Medical Xpress news

Medical Xpress / People prefer the empathy of humans, but rate 'fake' AI empathy higher

Artificial Intelligence (AI) agents, particularly the large language models (LLMs) underpinning the functioning of ChatGPT and other popular conversational platforms, are now used daily by millions of people worldwide. As ...

Feb 18, 2026 in Psychology & Psychiatry
Medical Xpress / Kirigami-inspired sensors precisely map activity of neurons in the primate brain

Recent technological advances have opened new exciting possibilities for the development of smart prosthetics, such as artificial limbs, joints or organs that can replace injured, damaged or amputated body parts. These same ...

Feb 18, 2026 in Neuroscience
Medical Xpress / Ancient mind-body practice proven to lower blood pressure in clinical trial

A traditional Chinese mind-body practice that combines slow, structured movement, deep breathing and meditative focus lowered blood pressure as effectively as brisk walking in a large randomized clinical trial published in ...

Feb 18, 2026 in Cardiology
Medical Xpress / Scientists find a mechanism showing how exercise protects the brain

Researchers at UC San Francisco have discovered a mechanism that could explain how exercise improves cognition by shoring up the brain's protective barrier. With age, the network of blood vessels—called the blood–brain ...

Medical Xpress / The cells that never sleep: How slumber lets neurons clean up and stay healthy

When HHMI Investigator Amita Sehgal started studying sleep 25 years ago, the topic elicited a yawn from most biologists. "In the year 2000, if I had suggested to my department that we hire people working on sleep, they would ...

Feb 18, 2026 in Sleep disorders
Medical Xpress / COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy may help prevent preeclampsia

A new multinational study from the INTERCOVID Consortium, including Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, has found that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy, particularly when combined with a booster dose, ...

Feb 18, 2026 in Cardiology
Medical Xpress / Stopping fatal blood loss with clay

Traumatic injury is the third leading cause of death in the state of Texas, surpassing strokes, Alzheimer's disease and diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A massive number of these deaths ...

Feb 18, 2026 in Biomedical technology
Medical Xpress / Our brains may learn more from rare events than from repetition

More than a century ago, Pavlov trained his dog to associate the sound of a bell with food. Ever since, scientists have assumed the dog learned this through repetition. The more times the dog heard the bell and then got fed, ...

Feb 18, 2026 in Neuroscience
Medical Xpress / The neurobiology of why some brains cannot move on from loss

For most people, the intense ache that follows the death of a loved one eventually softens, and daily life resumes. But for some, the pain does not ease with time—a condition known as prolonged grief disorder (PGD). In ...

Feb 18, 2026 in Psychology & Psychiatry
Medical Xpress / How dopamine-producing neurons arise in the developing brain

In a new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in Nature Neuroscience, researchers have identified the neurogenic progenitor that gives rise to dopaminergic neurons, the primary neurons affected in Parkinson's disease. ...

Feb 18, 2026 in Neuroscience
Medical Xpress / Pop-up-style 3D electrode array captures organoid-wide brain rhythms in real time

A team led by Northwestern University and Shirley Ryan AbilityLab scientists have developed a new technology that can eavesdrop on the hidden electrical dialogues unfolding inside miniature, lab-grown human brain-like tissues. ...

Feb 18, 2026 in Neuroscience
Medical Xpress / A genetic brake that forms our muscles: Variant linked to endurance may also raise odds of injury

In an international study, researchers at Lund University in Sweden have identified a gene variant that controls the body's capability to form new blood vessels in muscles—a mechanism that affects physical performance, ...

Feb 18, 2026 in Genetics