https://medicalxpress.com/neurology-news/ en-us Latest medical news and research in Neurology A new neuroimaging study published in the journal Brain Imaging and Behavior provides some of the first evidence that strengthening your brain health through daily habits rewires its physical architecture. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-newly-mri-biomarkers-reveal-physical.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 17:40:07 EDT news703786381 Researchers have uncovered a clue to why immune checkpoint inhibitors—cancer therapies that release the immune "brakes" exploited by tumors to evade attack—show limited efficacy in some brain tumors. A KAIST research team found that B-cell and antibody responses initiated in tumor-draining lymph nodes, rather than T cells alone, are critical to the antitumor effects of anti-CTLA-4 therapy, opening a new avenue for treating intractable brain tumors. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-uncover-hidden-key-immunotherapy-intractable.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 17:00:01 EDT news703780786 A study in mice suggests the brain does not rely on a single internal clock but can flexibly switch between shared and independent timing across regions, as reported by researchers from Science Tokyo. By recording thousands of neurons simultaneously in two brain areas during an alternating timing task, the team found that these areas sometimes tracked time together and sometimes separately. The findings, published in Nature Communications, provide a new framework for understanding how brain regions are coordinated. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-flexible-clocks-sync-drift-brain.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:40:05 EDT news703780611 For more than two decades, scientists have uncovered remarkable links between the trillions of microbes living in our gut and the health of our brains. This research has transformed our understanding of stress, depression, anxiety and neurodevelopment, opening new possibilities for preventing and treating mental illness. What if much of this science is based on studying only a narrow slice of global diversity? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-brain-health-microbiome-science-world.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 14:24:59 EDT news703776265 Researchers have conducted one of the most comprehensive studies on how the autistic brain processes faces. Some hallmark characteristics of autism include tendencies to avoid looking at others' faces and to make less eye contact. Many autistic individuals have a harder time remembering faces and recognizing facial emotions than their neurotypical counterparts. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-autistic-brains-differently.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 13:00:07 EDT news703770181 A review article by a University of Nebraska Medical Center/Child Health Research Institute research team underscores how altering fundamental brain development processes can harm the developing fetus. The publication suggests that curtailing the use of certain medications could reduce the risk of neurodevelopmental pathology in the developing fetal brain. The medications studied include some statins, antidepressants, anxiety medications and cardiovascular drugs. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-attention-brain-medications-pregnancy.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 12:40:03 EDT news703769821 Hal Blumenfeld, MD, Ph.D., the Mark Loughridge and Michele Williams Professor of Neurology at Yale School of Medicine (YSM), got out of the pool one afternoon and couldn't find his watch. He was certain he'd left it at the side of the pool where he entered. He found it on the opposite end. He'd moved it himself while swimming, with no memory of doing so. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-brain-unaware-actions.html Mon, 20 Jul 2026 09:20:05 EDT news703756623 "Turn off that TV, it'll rot your brain!" has been a household refrain for decades. While "rot" might be too strong a term, researchers are finding that the overall sentiment could have some merit. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-heavy-tv-smaller-brain.html Sun, 19 Jul 2026 14:00:01 EDT news703687543 Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disorder that attacks the central nervous system. For years, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) has been strongly linked to MS, as nearly every person diagnosed with the condition shows evidence of past EBV infection. For example, a 2022 study analyzed millions of U.S. military recruits and found that getting infected with EBV increased a person's risk of developing MS 32-fold. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-epstein-barr-virus-contribute-multiple.html Sat, 18 Jul 2026 10:40:02 EDT news703491480 Scientists have long known that the human brain continues developing well beyond the teenage years, with important changes involving decision-making and emotional regulation extending into the mid- to late 20s. Now, for the first time, researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have identified a biological process in mice that offers new insight into how memory circuits mature during this extended period of brain development. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-brain-remodeling-adolescence-memory.html Sat, 18 Jul 2026 05:00:04 EDT news703566957 Researchers in the Neuromechatronics Lab at Carnegie Mellon University have already proven that spinal cord stimulation can help people regain movement after stroke, but until now they didn't quite know how. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-mechanism-spinal-arm-movement.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 14:40:05 EDT news703513846 Alzheimer's disease and many other forms of neurodegeneration share a common culprit. In these diseases, tau proteins that normally stabilize neuronal microtubule filaments within our nervous system networks instead form noxious knots and gradually disrupt the circuits they would otherwise preserve. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-extra-sorla-protein-shields-brain.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 14:00:08 EDT news703491451 While people explore the environment around them, their eyes constantly move between different objects, faces and other specific segments of a visual scene. This dynamic process allows them to prioritize visual information relevant to a task at hand or that they find more interesting, ignoring details or items in their surroundings that they deem less important. