https://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Anyone who has had a bad night knows that they can feel "foggy" the next day. This fogginess may extend to our memory: remembering where we went, who we met or what happened during the encounter. Neuroscientist Robbert Havekes from the University of Groningen studies memory loss due to sleep deprivation. In a study published in the journal Science Advances on June 10, Havekes and lab member and first author Adithya Sarma show that sleep deprivation makes mice forget social encounters. However, they found that the social memories are not gone; the mice just can't seem to recall them. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-sleepy-mice-met-asthma-drug.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 12:40:10 EDT news700396682 Large language models (LLMs) can replicate human emotions like fear, sadness and anxiety, and be "calmed down" by a breathing exercise, suggests a study published in The Lancet Digital Health. This means LLMs could potentially open new avenues for developing and testing novel talking therapy techniques to treat mental health conditions. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-ai-chatbots-mimic-sadness-stress.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 12:20:07 EDT news700395602 Kidney transplantation remains the most effective treatment for end-stage kidney disease, yet a severe shortage of donor organs continues to limit access for millions of patients worldwide. With demand for kidney transplants expected to reach 5 million patients by 2030 and only a fraction of that need currently being met, researchers are exploring innovative approaches to generate transplantable organs. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-rat-kidneys-grown-mice-insights.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 11:00:12 EDT news700296866 Teenage risk-taking, such as experimentation with alcohol, cannabis, nicotine and other substances, may reflect a compensatory response to lower baseline dopamine, the brain chemical for reward activity, a new University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine study published in Nature Communications suggests. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-dopamine-teen-age.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 05:00:03 EDT news700300021 Reducing the damage sustained by the heart during a myocardial infarction remains one of the major challenges in cardiology, even when the blocked coronary artery is reopened in a timely manner. Part of the myocardial injury continues to be difficult to prevent despite advances in reperfusion therapies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-iv-atorvastatin-myocardial-infarction-pre.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 21:40:05 EDT news700296770 One of the most detailed maps to date of meningioma—the most common brain tumor in adults—reveals how the tumor's surrounding environment helps drive disease behavior and patient outcomes, according to new research from Mayo Clinic. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-brain-tumor-immune-cell-states.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 16:20:03 EDT news700322821 Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine have uncovered a fundamental principle underlying how the human brain processes meaning across multiple languages. In a new study posted to the bioRxiv preprint server, scientists recorded the activity of individual neurons in the human hippocampus and found that bilingual people appear to organize concepts in a shared neural structure—even when speaking entirely different languages. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-bilingual-brains-concepts-aligned-languages.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 15:20:01 EDT news700321058 To better understand what drives the emergence of symptoms in Rett syndrome, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and the Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI) at Texas Children's Hospital took a closer look at brain cells in mice modeling Rett syndrome before symptoms appeared. They identified a set of dysfunctional genes and specific cell types that are vulnerable early to genetic changes. The study appears in Science Advances. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-early-rett-syndrome-clues-emerge.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 14:00:04 EDT news700303441 In 2020, Jennifer Doudna won the Nobel Prize in chemistry for her work on the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology that allows scientists to precisely modify DNA by cutting it at specific locations. Six years later, a new study in Nature by a team led by Doudna has uncovered a powerful new approach to selectively kill cancer cells using a CRISPR enzyme called Cas12a2. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-crispr-enzyme-precisely-shreds-dna.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:20:01 EDT news700314843 Have you heard someone say online or in casual conversation, when responding to someone's struggles, "well, the body keeps the score"? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-body-score-trauma-debunked-idea.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 12:40:01 EDT news700307462 People who attended or experienced the same event often remember it in completely different ways. For instance, one person might remember a family dinner as warm and enjoyable, while another might recall that the same dinner was uncomfortable or emotionally demanding. