https://medicalxpress.com/neurology-news/ en-us Latest medical news and research in Neurology Intensive, long-term blood pressure-lowering treatment reduced the risk of recurrent stroke by 38%, without increasing serious adverse events, in people who have survived an intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). The findings of the major meta-analysis were published in The Lancet Neurology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-intensive-blood-pressure-lowering-recurrent.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 18:30:01 EDT news705658756 Some of the symptoms of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), such as autism spectrum disorder and epilepsy, may result from dysfunction of certain neurons in the brain and their ability to change their properties in response to experiences—a process called experience-dependent plasticity. In preclinical research published in Nature, a team led by investigators at Mass General Brigham identified genes involved in these neurons' plasticity and then demonstrated benefits of overexpressing one key gene. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-inhibitory-neuron-plasticity-reverse-neurodevelopmental.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 17:40:01 EDT news705766560 Use of hormone therapy later in life was associated with a lower risk of developing dementia, according to a study published in Neurology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-estrogen-hormone-therapy-dementia.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 16:00:05 EDT news705659402 Research from scientists at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and collaborators has shed new light on how the human brain coordinates working memory, the process in which the brain encodes information for immediate or short-term use. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-brain-ripples-memory.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 13:20:01 EDT news705759182 For decades, neuroscientists have thought about communication between the cerebral cortex and the basal ganglia in a fairly linear way. The cortex sends information into the basal ganglia, where that information is processed forward through circuits involved in movement, learning and decision-making. Signals can eventually return to the cortex indirectly through well-established pathways involving other brain regions. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-pathway-striatum-auditory-cortex.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 12:40:04 EDT news705746021 Over a decade ago, scientists redefined how to study organ development by generating seemingly unremarkable clumps of cells. They dubbed them organoids: organ-like microstructures produced using stem cells. Stem cells are cells that have two important properties: They can make more of themselves, and they can divide to produce more specialized cells, like neurons or muscle cells. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-cortical-organoids-mirror-mouse-brain.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 11:00:04 EDT news705588617 Encephalitis is a serious condition in which an infection or autoimmune response triggers inflammation of the brain. The resulting swelling can disrupt normal brain function, causing neurological changes such as confusion, altered mental status and seizures. Researchers from The University of Texas Medical Branch wanted to see whether the aftermath of encephalitis left the brain vulnerable to other neurological conditions. They studied a very large group of people in the United States using anonymous electronic health records from 72 health care organizations. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-brain-inflammation-dementia-shadow-older.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 09:33:32 EDT news705745976 People with both atrial fibrillation and Alzheimer's disease who are treated with modern NOAC blood-thinning medicines may experience a slower rate of cognitive decline. This is shown by a study from Karolinska Institutet published in the European Heart Journal. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-blood-thinning-medication-linked-slower.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 07:00:03 EDT news705678182 A new national survey commissioned by The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center finds most U.S. adults believe brain health habits should begin before age 40. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-survey-americans-brain-health-habits.html Wed, 12 Aug 2026 00:10:01 EDT news705588539 Researchers at the University of California San Diego and their colleagues have identified a key cellular pathway that drives brain degeneration in both a rare childhood disorder and the far more common Alzheimer's disease. The study, published in Immunity, reveals how the brain's immune cells respond to waste buildup and provides a roadmap for understanding and treating neurodegenerative conditions. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-scientists-uncover-cellular-mechanism-rare.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 17:40:08 EDT news705683401 Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz and the University of Colorado Boulder have developed a miniature microscope that allows scientists to observe and activate individual brain cells during natural movement, an advance that could accelerate research into how the brain controls behavior while deepening understanding of neurological diseases. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-miniature-microscope-scientists-brain-cells.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 17:00:01 EDT news705682381 Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital created a single-cell atlas of a key class of spinal neurons involved in motor coordination. From that resource, they identified a small subgroup of interneurons associated with the speed of rhythmic movements such as walking. The findings, which have implications for understanding spinal cord function and recovery from injury, are published in Nature Communications. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-cell-atlas-reveals-spinal-neurons.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 15:00:07 EDT news705671701 What if certain signs of the disease were to manifest subtly during sleep, long before the first memory problems appear? This is the line of inquiry being explored by a team of researchers at ULiège. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-people-alzheimer-disease-earlier-stage.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 14:20:06 EDT news705668821 In a study conducted at the Universities of Jyväskylä and Eastern Finland, more screen time since childhood was associated with better cognitive processing in adolescence. According to one of the researchers, we should not regard screen time solely as harmful. The most important thing is to find a balance between physical activity and screen time that promotes active thinking. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-screen-childhood-cognitive-adolescence.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 14:00:05 EDT news705665472 Brain-resident immune cells that have reached an old-age state called "senescence" secrete a protein that causes dysfunction in other brain cells, according to a study led by investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine. The discovery sheds light on how aging impairs memory and cognition and makes the brain vulnerable to neurodegenerative disorders. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-protein-secreted-immune-cells-brain.