Topic

Brain & Mental Health

The brain and mind: cognition, memory, dementia, mood and mental health, screens and digital tools, and what protects them with age.

An open palm holding a small pile of round pink tablets.

Montelukast linked to 40% higher ADHD risk, versus inhaled steroids, in 97,176 children with new asthma

Oct 21, 2026

A pregnant person sitting on a sofa typing on a laptop, seen from above and behind.

Online mindfulness course lowered depression relapse in 500 pregnant women, 33% against 44%

Oct 21, 2026

Midlife epilepsy tied to sixfold risk of dementia before 65, still about 2 in 100

Oct 20, 2026

Hands holding a blister pack of white capsules against dark clothing.

Fluoroquinolones showed no extra peripheral neuropathy versus cephalosporins in 3.9 million UK adults

Oct 20, 2026

A therapist holding a pen and paper rests a hand on the knee of a seated client whose hands are clasped; faces are out of frame.

Bergen four-day OCD treatment beat an unguided online course, 42% to 14% in remission

Oct 19, 2026

Overhead view of a laptop covered in colorful sticky notes, a hand on the keyboard, a glass of water and a potted plant on a white desk.

ADHD linked to 70% higher death rates in a review of 19 studies of nearly 16 million people

Oct 19, 2026

Aerial view of a town junction with tiled roofs, gardens, trees and cars parked along curving streets.

Exposome study ties 76 everyday exposures to dementia risk in half a million UK adults

Oct 16, 2026

Close-up of two hands holding and tapping a smartphone with a blank glowing screen in the dark, blurred lights behind.

Sports betting laws tied to more anxiety and depression care in US states

Oct 16, 2026

View from an upper window of high-rise apartment blocks and a rain-wet street with cars below on a grey day.

Traffic noise at home tracked with slightly more depression in 2.9 million Danish adults

Oct 16, 2026

A pregnant woman in a pale linen dress stands by a white wall with one hand on top of the belly and one beneath it.

First-trimester benzodiazepine prescriptions not linked to more birth defects in 4.2 million US pregnancies

Oct 14, 2026

An older person's hand rests on the curved handle of a wooden cane, in front of a dark green jacket and a blue floral scarf.

Global dementia study: about 10 new cases a year per 1,000 followed, estimate higher in poorer countries

Oct 14, 2026

A black and white photo of a woman in a knitted sweater bending forward with both hands covering the head and face.

Migraine antibody drugs in early pregnancy linked to higher miscarriage rate in US claims study

Oct 14, 2026

Two young people in a grey hoodie and a plaid shirt sit on a bench with hands clasped, a skateboard propped beside them.

About 1 in 6 US adolescents reported moderate or severe anxiety symptoms in 2024, and many had no treatment

Oct 14, 2026

Two children write in exercise books at a wooden table, seen from above with faces out of view.

Are ADHD and autism overdiagnosed? What England's independent review and the wider research found

Oct 12, 2026

An older man with white hair and a beard sits at a laid table with a hand to the mouth, looking toward a window.

ADHD linked to later dementia and mild cognitive impairment in the records and genes of 187,341 US adults

Oct 12, 2026

A person sits on a bed in near darkness looking down at a lit phone screen, seen from above.

A hospital found 28 cases of 'AI psychosis' among 215,712 mental health patients, most in a first episode

Oct 12, 2026

Two hands hold a digital thermometer with a pink tip in front of floral-patterned fabric.

Link between flu in pregnancy and children's ADHD and other diagnoses was not seen when siblings were compared

Oct 12, 2026

A gloved hand holds a small light up to the face of a bearded person, casting a bright patch across one eye and brow.

Light sensitivity rose in 7 of 10 blind people given an optogenetic gene therapy and special goggles

Oct 12, 2026

A hand holds a hand-rolled joint above a wooden table, beside an ashtray and a box of matches.

Cannabis use disorder rose among US adults from 2021 to 2024 while alcohol use disorder held steady or fell

Oct 9, 2026

A person in olive scrubs writes on a sheaf of papers while standing in front of a large white scanner.

Brain age explained: what scans from 48,598 people showed across nine disorders, and what the gap means

Oct 9, 2026

Cannabis leaves lit in bright green against a dark background.

