Medical Xpress news

Medical Xpress / Brain turns listening inward during REM sleep, EEG recordings suggest

Sleep does not isolate the brain from the world—rather, it affects how the brain balances the processing of different types of sensory information. A Swiss study shows that as we drift off to REM sleep, signals from the outside ...

Aug 3, 2026
Medical Xpress / Has the definition of autism become too broad to be useful?

The definition of autism may have become so broad that it risks confusion and even misdiagnosis, according to a new editorial by UCL professor Dame Uta Frith, whose pioneering research in the 1960s and '70s laid the foundations ...

Aug 3, 2026
Medical Xpress / Breast milk protein osteopontin may shield infants from respiratory infections

QIMR Berghofer researchers have found how breast milk supports infant immunity via a protein called osteopontin. The study also identifies a potential way of mimicking this protective effect in baby formula. The findings, ...

Aug 3, 2026
Medical Xpress / AI-enabled measurements of 'local brain aging' offer detailed insights on dementia and more

USC researchers have developed an approach that uses artificial intelligence to generate detailed maps that highlight differences in how distinct parts of the brain age. The new model also sheds light on how patterns of brain ...

Aug 3, 2026
Medical Xpress / Brain activity reveals the melodies that people imagine

In a study led by Jii Kwon and Chun Kee Chung of Seoul National University, researchers explored whether they could recreate melodies from the brain activity of people who imagined how songs continue after listening to a ...

Aug 3, 2026
Dialog / Can we map diets as networks? Food combinations linked to mortality, cardiovascular disease and life expectancy

Imagine a typical breakfast: coffee may appear alongside eggs, toast and butter, while fruit, yogurt and whole grains may form another combination. We do not eat foods in isolation. Instead, our diets are made up of interconnected ...

Aug 3, 2026
Medical Xpress / Orexin neurons may uncover the brain's secret to staying motivated

What enables us to sustain effort toward goals, even when the task becomes increasingly difficult? A recent study by researchers at Nagoya University in Japan revealed the underlying brain mechanism, showing that orexin neurons ...

Aug 3, 2026
Medical Xpress / Parkinson's gene linked to early dysfunction in brain cells

Northwestern Medicine scientists have uncovered how a major Parkinson's disease gene disrupts the brain's most vulnerable dopamine-producing neurons before detectable neuronal loss. The study offers new clues for developing ...

Aug 3, 2026
Medical Xpress / Blood marker tracks hidden progression in multiple sclerosis

Modern therapies have transformed care for people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Yet the disease continues to progress in a substantial proportion of patients, even in the absence of relapses. Detecting and treating this gradual ...

Aug 3, 2026
Medical Xpress / Sweat, brain signals, eye movements and AI used to detect depression and suicide risk

Suicide rates in the U.S. have been rising at an alarming rate over the past few decades, with rates among veterans 1.5 times higher than those of the general public, USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work's study ...

Aug 3, 2026
Medical Xpress / AI identifies previously unrecognized health insights in routine sleep studies

A novel AI model can use information collected during routine sleep studies to identify patients' long-term health risks, according to a new study published in Nature Communications. Developed by a multidisciplinary research ...

Aug 3, 2026
Medical Xpress / Soft optical sensor offers new way to map the heart and brain

For people living with cardiac or neurological conditions, monitoring organ activity is an important part of diagnosis and treatment. But existing technology relies heavily on electrically based systems that often require ...

Aug 3, 2026