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-recollections-events-linked-similar-brain.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 10:20:01 EDT news700303796 Interpreting medical ultrasound images is a difficult task, requiring a technician to look at 2D images and mentally arrange them into a 3D representation of what the tissue looks like. To make that job easier, MIT researchers have developed a new approach to ultrasound imaging that allows the user to visualize a 3D augmented-reality image of the object being scanned. Using a virtual-reality headset, they can see a precise 3D digital representation of what the object actually looks like, making it easier to identify and analyze. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-augmented-reality-medical-ultrasounds-easier.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 05:00:04 EDT news700237861 New research from the Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute (Stevens INI) at the Keck School of Medicine of USC has discovered subtle but widespread differences in the brain's communication networks in people with bipolar disorder, offering new insight into how illness severity and treatment may relate to brain wiring. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-brain-network-linked-bipolar-disorder.html Tue, 09 Jun 2026 17:20:01 EDT news700234227 A circuit that runs from the prefrontal cortex near the front of the brain to a deeper brain structure called the insular cortex appears to mediate the antidepressant effects of a newer form of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), according to a study led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The discovery could lead to more effective TMS treatment of depression. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-brain-region-linked-tms-antidepressant.html Tue, 09 Jun 2026 16:00:03 EDT news700233975 A father's health before conception may leave a biological imprint on his future children, according to a new study from Washington State University. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-fathers-children-health-theyre.html Tue, 09 Jun 2026 12:30:01 EDT news700225641 An investigator at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has received international recognition for innovative imaging research that may help physicians identify patients at increased risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) before they undergo surgery for kidney tumors. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-mri-method-kidney-disease.html Tue, 09 Jun 2026 10:40:01 EDT news700215902 Blood tests have proved to be a promising tool for detecting and monitoring cancer. Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology and the University of Gothenburg in Sweden have now developed a new method that makes it possible to analyze samples containing as little as 5% cancer DNA in the blood, compared with the 15%–20% required today. This method could lead to better cancer care and improved monitoring of tumor progression. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-blood-method-cancer-dna-threshold.html Tue, 09 Jun 2026 09:20:01 EDT news700212691 A customized throw-back video game may offer a surprisingly futuristic path to stroke recovery. In a new study, Northwestern University scientists developed a 90s-style video game to help chronic stroke survivors regain lost arm function. While wearing a small device on their impaired arm and using a laptop computer, players use their arm muscles to complete tasks such as flying a helicopter around the screen to hit a moving target. The muscle retraining helps separate the brain's uncoordinated movement signals, enabling muscles to work independently again. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-video-game-rehab-arm-movement.html Tue, 09 Jun 2026 09:00:03 EDT news700214221 Melanoma is the most aggressive form of skin cancer and can be difficult to treat in advanced stages. In a new doctoral thesis from Karolinska Institutet, Ellen Heurlin shows that radiotherapy combined with modern drug treatments provides clear clinical benefit in advanced melanoma. The results demonstrate good local tumor control, especially with stereotactic techniques, and few serious side effects. The most promising results were observed when radiotherapy was combined with immunotherapy. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-radiotherapy-boosts-tumor-advanced-melanoma.html Tue, 09 Jun 2026 07:40:03 EDT news700146390 Penn Engineers have developed an open-source algorithm that combines the speed of AI with the precision of geometry to compare complex medical images quickly and accurately, helping detect subtle changes that, over time, can signal disease. In some cases, the new algorithm can accomplish in minutes what would have taken prior techniques an entire week. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-fireants-faster-medical-image-analysis.html Tue, 09 Jun 2026 05:00:14 EDT news700150501 A technological platform developed by Brazilian researchers could revolutionize the treatment of skin diseases such as psoriasis and vitiligo. The group, affiliated with the NanoGeneSkin laboratory at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Ribeirão Preto, is developing nanoparticles capable of delivering therapeutic RNA molecules directly to skin cells. These nanoparticles can precisely silence the genes responsible for chronic inflammation at the molecular level. