hit counter

Ultra-Processed Foods Linked to Lower Attention in 2,192 Adults

MHD featured image for ultra-processed foods, attention, and dementia-risk scores.

A 2026 Australian study involving 2,192 dementia-free adults found that each 10% higher ultra-processed food intake was associated with 0.05-point lower attention and 0.24-point higher modified CAIDE dementia-risk score.1 The memory result was not significant, so the honest read is attention and risk-score signal, not global cognitive collapse. Research Highlights Attention was lower: Each 10% …

Read more

Smartphone Use Revealed Beta-Burst Cortical Inhibition During Touches

MHD featured image for smartphone use, beta bursts, and cortical inhibition.

An iScience EEG study found that approximately 80 minutes of natural smartphone use was interleaved with transient beta bursts, especially over bilateral sensorimotor cortex, and touchscreen intervals became longer when sensorimotor bursts were present.1 Research Highlights Natural smartphone behavior carried beta bursts: participants used smartphones with the right thumb for approximately 80 minutes while EEG …

Read more

NMDAR/TRPM4 Death Complex Blocker Preserved Memory in Alzheimer’s Mice

MHD featured image for the NMDAR/TRPM4 death complex, FP802, and Alzheimer's mouse-model memory protection.

A 2026 Molecular Psychiatry study found that oral FP802 disrupted the NMDAR/TRPM4 death complex and preserved memory-task performance in 5xFAD Alzheimer’s mice treated for 3 months.1 The finding is mechanistically sharper than a generic anti-amyloid claim: FP802 targeted a glutamate-toxicity complex downstream of amyloid stress. Research Highlights Complex formation was blocked: 5xFAD mice had increased …

Read more

NOS3 TT Variant Linked to 1.72x Cognitive Risk in First-Episode Depression

A 2026 cross-sectional study of 519 older adults with first-episode depression found that the NOS3 rs1799983 TT genotype was independently associated with cognitive impairment, adjusted OR 1.720 (95% CI 1.027-2.882).1 The result is strongest as a vascular-inflammation clue, not as a ready clinical genetic test. Research Highlights TT genotype carried the headline signal: in multivariable …

Read more

PTP1B Inhibition Boosted Amyloid Clearance in Alzheimer’s Mice

In APP/PS1 Alzheimer's model mice, deleting PTP1B or treating with the allosteric inhibitor DPM-1003 improved memory behavior, lowered amyloid burden, and pushed microglia toward SYK-driven clearance — a plausible mechanism, not a human treatment result yet.1 Research Highlights PTP1B loss improved behavior in APP/PS1 mice. Genetic deletion and DPM-1003 treatment improved novel object recognition and …

Read more

Cocaine-Alcohol Relapse Shifts Prelimbic-Accumbens Circuit

Cocaine relapse circuitry looks different when alcohol is part of the history. In a rat model, inhibiting prelimbic cortex neurons projecting to the nucleus accumbens core blocked cue-triggered cocaine seeking after cocaine alone, but failed after sequential cocaine-alcohol polysubstance use.1 Research Highlights PL-NAc inhibition split by drug history: in a 4-group DREADD experiment, inhibiting the …

Read more

Psychopathy, Empathy, and Cortical Structure in 804 Incarcerated Men

Psychopathy is not a simple “low empathy equals abnormal brain scan” story. In 804 incarcerated men, psychopathy factors tracked empathic concern, perspective taking, cortical thickness, surface area, and cortical organization—but self-reported empathy scores did not map cleanly onto cortical structure.1 Research Highlights The sample was unusually large for forensic MRI. Radecki et al. analyzed 804 …

Read more