Stories by Diana Kwon

The universal marker of aging is not always a one-way process

Some researchers suspect these bacterial ancestors living within our cells may contribute to a wide range of neurological and psychiatric disorders

Hopes are high for a class of drug that could treat neurodegenerative conditions—but a recent clinical trial has brought the field up short

Hopes were high for drugs designed to lower levels of a mutant protein, but development has stalled

People often limit their creativity by continually adding new features to a design rather than removing existing ones

An assessment of games before and during the pandemic suggests that teams play better on their own turf even without crowd support

Researchers demonstrate that during REM sleep, people can hear—and respond to—simple questions such as “What is eight minus six?”

A survey of more than 30,000 households in developing countries shows increased food insecurity

Noninvasive electrical zaps, tuned specifically to individual brain-activity patterns, appear to reduce checking, hoarding and other compulsions for up to three months

Making predictions up to several days in advance may help with care

A mysterious condition once dismissed as hysteria is challenging the divide between neurology and psychiatry

A pushback has arisen to seasonal clock changes that affect mood, sleep and general well-being

A noninvasive device designed to rewire brain circuits reduced symptoms of tinnitus in a large, exploratory clinical trial

Blood clots and inflammation may underlie many of these complications

The goal is to identify the best means of encouraging individuals to change the way they live. Young people may need more convincing

A mouse study shows immune cells gobbling up the connections between memory-associated neurons

The partial fruit fly “connectome” contains approximately 25,000 neurons and 20 million synapses

An analysis of more than 2,000 languages reveals differences in the way feelings are conceptualized among cultures

A mouse study demonstrates it is possible to separate the substance’s ability to enhance sociability from its addictive potential

Growing evidence from mouse studies suggests that a healthy microbiome might improve poststroke outcomes

A tool that helps to match immediate reward with long-term value motivated people to make better decisions and overcome procrastination 

A protein released from bone is involved in triggering the body’s reaction to stress

Brain cells that tick at regular intervals may coordinate neural activity like the conductor of an orchestra

Five-month-olds may use chuckles to identify information about social interactions