Cannabis and violence: what a review of 265,000 people found, and what the link does and does not mean

Oct 9, 2026

An older man with glasses and a white beard sits in a clinic chair while a woman in a white top stands behind him.

One in five developed dementia in the years after a mini-stroke, against 15% of matched peers, in Ontario

Oct 9, 2026

A small group sits in a circle in a living room while one of them, holding papers, speaks and gestures.

Open Dialogue did not delay relapse in its first trial, though fewer people were admitted to hospital

Oct 9, 2026

A group of teenagers walks along a paved path through a green park, two of them carrying skateboards.

Adolescents who took more daily steps had fewer mental health problems a year later, in a US study of 5,515

Oct 9, 2026

A child in a navy T-shirt sits in an armchair using a tablet, beside a windowsill lined with small potted plants.

More screen use, slightly lower school achievement and more behavior problems, across 2.8 million children

Oct 9, 2026

A person in a patterned hospital gown lies in a bed while a doctor in a white coat rests a hand on the person's arm and holds a scan image.

Strokes in adults aged 20 to 54 rose from 34 to 62 per 100,000 between 1993 and 2020 in a US regional study

Oct 9, 2026

A pregnant person in a navy dress stands beside a sunlit window with both hands resting on the belly, face out of frame.

Antidepressants in pregnancy linked to a small rise in special educational needs among 167,000 children

Oct 6, 2026

A square plate of smoked salmon on lettuce, topped with raspberries and blackberries.

The MIND diet explained: what it is and what studies show about brain shrinkage, memory and dementia

Oct 6, 2026

Glowing blue and green points of light at the tips of fanned-out optical fibers against a dark background.

Optogenetics explained: the light switch for nerve cells that won the 2026 Nobel Prize in medicine

Oct 6, 2026

The hands of an older person in a pale linen jacket holding a puzzle page on their lap.

Brain training sharpens the skill practiced, and one type was tied to fewer dementia diagnoses

Oct 4, 2026

Hearing aids showed no clear effect on dementia progression in 703 adults with mild cognitive impairment

Oct 4, 2026

A worker in an orange and navy jacket and a blue hat, seen from behind, lifting cardboard boxes into the back of a silver van.

Leisure exercise was linked to 24% lower dementia risk and physical work to 20% higher across 74 studies

Oct 4, 2026

A soccer player in a blue kit and white socks leaning back with the ball at head height on an artificial pitch.

Soccer and dementia: defenders had five times the brain disease risk, goalkeepers no clear rise

Oct 4, 2026

Old apartment buildings on a city street, with tall trees and climbing plants growing against the walls.

Greenspace within 100 meters of home was linked to about 20% lower dementia risk over 16 years

Oct 2, 2026

Two children on a couch, seen from above, looking at a phone that one of them is holding.

Owning a smartphone at age 12 was linked to more eating disorder symptoms at 14 in 8,957 US adolescents

Oct 2, 2026

Several pairs of hands passing a clear plastic box of canned food across a table.

Volunteering was linked to slower cognitive decline in APOE4 Alzheimer's gene carriers among 17,972 adults

Oct 1, 2026

Older adults exercising with hoops in a gym, one of them in a wheelchair.

Exercise training improved thinking skills in adults over 60 across 227 trials

Sep 29, 2026

A woman meditating with her eyes closed and her palms pressed together.

Does meditation help anxiety? What the research shows

Sep 29, 2026

Blood sample tubes lying beside a rack of tubes.

Blood proteins that shift at menopause tracked brain aging and dementia risk in 11,925 women

Sep 29, 2026

Brown sugar cubes scattered around a spoon on a pink background.

Sugar rationing in the first 1,000 days tied to lower anxiety risk in adulthood

Sep 28, 2026

A clinician in gloves examining the neck of an older man who is wearing a face mask.

Carotid stenting or surgery did not improve memory or thinking in the CREST-2 trials

Sep 26, 2026

A clinician checking an older person's blood pressure as they sit together on a sofa.

42% of older adults with a dementia diagnosis did not report having one, in US survey data

Sep 26, 2026

A parent checking a sick child's temperature with a forehead thermometer as the child lies in bed.

