Imagine you are a security guard in one of those casino heist movies where your ability to recognize an emerging crime will depend on whether you notice a subtle change on one of the many security monitors arrayed on your desk. That’s a challenge of visual working memory. According to a new study by neuroscientists in The Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at MIT, your ability to quickly spot the anomaly could depend on a theta-frequency brain wave (3–6 Hz) that scans through a region of the cortex that maps your field of view. The findings in animals, published Oct. 20 in Neuron, help to explain how the brain implements visual working memory and why performance ...

About one-third of patients with focal epilepsy, a common form of the neurological disorder, are believed to respond poorly to available therapies. Yet they too may eventually see improvement, if not total relief, from their seizures, a new study shows.  Most people with epilepsy have focal epilepsy, which occurs when nerve cells in a certain brain region send out a sudden, excessive burst of electrical signals. This uncontrolled activity, which is called a focal seizure, can cause problems such as abnormal emotions or feelings and unusual behaviors.  Led by NYU Langone Health researchers, the new study, which was part of the international ...

Scientists at University of California San Diego have developed a new approach to destroying cancer stem cells – hard-to-find cells that help cancers spread, come back after treatment and resist therapy. The new approach, which the researchers tested in colon cancer, leveraged artificial intelligence (AI) to identify treatments that can reprogram cancer stem cells, ultimately triggering them to self-destruct. Because it only targets cancer cells without affecting surrounding tissues, the approach could be a safer and more precise alternative to current therapeutic approaches. The results are published in Cell Reports Medicine. "Cancer stem ...

About The Study: This study characterized trends in the number of physicians participating in the Medicare program from 2013 to 2023 and identified physician- and county-level characteristics associated with program exit. Consistent with previous work, this study found a 6.3% increase in participating physicians, but physicians located in nonmetropolitan counties and full-shortage Health Professional Shortage Area counties were more likely to exit the program. The increased likelihood of Medicare program exits will likely reduce access to care for already underserved communities. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Christopher ...

About The Study: Compared with enhanced usual care, a direct-to-patient digital health intervention increased rates of lung cancer screening. Future research should assess the reach and effectiveness of digital lung cancer screening interventions across diverse populations and health care settings. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, David P. Miller, MD, MS, email dmiller@wakehealth.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jama.2025.17281) Editor’s ...

Ghent, 20 October 2025 – Researchers at VIB and Ghent University have uncovered a key mechanism that protects the skin from harmful inflammation. The findings, published in Immunity, could open new avenues for treating chronic skin diseases and other inflammatory disorders. Our skin is more than just a barrier; it is an active immune organ. When skin cells die in a controlled way, the body usually clears them without issues. But when too many cells die at once or in the wrong way, this process acts like an alarm signal that can trigger conditions such as psoriasis, lupus, or other inflammatory ...

About The Study: In this randomized clinical trial, among adults with long COVID, colchicine did not improve functional capacity, respiratory function, or inflammatory markers. These findings underscore the need to explore alternative therapeutic approaches for long COVID. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Niveditha Devasenapathy, PhD, MBBS, MSc, email ndevasenapathy@georgeinstitute.org.in. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2025.5408) Editor’s Note: Please ...

About The Study: Overall, this study observed a doubling in monthly telehealth medication abortion requests across 18 states post-Dobbs, with most requests occurring before 6 weeks of pregnancy and the highest rates among individuals living further from in-person abortion care. These results build upon the researcher’s findings pre-Dobbs, which also demonstrated increased telehealth medication abortion requests among individuals living further from brick-and-mortar facilities. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Amy K. Willerford, MPH, email amykw@uw.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit ...

Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes paralysis in roughly one million people worldwide, with incident cases rising yearly. Beyond motor and sensory deficits, patients frequently experience muscle atrophy, spasticity, heterotopic ossification, and autonomic dysfunction, all of which severely impair quality of life. Current treatments are rehabilitation-centered; medications, physical therapies, and surgery rarely reverse neural damage. In recent years, epidural electrical stimulation (EES) has emerged as a neurorehabilitation approach. Prior animal and clinical studies suggest that EES, delivered via electrodes implanted ...

CLEVELAND—Many eye banks won’t accept corneas from donors with diabetes, concerned they might be harder to prepare for transplant surgery or are more likely to fail. But a new study led by researchers at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals suggests otherwise. The results, published Oct. 17 in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology, found no significant differences in patients who received corneas from donors with diabetes than from those without the disease one year after the surgery. The implication is that the number of corneas available for transplant worldwide could be ...

PITTSBURGH, October 20, 2025 – A wireless retinal implant can restore central vision in patients with advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to clinical trial results published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. Advanced atrophic AMD, also known as geographic atrophy (GA), is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in older adults, affecting more than 5 million people worldwide.    The international, multi-center trial was co-led by José-Alain Sahel, M.D., director of the UPMC Vision ...

A tiny wireless chip implanted in the back of the eye and a pair of high-tech glasses have partially restored vision to people with an advanced form of age-related macular degeneration. In a clinical trial led by Stanford Medicine researchers and international collaborators, 27 out of 32 participants had regained the ability to read a year after receiving the device.  With digital enhancements enabled by the device, such as zoom and higher contrast, some participants could read with acuity equivalent to 20/42 vision. The results of the trial will be published Oct. 20 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The ...