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 13:20:11 EDT news705667562 Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common chronic autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. An early and accurate diagnosis is crucial for improving the effectiveness of treatment and reducing nerve damage. To standardize and speed up diagnosis, the so-called McDonald criteria were introduced in 2001 and have since been revised several times. They combine clinical findings—such as visual disturbances, sensory disturbances or unsteadiness of gait—with results from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which reveals changes in the brain and spinal cord, as well as inflammatory markers in the cerebrospinal fluid. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-optic-nerve-inflammation-enables-earlier.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 13:00:07 EDT news705667261 Researchers have shown that an imaging model can detect microstructural abnormalities in the brain associated with Huntington's disease, potentially offering a new method for monitoring disease progression and evaluating new treatments. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-mri-reveals-microstructural-brain-linked.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 12:00:04 EDT news705666661 In Alzheimer's disease, amyloid plaques form in the brain, followed by threadlike structures made of the protein tau. Both changes have toxic effects on the brain's nerve cells years before dementia symptoms appear. Historically, diagnosis has primarily relied on cognitive changes, which manifest at a later stage of the disease. Biomarker-based diagnostics were initially limited to specialized clinics capable of performing cerebrospinal fluid sampling or PET scans. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-broader-panel-protein-markers-blood.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 11:40:05 EDT news705666482 Fatty fish has long been viewed as "brain food" that supports cognitive health through anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and vascular mechanisms. That has led researchers to ask whether the benefits of fatty fish might extend to Alzheimer's disease prevention. But the answer may not be that simple, according to a new study by scientists at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-fish-trial-brain-food-alzheimer.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 10:40:03 EDT news705651362 Every 40 seconds, someone in the U.S. has a stroke, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Because stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability and death, there is a growing need to develop innovative therapies to protect the brain and approach stroke rehabilitation in new ways. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-improving-stroke-care-and-innovation.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 10:20:01 EDT news705648782 A new mathematical model that reproduces the relapsing-remitting pattern of multiple sclerosis (MS) offers scientists a tool to better understand how the disease progresses. The model, developed by QUT researchers from the School of Mathematical Sciences, is published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-math-multiple-sclerosis-relapse-recovery.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 09:20:08 EDT news705648062 Stress or trauma during childhood may leave people more vulnerable to mental health struggles and stress later in life. Scientists think one reason could be that early-life stress leaves lasting molecular bookmarks on DNA, without changing the genetic sequence itself. A recent study published in the Journal of Neuroscience digs deeper into the biology of chemical marks left behind by stress. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-adulthood-chemical-quietly-brain-stress.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 09:20:07 EDT news705658566 The brain's immune cells are increasingly recognized as key players in Alzheimer's disease, but exactly how they change as the disease develops has remained unclear. A new study published in Nature Genetics provides the most comprehensive map to date of these cells, identifying a protective subtype of brain immune cells that expands as Alzheimer's disease progresses and uncovering the molecular pathway that enables these cells to help defend the brain. The findings offer new insights that could inform future Alzheimer's therapies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-brain-immune-cell-defenses-shift.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 05:00:01 EDT news705591601 Sugar restriction in the first 1,000 days from conception is associated with a lower risk of dementia, according to a study published online July 29 in Neurology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-sugar-restriction-days-conception-linked.html Tue, 11 Aug 2026 03:06:43 EDT news705636376 A research team led by Professor Ho Kyung Yoon of the Department of Psychiatry and Professor Do Young Kwon of the Department of Neurology at Korea University Ansan Hospital demonstrated that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) significantly improves depression and apathy in patients with Parkinson's disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-noninvasive-brain-parkinson-nonmotor-symptoms.html Mon, 10 Aug 2026 14:40:07 EDT news705585335 For decades, obesity medications produced only modest weight loss. But in recent years, Ozempic and related GLP-1 therapies have transformed the field, enabling sustained weight loss of 10% to 15% or more. Despite their success, however, scientists have not fully understood how these drugs work in the brain. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-unexpected-brain-mechanism-assumptions-glp.html Mon, 10 Aug 2026 14:00:04 EDT news705583922 Researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine have uncovered how a key Parkinson's protein called LRRK2 shifts between inactive and active forms, revealing the structural changes that enable certain mutations to push the protein into an overactive state. Mutations that cause LRRK2 to become abnormally active are among the most common genetic causes of Parkinson's disease. Even without these mutations, some people with Parkinson's disease have elevated LRRK2 activity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-molecular-roadmap-parkinson-disease-therapeutics.html Mon, 10 Aug 2026 12:40:03 EDT news705582721 For decades, neuroscientists have been able to record which parts of the brain show increased electrical activity during a behavior, such as when we form a memory or make a decision. But scientists haven't been able to determine how those regions are communicating with and influencing one another, nor identify which regions serve as the main orchestrators. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-ai-framework-decodes-brain-regions.html Mon, 10 Aug 2026 11:40:03 EDT news705580621 Cerebral palsy is the most common physical disability in childhood and is more likely to occur in babies born very preterm. The condition can affect movement, posture and coordination, with impacts that can last throughout life. New research led by SAHMRI has added to the growing evidence that giving a magnesium sulfate infusion to women at risk of very preterm birth helps more babies survive without cerebral palsy. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-magnesium-sulfate-infusion-preterm-delivery.html Mon, 10 Aug 2026 10:20:02 EDT news705570122 As new Alzheimer's drugs move from clinical trials into everyday care, families are asking whether these treatments are safe, how long patients can stay on them and whether they truly slow the disease outside tightly controlled studies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-real-world-insights-safety-alzheimer.html Mon, 10 Aug 2026 09:40:04 EDT news705569042