Research · Neuroscience · Safety
Follow developments in nootropics and brain research with their sources and limitations. We explain what a new finding says, and what it cannot establish.
128 published articles
Research
Across four aging cohorts, more television viewing tracked with lower cognitive scores, while computer use tracked with higher scores. Mendelian-randomization results offered supportive but assumption-dependent evidence.
Research
Across three forms of environmental uncertainty, participants planned less, responded sooner and used simpler decision policies that were less sensitive to option values.
Research
Among 1,000 healthy adults aged 18–35, ε3ε4 carriers did not differ detectably from ε3ε3 carriers on navigation or several cognitive tasks. The result applies to this sample and age range.
neuroscience
Wide-field imaging across 25 cortical areas found distinct, sometimes opposing layer 2/3 and layer 5 activity changes as male mice learned a whisker-based task. The study maps learning-related dynamics but does not isolate all causal contributions.
Research
A clinical cohort and mouse experiments linked microbial tryptophan metabolism to cognition and glymphatic function. The clinical observations were exploratory; the intervention evidence came from mice.
neuroscience
A mouse study mapped a direct amygdala–dorsolateral striatum projection that modulated stimulus-evoked grooming and was strengthened in a compulsive-grooming model. It is an animal circuit finding, not evidence of a human cause or treatment.
Research
In 18 people undergoing shunt surgery for suspected normal-pressure hydrocephalus, researchers found amyloid plaques in nine biopsies and mapped plaque chemistry and tau turnover. The selected surgical sample limits generalization.
Research
In a two-choice task, rhesus macaques were more accurate on faster responses even after accounting for difficulty. A monitoring model could explain the pattern, though it does not directly prove subjective confidence.
Research
In a randomized trial substudy of older adults, neither a multivitamin nor cocoa extract changed three blood biomarkers over two years compared with placebo. These biomarker results do not settle whether supplements affect cognition through other pathways.
neuroscience
NIH announced molecular maps built from over 6.3 million cell nuclei and 1,494 donors, providing a research resource for Alzheimer’s and related brain disorders.
Research
In a small experiment with healthy adults, temporal-interference stimulation altered how participants weighed rewards and cognitive effort, alongside changes in striatal and cingulate signals.
Research
Thirty participants completed two visual-attention tasks. Estimates averaged 58 Hz in one and 49 Hz in the other, but analyses did not establish a clear difference or equality.