Febrile seizures and school: children scored almost the same as peers in a 672,000-child study

Sep 26, 2026

A therapist taking notes while talking with a client seated on a sofa in a bright room.

Semaglutide use tied to 21% fewer psychiatric hospital stays in people with bipolar disorder

Sep 26, 2026

A person with eyes closed pressing their fingertips to their temples.

Migraine prevention: which medicines work, according to a review of 217 trials

Sep 26, 2026

A toddler stacking colorful toy blocks into a tall tower.

Phelan-McDermid syndrome may affect about 1 in 7,300 people, far more than earlier estimates

Sep 26, 2026

A pregnant person in a long dress holding a small bunch of flowers and an ultrasound print against their belly.

Congenital CMV and other TORCH infections tied to 3 times the autism risk

Sep 26, 2026

Hands placing tablets into a weekly pill organizer on a white table.

Statins after a type 2 diabetes diagnosis: starting early tied to 15% lower dementia risk

Sep 26, 2026

A child lying on a sofa under a blanket with one arm hanging down

ADHD went with higher odds of every gut symptom studied, across 23 studies of 1.9 million people

Sep 23, 2026

A glass mug of beer on a wooden table in an empty bar

GLP-1 treatment went with 45% fewer alcohol-related hospital stays, in 167,026 Swedes with diabetes

Sep 23, 2026

An older person fitting a hearing aid while sitting at a table with a cup

Hearing aids clearly helped hearing-related quality of life, across 16 trials in 2,261 adults

Sep 23, 2026

A busy cafe with people sitting and standing at tables, talking

Trouble hearing speech in noise went with higher dementia risk, whatever a person's genetic risk

Sep 23, 2026

A clinician showing brain scan images on a tablet to a patient at a bedside, in black and white

Brain scans showed fewer dopamine nerve markers in 24 people with long COVID than in matched controls

Sep 23, 2026

A masked clinician and an older masked patient sitting facing each other in a clinic room

Newer blood thinners went with slower memory decline in 7,308 Swedes with Alzheimer's

Sep 23, 2026

An older person in a face mask receiving an injection from a clinician in protective clothing

Shingles vaccine went with less dementia over four years, in 509,926 nursing-home residents

Sep 23, 2026

A dark, motion-blurred road at dusk seen from a moving car, lined with trees

Cannabis edibles impaired simulated driving at 10 and 20 mg, even below roadside THC limits, in 40 users

Sep 22, 2026

Five volunteers in gloves holding rubbish bags on a wide grassy field

Exercising while volunteering went with better mental health and less loneliness, in 2,856 UK adults

Sep 22, 2026

People sitting on a wide lawn in a city park, with houses and a tower block beyond

More grass near home, not more trees, went with lower dementia risk over 19 years in 6,761 US adults

Sep 22, 2026

An older person standing alone at a tall curtained window, seen from behind

Loneliness went with starting sedatives and opioids, in 29,976 middle-aged and older Canadians

Sep 22, 2026

A woman blowing into a handheld breath-testing device

More carbon monoxide on the breath went with lower Parkinson risk in 512,701 adults, smokers or not

Sep 22, 2026

A seven-day pill organizer with three compartments open and loose tablets beside it

Weekend breaks from ADHD medication brought no advantage in 43 men, and went with more procrastination

Sep 21, 2026

A teenage girl resting her head on her arms in dim light

School was the only source of migraine triggers for half the children who could name one

Sep 21, 2026

A woman sitting alone on a kitchen chair, looking towards a window

Loneliness more than doubled the risk of a first depression diagnosis in 445,678 adults

Sep 21, 2026

A woman with short gray hair wearing over-ear headphones, using a phone on a sofa

A tinnitus app beat a sham app by 20 points on a distress score in a 60-person randomized trial

Sep 21, 2026

Gloved hands using a pipette behind a laboratory glass shield

A protein on breast cancer cells calmed the brain's immune cells and helped tumors settle there, in mice

Sep 20, 2026

A toddler in a red dress stacking colored wooden blocks

Toddlers' cognitive scores rose as New York's air cleaned up, across three birth groups from 1998 to 2020

