A 2026 Nature study found that parasite-sensing tuft cells can release acetylcholine, activate crypt enterochromaffin cells through muscarinic receptors, trigger serotonin release, stimulate vagal afferent neurons, and suppress food intake during established infection.1 The finding is a precise gut-defense circuit, not a generic claim that the gut-brain axis explains every mood or appetite problem. Research …
A 2026 iScience study recorded 27 substantia nigra neurons during deep-brain-stimulation surgery in 11 Parkinson’s disease patients and found that prior reward shaped both putative dopamine-neuron firing and the next reaction time: responses were faster after a +$10 outcome than after neutral or negative outcomes (0.916 s vs. 1.017 s, p = 0.0175).1 Research Highlights …
A 2025 Journal of the American Chemical Society study identified 4 unusual Morganella morganii phospholipids that activated TLR2/TLR1 immune receptors and induced inflammatory cytokines, especially IL-6.1 The finding does not prove that one gut bacterium causes depression, but it gives the microbiome-depression field something it often lacks: a named molecule and a receptor pathway. Research …
A 2026 medRxiv preprint built a reusable NeuroMark SPECT template from 2 large independent component analysis rounds, then applied it to 137 schizophrenia patients and 76 controls; after false-discovery-rate correction, 23 of 68 perfusion components differed between groups.1 Those data support infrastructure for comparing SPECT perfusion networks across datasets, with standalone schizophrenia diagnosis left outside …
A 2026 Nature Neuroscience study found that awake mouse brain motion was driven mainly by locomotion-linked abdominal muscle activity, not by respiration or cardiac rhythm; the researchers mapped displacement vectors at 134 cortical sites in 24 mice and modeled how that motion could push fluid out of brain tissue.1 The result sharpens the body-brain mechanics …
A 430-caregiver study in Kathmandu found caregiving burden in 65.3% of family caregivers of older adults with disability, with adjusted predictors clustering around low economic status, 8 or more daily care hours, and severe impairment in activities of daily living.1 Research Highlights Burden was the majority experience: 65.3% of 430 family caregivers reported caregiving burden …
A 259-person multiple system atrophy survey found diagnosed neurogenic orthostatic hypotension in 41.7% of respondents, while another 40.0% had upright symptoms suspicious for nOH without a diagnosis and 21.2% reported never having upright blood pressure measured.1 The operational problem is simple: in MSA, low blood pressure on standing can be disabling, missed, and still undertreated …