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-people-brains-specialization.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 13:00:37 EDT news703512001 Researchers at Japan's National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology (QST) have found that tau buildup in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) may affect brain networks involved in thinking and behavior. The findings suggest that symptoms may arise not only from where tau builds up in the brain but also from how those affected areas are connected to distant brain regions. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-brain-circuits-cognitive-symptoms-supranuclear.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 12:00:02 EDT news703498367 There's a small fire isolated in your kitchen. If you had the right tool, you might be able to put it out. But before you can, the sprinklers turn on and flood your entire house. An automatic response to an issue has now damaged everything you own. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-hours-alzheimer-breakthrough.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 11:20:01 EDT news703497775 Branchlike structures called dendrites that extend from neurons appear to make their own computations independent of the cell body, helping individual brain cells store memories of the past, respond to the present and anticipate the future, a study led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers suggests. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-dendrites-key-memory.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 10:20:04 EDT news703496899 Scientists at Children's Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern (CRI) have discovered why babies born with a rare inborn error of metabolism called GPT2 deficiency suffer from severe neurological impairment. Using their newly developed biosensor to track the essential metabolite alpha-ketoglutarate (αKG), researchers found that the mitochondrial enzyme GPT2 and transporter protein SLC25A11 work together to control the production and transport of αKG from the mitochondria to the nucleus. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-metabolite-rare-childhood-brain-disorder.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 10:00:01 EDT news703496892 Researchers have uncovered a novel biological pathway that can lead to seizures when disrupted. The findings also provide a new approach to improve the diagnosis of epilepsy, for which a genetic cause cannot be found in about 50% of individuals with the condition. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-uncover-pathway-epilepsy.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 09:20:08 EDT news703496739 Researchers at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine have identified a potential pathway that could protect cardiac function in people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a progressive and fatal genetic disease that weakens the body's muscles. Published in Molecular Therapy, the new study examined the effects of the experimental drug Setanaxib in two preclinical models of DMD. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-experimental-drug-heart-duchenne-muscular.html Fri, 17 Jul 2026 08:40:02 EDT news703486742 A neuroprosthetic system has helped a man with paralysis move his hand and feel touch again following a spinal cord injury, reports research published in Nature Medicine. Some of the system's benefits continued even when the device was turned off, suggesting that it may support longer-term recovery as well as help movement in real time. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-implant-paralyzed-cup.html Thu, 16 Jul 2026 16:00:01 EDT news703427524 Scientists have, for the first time, mapped in exquisite three-dimensional detail six major conformations of a membrane in the brain related to learning, memory and fear-related behavior. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-images-key-membrane-protein-brain.html Thu, 16 Jul 2026 15:30:01 EDT news703427381 Long before a baby's ears are functional, the brain is already building the circuitry needed for hearing, according to new research from Johns Hopkins University. Published in the journal Science Advances, the study in mice identifies a previously unknown neural "shortcut" that organizes the auditory system before birth, offering new insight into how the auditory system prepares to process sound and eventually learn language. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-babies-brains-wiring.html Thu, 16 Jul 2026 14:30:02 EDT news703427394 The international guidelines for diagnosing multiple sclerosis (MS), called the McDonald criteria, underwent their most significant overhaul in a decade in 2024. The internationally recognized framework is used to diagnose MS by combining clinical, imaging and laboratory findings. Dr. Jiwon Oh, director of the BARLO MS Centre at St. Michael's Hospital, was among the experts who helped write them. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-multiple-sclerosis-criteria-reveal-disease.html Thu, 16 Jul 2026 13:40:06 EDT news703427345 Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease worldwide after Alzheimer's disease and, according to the World Health Organization, one of the fastest-growing neurological disorders. Yet genetic research into the disease has so far relied almost exclusively on people of European ancestry. This is a problem because the genetic causes of the disease depend strongly on a person's ancestry. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-global-parkinson-gene-uncovers-regional.html Thu, 16 Jul 2026 12:20:05 EDT news703420024 An international team has succeeded in using a magnetic field to target structures deep within the brain. The researchers injected magnetic nanoplatelets into the relevant region. By doing so, they succeeded in treating movement deficits in mice suffering from Parkinson's-like symptoms. The new method is less invasive than standard stimulation procedures using implanted electrodes that are currently used to treat certain Parkinson's disease patients. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-magnetic-fields-parkinson-disease.html Thu, 16 Jul 2026 10:40:01 EDT news703407266 The skull heals its cracks, the bruises fade, the swelling subsides and the bleeding stops. From the outside, a traumatic blow to the head, whether from a battlefield blast, car crash or even a tackle gone wrong, may seem like it's healed. But that's only the opening act of traumatic brain injury (TBI). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-scientists-seizures-brains-gut-chemical.html Thu, 16 Jul 2026 07:58:07 EDT news703407455