Sep 20, 2026

Two women sitting together in a bright room, signing to each other

Deaf adults gave more of the brain's visual map to the far edges of vision in a 32-person scan study

Sep 20, 2026

A clinician in scrubs with both hands supporting a woman's neck

Chiropractic neck care showed no added risk of a torn artery against ibuprofen in 431,492 matched pairs

Sep 20, 2026

A white mouse perched on a person's hand, in black and white

A serotonin circuit that quietens during pregnancy drove food-craving behavior in pregnant mice

Sep 20, 2026

Brain scan slices displayed on a tablet resting on a bed

White matter tracts that span the brain's hierarchy tracked the widest range of thinking skills

Sep 20, 2026

A wide river winding through rainforest under heavy clouds

Dementia stayed rare in two Indigenous Amazonian groups followed for nearly five years

Sep 18, 2026

A mother holding her sleeping newborn against her cheek

Infant deaths were nearly three times as common when mothers screened positive for depressive symptoms

Sep 18, 2026

A colored anatomical model of a human skull on a stand

The skull's bone marrow holds immune structures that keep watch over the brain, a mouse study finds

Sep 18, 2026

A young woman resting her head on her arm while writing in a workbook on the floor

Mild brain stimulation cut procrastination in a small trial, with some effect still visible six months later

Sep 17, 2026

An older woman in glasses reading a book at a table beside a cup and saucer

Cognitive resilience predicted Alzheimer's dementia about as strongly as the disease's hallmark proteins did

Sep 17, 2026

A small brown mouse among fallen leaves with its paws raised to its mouth

An anti-itch drug calms scratching through a deep brain region called the claustrum, research in mice suggests

Sep 17, 2026

A girl wearing a crown of white flowers between a younger woman and an older woman

Brain scans show gray matter shrinks through puberty and pregnancy but may hold steady during menopause

Sep 17, 2026

A teenage girl resting her head on her arm on a sofa, looking pensive

Loneliness and wanting to be thinner may explain much of why teenage girls report more depression than boys

Sep 17, 2026

An older patient in a hospital gown sitting on the edge of a bed

Treating depression before surgery helped older patients, almost entirely in the cancer group

Sep 16, 2026

A clinician in gloves holding a sheet of brain scan slices to the light

Silent brain injuries after a heart implant fell from 32% to 12% on a low-dose blood thinner

Sep 16, 2026

American football players in helmets at practice, backlit by low sun

Memory was the most damaged ability in 33 NFL players whose CTE was confirmed at autopsy

Sep 8, 2026

Two empty infusion chairs beside drip stands in a clinic room

Ketamine beat a sedative comparison by 7 points in bipolar depression that had resisted two treatments

Sep 8, 2026

An MRI scanner's circular opening shown on a monitor screen

Kidneys filtering faster than normal tracked more small-vessel damage in 7,254 stroke patients

Sep 8, 2026

An aged paper world map in shadow, with Africa and South America labeled

Stroke was far less common in Black adults born outside the US than in those born in it

Sep 8, 2026

An older man sitting on the edge of a bed with his head lowered

People with a common cause of brain bleeds had 16 times the odds of possible depression

Sep 7, 2026

An empty scanner bore with a head coil waiting on the table

An antibody blocking B12 from reaching the brain was found in over half of unexplained spinal cord cases

Sep 7, 2026

Earlier menopause tracked faster memory decline and an earlier Alzheimer's diagnosis

Sep 7, 2026

A radiographer at a workstation studying brain scans on a monitor

Clot removal failed to help in smaller stroke vessels, where it is increasingly being tried

Sep 7, 2026

A woman on a sofa pressing her fingers to her temples

A blood thinner outperformed a standard migraine drug in people with a hole in the heart

Sep 4, 2026

An older person's hand reaching for a weekly pill organizer on a wooden table

Angiotensin receptor blockers tracked 8% less dementia than calcium channel blockers

Sep 2, 2026

A close-up of a person's ear against dark hair

Hearing loss tracked worse memory and smaller brain regions; tinnitus tracked neither

