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One short note when we publish — short enough to read in a coffee break, considered enough to be worth that time. 30 issues so far.
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- Issue #30··Research
Brain fog: the symptom everyone has and no one can define
It is one of the most reported, least defined symptoms in modern clinical practice. Here is what is actually happening, and what we can do about it.
Read this issue - Issue #29··Research
What Ozempic does to the brain
GLP-1 drugs were designed for diabetes. Their effects on the brain may turn out to matter more than their effects on weight.
Read this issue - Issue #28··Research
The hearing aid that lowers dementia risk
Hearing loss is the single largest modifiable risk factor for dementia. New trial data shows that hearing aids cut cognitive decline by nearly half in high-risk older adults.
Read this issue - Issue #27··Musings
The longevity industry's brain problem
The longevity movement spends remarkable amounts of attention on every organ except the most important one. Here is what is missing.
Read this issue - Issue #26··Neuroscience
The vagus nerve, demystified
Social media has turned the vagus nerve into a magic switch. The actual nerve is more interesting, and more limited, than the hype.
Read this issue - Issue #25··Research
Why dementia rates are rising fastest in Africa
The Global Burden of Disease projections show the steepest dementia growth happening in sub-Saharan Africa. The reasons matter, and so does the response.
Read this issue - Issue #24··Musings
Brain health is a public health issue, not a wellness one
Most brain health content reads like wellness. It should read like public health. The difference matters.
Read this issue - Issue #23··Musings
You Lived Through Your Entire Babyhood and Remember Absolutely None of It
You learned to walk, to talk, to recognise your mother's face. You had experiences. You had feelings. And you remember none of it. Here is the strange neuroscience behind why.
Read this issue - Issue #22··Neuroscience
The neuroscience of grief
Grief feels like physical pain because, in the brain, it largely is. A short look at what happens when we lose someone, and why it takes so long.
Read this issue - Issue #21··Neuroscience
Trauma Is Not Just in Your Head. It Is in Your Brain. Here Is What That Means.
Trauma does not just affect how you feel. It physically changes the structure of your brain. The good news is that those changes are not permanent.
Read this issue - Issue #20··Neuroscience
Why some people remember their dreams (and others don't)
Everyone dreams. Not everyone remembers it. The difference is mostly down to what happens in the few seconds after you wake up.
Read this issue - Issue #19··Neuroscience
Why You Make Terrible Decisions When You Are Hungry, Tired, or Stressed
It is not a character flaw. Your brain has a decision-making budget, and by the time you are hungry, exhausted, or overwhelmed, it is completely overdrawn.
Read this issue - Issue #18··Neuroscience
Why Losing Weight Is Hard: Your Brain Is Working Against You
You are not lazy. You do not lack discipline. When you try to lose weight, your brain launches a biological counter-attack. Here is what is actually happening inside your head.
Read this issue - Issue #17··Research
Screen Time Is Not Just Affecting Your Child's Sleep. It Is Changing Their Brain.
A landmark NIH study scanned the brains of over 11,000 children and found that heavy screen use causes structural changes that show up years before the consequences do.
Read this issue - Issue #16··Musings
Why Your Best Ideas Come in the Shower (Your Brain Is Not Joking)
You have been stuck on a problem for days. Then you step into the shower and the answer just arrives. This is not luck. Your brain planned this.
Read this issue - Issue #15··Neuroscience
Your Gut Has a Mind of Its Own. Here's What That Actually Means
That 'gut feeling' is more real than you think. Scientists have discovered your gut and brain are in constant conversation, and it affects everything.
Read this issue - Issue #14··Neuroscience
The brain has started to publish
AI can now reconstruct what you are hearing, watching, or imagining from a brain scan. Not perfectly. Not without cooperation. But well enough to change neuroscience.
Read this issue - Issue #13··Musings
A very small rebellion
Why scientists tell bad jokes — a short note on humour at the edges of serious work.
Read this issue - Issue #12··Neuroscience
Two ages, one body: the case for thinking in brain years
Calendar age tells you how long you have been alive. Brain age tells you something different — and often more useful.
Read this issue - Issue #11··Research
How stroke accelerates brain ageing — and why it matters for recovery
A longitudinal MRI study shows stroke can accelerate brain ageing by more than three years in just six months — and that pace of change predicts motor recovery.
Read this issue - Issue #10··Musings
Why a Party Lasts Five Minutes but a Monday Morning Lasts Three Weeks
You and your phone agree on exactly nothing when it comes to time. Your brain has its own clock, and it is deeply, personally biased.
Read this issue - Issue #09··Neuroscience
Why the brain consumes 20% of your energy
A look at the metabolic cost of cognition and why the human brain is so expensive to run.
Read this issue - Issue #08··Research
Neuroplasticity after 30: what the data says
Recent longitudinal studies on adult brain adaptation challenge the old idea that cognitive flexibility ends in youth.
Read this issue - Issue #07··Neuroscience
86 billion reasons to stay curious
A short meditation on the scale of the human brain, and what we still do not understand about it.
Read this issue - Issue #06··Neuroscience
The default mode network — what your brain is really doing when you zone out.
Daydreaming feels like doing nothing, but your brain is actually running one of its most powerful systems. Scientists call it the default mode network.
Read this issue - Issue #05··Musings
Your Brain Is Playing a Song Right Now and You Did Not Ask for This
You were just frying plantain. You were not thinking about anything. And now that Afrobeats hook will not leave your head. Science has answers.
Read this issue - Issue #04··Neuroscience
Loneliness Is Not Just Painful. It Is Physically Damaging Your Brain.
A landmark study found that lacking social connection carries the same health risk as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Here's what loneliness actually does to the brain.
Read this issue - Issue #03··Neuroscience
Why Bad Habits Are So Hard to Break (And Good Ones So Hard to Form)
It's not a lack of willpower. Your brain is literally wired to keep doing what it has always done. Here's what's actually going on inside your head.
Read this issue - Issue #02··Neuroscience
Your Brain Washes Itself While You Sleep. Here's Why That Matters.
Every night, your brain runs a biological cleaning cycle that flushes out toxic waste. Miss enough sleep and that waste starts to build up in ways that can last a lifetime.
Read this issue - Issue #01··Neuroscience
One Night of Sleep Can Reveal Your Risk of 130 Diseases. Here's How.
Stanford researchers built an AI that reads a single night of sleep data and predicts your risk of diseases years before any symptoms show up.
Read this issue