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-nanoparticles-psoriasis-genes-aiming-million.html Mon, 08 Jun 2026 19:40:01 EDT news700133160 New research tracks how cells prepare gene regulatory decisions that will define their fate during the earliest stages of human development. The study reconstructs a timeline of chromosome folding that brings remote DNA regulatory regions into physical contact with genes they control. This work, from a team at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS) and Imperial College London, with collaborators from the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, shows that some of these contacts form long before genes are activated, persist through later development and may help preselect the future gene targets of these regions. These findings highlight how the genome's 3D structure helps shape cell identity and could offer clues to how developmental disorders arise. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-3d-genome-architecture-pre-wires.html Mon, 08 Jun 2026 17:40:01 EDT news700146517 A new study has uncovered how antidepressants affect different groups of serotonin-producing brain cells in opposite ways, offering new insights into why selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) can cause unpleasant side effects at the start of treatment but lead to symptom relief over time. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-reveals-antidepressants-reshape-brain-serotonin.html Mon, 08 Jun 2026 12:40:04 EDT news700134788 A study led by ICREA researcher Raül Andero at the Institut de Neurociències of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (INc-UAB) has found that the relationship between a person's progesterone and estradiol levels at a given moment, measured in saliva, could help predict participants' performance in a learning and memory task. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-effectiveness-memory-saliva.html Mon, 08 Jun 2026 10:40:09 EDT news700133421 Tracking the brain's blood flow during neurosurgery represents one of the most critical and challenging parts of the operation. A brief interruption can mean the difference between permanent damage and full recovery, but it's difficult to track blood flow across the surgical field. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-newly-view-brain-blood-surgery.html Sun, 07 Jun 2026 17:00:02 EDT news699634097 Excessive bite force does not cause alveolar bone loss but significantly worsens it when combined with periodontitis, report researchers in a new study. While traumatic occlusion has long been suspected to exacerbate periodontitis, the molecular mechanisms behind this link were poorly understood. Now, using mouse models of both conditions separately and combined, the researchers conducted comprehensive gene expression analysis across multiple periodontal tissues, identifying key inflammatory pathways upregulated in bone when both conditions were present. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-mechanical-stress-bone-destruction-periodontitis.html Sun, 07 Jun 2026 14:00:03 EDT news699542974 A novel PET radiotracer can accurately detect deep vein thrombosis in the legs and reveal whether clots have migrated to the lungs. By enabling whole-body imaging of blood clots in a single scan, the approach may support faster and more efficient diagnosis—particularly for patients who also require evaluation for potentially life-threatening pulmonary embolism. This research was presented at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) 2026 Annual Meeting, and the collection of images showcasing the visualization of blood clots in the legs and in the lungs has been selected as the 2026 SNMMI Henry N. Wagner, Jr., Image of the Year. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-pet-tracer-dvt-legs-lungs.html Sat, 06 Jun 2026 20:30:01 EDT news699540308 A phase 1 clinical trial testing the safety of a leishmaniasis vaccine is set to begin in the coming months—the first vaccine created to protect against the disfiguring skin disease common in tropical regions of the world and gaining ground in the United States. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-leishmaniasis-vaccine-phase-trial-disease.html Sat, 06 Jun 2026 16:00:04 EDT news699978389 Selenium (Se) is an essential trace mineral found in everyday dietary items, such as seafood, meat, and whole grains. Our bodies depend on it for many biological functions, from the synthesis of antioxidant enzymes to immune system regulation. However, Se is unusual among nutrients in that the quantity window between too little and too much is quite narrow. Se deficiency has been linked to weakened immunity, while excess intake can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disorders. This makes understanding how the body absorbs, processes, and eliminates Se especially important. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-interplay-host-gut-microbiota-selenium.html Sat, 06 Jun 2026 14:00:04 EDT news699543790 Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), commonly referred to as autism, is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by differences in social interactions, communication, behavior and the processing of sensory stimuli. Notably, the experiences, aptitudes and needs of autistic people can vary significantly. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-autism-distinct-subtypes-based-brain.html Sat, 06 Jun 2026 09:40:01 EDT news699529113