Sep 2, 2026

A child's hand writing in a notebook with a pencil

Nearly twice as many autistic children with ADHD waited over a year to start medication

Sep 1, 2026

A man in a red jacket with a backpack walking across a grassy hillside

Physical activity tracked 23% less motor neuron disease across 384,836 UK adults

Sep 1, 2026

A small child's hands arranging coloured wooden blocks in a row on a wooden floor

Starting autism intervention earlier predicted better outcomes across 582 children

Sep 1, 2026

A glass of water on a white table beside a wooden chair

Blood sodium in the upper normal range tracked up to 3 times the dementia risk

Sep 1, 2026

Broken pieces of dark chocolate scattered with cocoa crumbs on a grey surface

Dark chocolate cut 13 seconds off a standard attention test across 16 randomized trials

Sep 1, 2026

A phoropter, the lens-testing device used in an eye examination

Shingles that reached the eye tracked 37% more dementia than shingles elsewhere

Sep 1, 2026

Several part-used blister packs of different tablets and capsules on a wooden table

Pairing a statin with certain blood pressure drugs tracked 12% less dementia over 12 years

Sep 1, 2026

Large white oblong tablets filling the frame on a yellow background

High-intensity statins after stroke tracked slightly less dementia across 206,416 survivors

Sep 1, 2026

A close portrait of an older woman with short white hair looking away in low light

Women who used estrogen-only hormone therapy had less Alzheimer's damage in 2,959 autopsied brains

Aug 30, 2026

A woman at a desk lifting her glasses and closing her eyes over an open book

Ten hours of cognitive rehab lifted daily function in long COVID, where no treatment is proven

Aug 28, 2026

Two rugby players in matching training kit grappling on the ground over the ball

Rugby training concussions rose across three seasons, and full-contact drills doubled the risk

Aug 28, 2026

A carer in a yellow polo shirt lifting a small grey dog toward an older person lying in a care-home bed, with a second carer at the bedside

Therapy animals eased depression in older adults across 20 studies, but not loneliness

Aug 26, 2026

An older woman and man sitting on a sofa holding game controllers, a pizza on the table in front of them

Exergames beat doing nothing for older adults' thinking across 51 trials, on very low certainty

Aug 26, 2026

A woman sitting cross-legged on the floor by a sofa, following a session on a phone propped on a small tripod

Digital self-help cut anxiety and depression in chronic illness, coach or no coach

Aug 26, 2026

A woman in a spotted headscarf and grey cardigan sitting with her eyes closed and her hands pressed to her face

Exercise improved the mental fog that follows cancer across four domains and 2,809 patients

Aug 25, 2026

A man sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed and hands resting on his knees

Slow yoga breathing helped anxiety on top of usual psychiatric care in 150 patients

Aug 24, 2026

A teenager in a yellow t-shirt holding a game controller, looking at the screen

PlaySmart video game nudged teen depression scores down a point over a year

Aug 19, 2026

A man reclined in a padded seat with over-ear headphones on and his eyes closed

Binaural beats did not calm dental anxiety in a trial

Aug 18, 2026

Acceptance skills added nothing to mindfulness training in a trial of 392 people

Aug 18, 2026

An older person's hands filling in a newspaper puzzle with a pen

Practice at brain tests hides a year of cognitive decline

Aug 17, 2026

Tinnitus can show up when the hearing test looks normal

Aug 17, 2026

A pair of hands holding a partly used blister pack of green and white tablets

Paracetamol matched anti-inflammatories for arthritis pain

Aug 16, 2026

Two dark armchairs facing each other in front of a window with closed blinds in a dim room

Psilocybin beat placebo in the first NHS-funded trial

Aug 9, 2026

A middle-aged man sitting on a pale sofa at home, holding a phone to his ear and gesturing

