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Patients in the earliest stages of multiple sclerosis might develop certain symptoms that offer an early clue to the degenerative nerve disease, researchers report.

Depression, constipation, urinary tract infections and sexual problems are all more likely in MS patients five years before their official diagnosis, compared with people who never develop MS, researchers found.

Those c...

New research challenges a long-held notion that human newborns enter the world with brains that are significantly less developed than those of other primates.

Babies are born extremely helpless and with poor muscle control, and human brains grow much larger and more complex than other species following birth, investigators said.

Because of those observations, it’s long been b...

People with epilepsy suffer quicker declines in thinking than people without the brain disorder, particularly if they also have risk factors like high blood pressure or diabetes, a new study finds.

The difference was significant: Over the course of the 14-year study, those with epilepsy experienced a 65% to 70% faster decline in memory and thinking skills.

On top of that, having ris...

Gina Arata had a bright future, wrapping up college and preparing for law school, when a 2001 car wreck left her with lasting brain damage.

After her recovery, Arata wound up taking a job sorting mail, but struggled even in that.

“I couldn’t remember anything,” said Arata, who lives in Modesto with her parents. “My left foot dropped, so I’d trip over things all the time. I...

Doing some squats during commercial breaks or between YouTube videos can help couch potatoes keep their minds sharp, a new study suggests.

Young volunteers who did short sets of squat exercises every now and then while relaxing performed better in brain games than when they simply sat around for hours, researchers report.

Short bursts of exercise might help the brains of people who...

It might seem that surfing the web could cause a person’s mental health to suffer, but a landmark new study has concluded that internet use poses no major threat to people’s psychological well-being.

Researchers compared country-level internet and broadband use to the mental well-being of millions of people in dozens of countries, and came away with no evidence that the internet is ca...

Personal trainers can help people increase their strength and their fitness.

Could a “brain coach” be just as useful in preventing Alzheimer’s’ disease?

A new study suggests that personalized health and lifestyle changes can delay or even prevent memory loss for older adults at high risk of Alzheimer’s or dementia.

People who received personal coaching experienced a ...

TUESDAY, Nov. 28, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Medical imaging for thinking and memory issues happens much later in Black patients than in their white and Hispanic counterparts, new research shows.

A study to be presented Thursday at a meeting of radiologists als...

Whole grains could be the key to Black people protecting their brains against aging and dementia, a new study reports.

Black folks who ate more foods with whole grains appeared to have a slower rate of memory decline than those who ate fewer whole grains, according to findings published Nov. 23 in the journal Neurology.

Among Black people, those who ate the most whole grain...

People with long COVID exhibit brain changes that are different from the brains of fully recovered COVID-19 patients, a new brain scan study reports.

COVID-19 induced a specific pattern of microscopic structural changes in various brain regions of people with long COVID, researchers will report at the upcoming annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

“To...

TUESDAY, Nov. 21, 2023 (HealthDay News) — A year after suffering a concussion, teens, especially boys, are more likely than their peers to think about, plan and even attempt suicide, new research finds.

With more concussions, the risk grows. 

Teen boys who reported two or more concussions in the past year were two times more likely to report a suicide attempt than those who h...

Shrinkage of one of the brain's key memory centers appears to herald thinking declines, a new study finds.

The region in question is the hippocampus, a two-sided structure located roughly above each ear and embedded deep within the brain's temporal lobe. It's long been known to play a crucial role in the storage and transference of short- and long-term memory.

The new research was ...

An experimental device that isolates blood flow to the brain has the potential to revolutionize brain research.

The device redirects the brain’s blood supply through a pump that maintains or adjusts a range of variables necessary to maintain the organ, including blood pressure, temperature, oxygenation and nutrients, researchers report.

When tested on a pig brain, the device maint...

A seizure doesn’t always look like what you see in the movies, but a new survey finds most Americans don't know what the more subtle signs of seizures are.

“Anything that interrupts your brain’s circuit can cause seizures, from tumors, infections and strokes to high or low blood sugar, or glucose levels, to inherited genetic features. And different types of seizures can present with...

The ancient art of tai chi, plus a modern twist, may help older adults reverse mild declines in brain power, a new clinical trial reveals. 

Researchers found that tai chi classes helped older adults improve their subtle problems with cognition (memory and thinking skills). It also helped them with a fundamental multitasking skill: walking while your attention is elsewhere.

But ...

You might be talking to a real person while on Zoom, but it's just not the same to your brain as a face-to-face conversation.

New research using sophisticated imaging tools found that the brain activity of people engaged in conversation looks dif...

Millions of older Americans may be unaware they have memory and thinking impairments -- mostly because their doctors aren't diagnosing them, new research suggests.

After analyzing Medicare data covering 40 million older Americans, researchers found that only a small percentage of expected cases of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) were actually diagnosed. The upshot was that more t...

A variety of risks can make it more likely that someone develops Alzheimer's disease or other dementias.

Now you can add neighborhood environment to that list. A new study finds low income levels and a lack of green spaces are among the factors that can harm brain health.

“Social determinants of health have a major impact on cognition, as well as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular...

Mid-life isn't too late to make a dietary change to preserve brain health.

Women who started following the diet known as DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) to lower their blood pressure were about 17% less likely to report memory loss and other signs of mental decline decades later, a new study re...

The party drug ketamine has gotten a lot of notice for its potential to help people with severe and persistent depression who haven't responded to other treatments.

But a new study has discovered the drug's effect may be in the heads of patients who take it.

Researchers from Stanford Medicine administered either ketamine or a placebo to 40 patients with depression who were already g...

A new guideline from four leading medical organizations should help doctors determine if someone is brain dead.

“Until now, there have been two separate guidelines for determining brain death, one for adults and one for children,” said author Dr. Matthew Kirschen, a critical care physician at the Childr...

A targeted treatment has had unprecedented success in shrinking a rare brain tumor, according to clinical trial results.

These tumors are papillary craniopharyngiomas (PCPs), and the drug combo is called vemurafenib/cobimetinib.

Each of 15 patients who received one or more cycles of targeted therapy responded to treatment, with an average 91% reduction in tumor size, Mass Gene...

Alzheimer's robs its victims of their memories and there is no cure, but there are things you can do to prevent Alzheimer's disease.

With Alzheimer's, two types of brain proteins, called tau tangles and beta-amyloid plaques, grow out of control. According to Harvard Health, these proteins destroy brain cells and cause