a shared feature of aging and PD, focusing on energy production, calcium buffering, apoptosis,...

ObjectivesNeighborhood resources are protective factors for healthy cognitive aging, yet the impact of these resources may vary by urbanicity. We examined urban-rural differences in the association between the availability of neighborhood social services, religious, and civic organizations, and cognitive decline among older Mexican Americans.MethodData from 628 participants (M(Age) = 80) in 2004-2013 Hispanic Established Populations for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly were linked to the...

An NIH study found that women with high levels of two common “forever chemicals” had up to 93% higher rates of an aggressive form of breast cancer. The discovery raises concerns about the potential health effects of persistent chemicals found in everyday products.