Self-guided therapy beat clinician sessions for chronic pain

Aug 8, 2026

A yellow St Johns wort flower with long radiating stamens

St Johns wort: uses, evidence, dosing and safety

Aug 5, 2026

An older person's arm in a blood pressure cuff attached to a home monitor

Falling blood pressure tracked with memory loss in women

Aug 4, 2026

An older woman wrapped in a striped shirt looking away in a brick-walled room

Swinging mood predicted dementia better than low mood

Aug 4, 2026

Gloved hands transferring a blood sample into tubes in a laboratory

A midlife blood marker tracked dementia 25 years ahead

Aug 4, 2026

A blue blood pressure cuff and its tubing on a white surface

Blood pressure that swings tracked with faster memory loss

Aug 3, 2026

A woman in a kitchen leaning over a pan to smell food on a wooden spoon

Thinking your smell has faded tracked depression best

Aug 3, 2026

Close-up of two hands holding and scrolling a smartphone

Likes drove more posting in people with depression

Aug 3, 2026

An older couple sitting side by side in armchairs, holding hands

Spouses of people with dementia had 1.7 times the risk

Aug 3, 2026

A red sun showing through thick haze above a faint city skyline

Wildfire smoke sent more people to the ER with migraine

Aug 2, 2026

A researcher working at a monitor in a laboratory with colleagues behind

Genetic risk fell as autism and ADHD diagnoses rose in Denmark

Aug 1, 2026

A teenage girl with a backpack standing alone against a bright teal wall

Autism diagnoses rose only in women and girls after 2020

Aug 1, 2026

A pregnant woman standing by a kitchen window with a hand on her bump

Sibling study found no autism or ADHD link to paracetamol

Aug 1, 2026

A group of teenagers sitting on a staircase looking at a phone

Australia banned under-16s from social media. Most kept using it.

Aug 1, 2026

A clinician holding an older patient hand across a desk with a clipboard

Medicare wellness visits raised early memory diagnoses by 28%

Jul 31, 2026

A gloved lab worker holding a blood sample tube up to the light

A blood test told three dementias apart, not just detected one

Jul 29, 2026

A radiographer standing behind the open bore of a scanner

A brain structure few have heard of tracked with dementia

Jul 29, 2026

A woman resting on a sofa with headphones on and her eyes closed

The IBS hypnotherapy app lost to a human, but not to nothing

Jul 29, 2026

An empty classroom of desks facing a chalkboard

Schools that kept a health class had less teen substance use

Jul 29, 2026

The weathered hands of an older person resting on a knee

Mental illness before 35 tracked with dementia after 50

Jul 28, 2026

Red sugar-coated sweets spilling from a tipped glass jar on a red background

Babies born under sugar rationing had less depression

Jul 28, 2026

A doctor listening to an older patient's chest with a stethoscope in a clinic room

Severe mental illness carries 2.6 times the death rate

Jul 27, 2026

An overhead view of a residential street crossing with houses and gardens

Dementia deaths peak in the suburbs, not the city or country

Jul 27, 2026

An older man sitting on a bed with his head resting in his hand

Nearly 4 in 10 dementia cases tied to modifiable risk factors

Jul 26, 2026

A wooden bowl of fried snack curls on a table

Ultra-processed food tied to more depression in over-70s

Jul 26, 2026

A close-up of legs walking briskly across paving stones

The fastest walkers over 80 had half the cognitive decline

Jul 26, 2026

A busy city street filled with cars, buses and pedestrians at dusk

Road traffic noise linked to Parkinson's in 3.1 million Danes, unless the home had a quiet side

Jul 26, 2026

A plate of chickpea salad with hummus, rocket leaves and olive oil

Diet tracked with dementia risk despite Alzheimer's markers

Jul 25, 2026

Three people sitting on a couch watching television in a dimly lit living room

TV watching, not desk work, tracked with smaller brain regions

Jul 25, 2026

Blister packs of blue and white pills

Pramipexole eased depression's loss of pleasure in a trial

Jul 24, 2026

Industrial smokestacks releasing plumes over a hazy city skyline

Air pollution tied to worse memory at 'safe' levels

Jul 23, 2026

Black-and-white brain scan images arranged on a lightbox

p-tau217 blood test estimated 5-year Alzheimer's risk

Jul 23, 2026

An older woman in athletic wear walks a park path with Nordic walking poles at dusk

Exercise twice a week tracked with lower dementia risk

Jul 21, 2026

Fresh oranges arranged in a close-up, top-down view

Blood vitamin C linked to more gray matter in older adults

Jul 17, 2026