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
neuroscience
Across older-adult cohorts using tau PET, EEG and cerebrospinal-fluid markers, higher frontal tau was associated with less-traveling sleep slow waves and poorer overnight memory.
neuroscience
Human behavior, monkey V1 recordings and modeling linked uncertainty about which perceptual task to perform with stronger coding of irrelevant features and less distinct neural representations.
Research
In 12 men, water and intravenous saline produced similar hydration, but saline left participants thirstier and more thermally strained; flanker-task and mood scores did not differ.
neuroscience
Odor-discrimination training in juvenile and adult zebrafish increased separation of task-relevant neural patterns in pDp, and this representational geometry tracked individual performance.
neuroscience
Selective activation of Sst-Chodl inhibitory neurons promoted cortical synchrony and sleep in mice. The September journal publication extends circuit research previously available as a preprint; it does not establish a human sleep treatment.
neuroscience
Engineers reported a thin, freestanding electrocorticography array inspired by dragonfly-wing structure, addressing a materials trade-off relevant to future brain-computer interfaces.
Research
In a 45-person pre–post study, a seven-session group program was followed by gains on global cognition and practical judgment tests. Without a control group, the study cannot separate treatment effects from practice or other changes.
Research
Across 26,022 adults in three ageing cohorts, impairments in non-cognitive health domains were associated with lower cognitive scores and greater risk of later cognitive impairment.
neuroscience
NIH highlighted experiments linking altered tau to mitochondrial reverse electron transport; blocking that pathway helped models, not patients in a clinical trial.
Research
A baseline analysis of 686 older U.S. POINTER participants associated longer daytime naps with lower processing speed; causality and an apnea interaction were not established.
Research
A secondary analysis of Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative data combined CSF and plasma proteins and metabolites to identify candidate markers. The machine-learning findings are exploratory and need independent clinical validation.
Research
A large population cohort study examined dietary niacin equivalents in relation to cognitive function and incident dementia; its observational design cannot show that increasing niacin prevents decline.