After being treated with an electronic eye implant paired with augmented-reality glasses, people with sight loss have recovered reading vision, reports a trial involving a UCL (University College London) and Moorfields Eye Hospital clinical researcher. The results of the European clinical trial, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, showed 84% of participants were able to read letters, numbers and words using prosthetic vision through an eye that had previously lost its sight due to the untreatable ...

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) causes progressive vision loss in many elderly people, and no treatment is available for the so-called atrophic form of the disease. A neurostimulation system called Prima, including a subretinal implant, could change all that. The results of a clinical trial involving Inserm, Sorbonne University and CNRS - via the Institut de la vision -, the Hôpital Fondation Adolphe de Rothschild and the Hôpital national des 15-20 show that it partially restored sight in over 80% of participants with AMD, who recovered their ability to read letters, numbers and words. The results are published in the New England journal of medicine. Age-related macular ...

PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State University-led researchers have developed a chip-sized processor and 3D printed antenna arrays that could someday lead to flexible and wearable wireless systems and improved electronic communications in a wide variety of auto, aviation, and space industry applications. Reporting in the journal Nature Communications, the researchers used 3D printing, the processor, and an ink made from copper nanoparticles to create the flexible antenna arrays. “This proof-of-concept prototype paves the way ...

Trains move through the world’s subway stations in a consistent pattern: arriving, stopping, and moving to the next stop—and repeated by other trains throughout the day. A new study by a team of New York University psychology and linguistics researchers finds that our brains work much the same way when processing several words at once—as we routinely do when listening to others speak. The work, which uncovers new ways the brain functions, appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy ...

The shrinking sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is, overall, a disaster. But paradoxically, the melting of the ice can also fuel the engine of the Arctic food chains: algae. Algae are the main food source for life in the sea, but they need nitrogen to grow. And nitrogen is in short supply in the Arctic Ocean. However, a new international study led by the University of Copenhagen indicates therewill probably be more of it in the future than previously thought. This could change the future prospects for marine life in the High North and possibly for the carbon budget. The researchers ...

Alexandria, Va. – October 20, 2025 — As the U.S. confronts a historic healthcare workforce crisis, a new white paper released today calls on federal and state policymakers to modernize outdated laws, regulations, and payment systems in order to harness the full potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in care delivery. Titled “Aging Well with AI: Transforming Care Delivery,” the report was commissioned by HealthFORCE, in collaboration with the American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA) and West Health, and developed by The LINUS Group. It ...

To successfully meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we need significant breakthroughs in clean and efficient energy technologies. Central to this effort is the development of next-generation energy storage systems that can contribute towards our global goal of carbon neutrality. Among many possible candidates, high-energy-density batteries have drawn particular attention, as they are expected to power future electric vehicles, grid-scale renewable energy storage, and other sustainable applications.  Lithium-oxygen (Li-O2) batteries stand out due to their exceptionally ...

DARIEN, IL – Eight finalists will compete in November for the first Sleep Medicine Disruptors Innovation Award from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. The award competition is part of Sleep Medicine Disruptors 2025, which will be held in person in Austin, Texas, and livestreamed Friday and Saturday, Nov. 14 - 15. An expert panel of nine AASM members reviewed and scored 23 entries according to their novelty, practicality, and potential to improve sleep health and sleep care by solving a significant ...

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), an aggressive and often fatal blood cancer, has long resisted a class of drugs called proteasome inhibitors, which work well in multiple myeloma. A new study by University of California San Diego researchers shows why: AML cells activate backup stress-response systems to stay alive when proteasomes are blocked. Proteasomes are cellular machines responsible for breaking down and recycling proteins, allowing cells to stay healthy. By combining proteasome inhibitors with a second drug that disables one of two backup survival pathways, the team was able to kill AML cells more effectively, reduce disease burden and extend ...

Researchers at the University of North Carolina have created microscopic soft robots shaped like flowers that can change shape and behavior in response to their surroundings, just like living organisms do. These tiny “DNA flowers” are made from special crystals formed by combining DNA and inorganic materials. They can reversibly fold and unfold in seconds, making them among the most dynamic materials ever developed on such a small scale.  Each flower’s DNA acts like a tiny computer program, telling it how to move and react to the world around ...

Melbourne researchers have discovered gender-affirming hormone therapy can alter body proteins to match a person’s gender identity, potentially affecting susceptibility to certain health conditions. The research, led by Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) and the University of Melbourne, found that sex-specific blood proteins in transgender women shifted significantly after six months of gender-affirming hormone therapy, resembling those of cisgender women. MCRI Associate Professor Boris Novakovic said remarkably the therapy reduced ...

How do mammals manage to eat in situations that cause anxiety, step into exposed spaces, or slow down when anxiety drives them to keep moving? A new study pinpoints a leptin-sensitive circuit in the lateral hypothalamus that helps to overcome anxiety to perform essential behaviours such as exploring, feeding, and limiting maladaptive hyperactivity. Leptin is a hormone that acts in the brain, regulating energy balance, influencing appetite and eating behaviour. Leptin is sensed by neurons which have leptin receptors. Many of ...

In the right combinations and conditions, two-dimensional materials can host intriguing and potentially valuable quantum phases, like superconductivity and unique forms of magnetism. Why they occur, and how they can be controlled, is of considerable interest among physicists and engineers. Research published in Nature Physics reveals a previously hidden feature that could explain how and why enigmatic quantum phases emerge.  Using a new terahertz (THz) spectroscopic technique, the researchers revealed that tiny stacks of 2D materials, found in research labs around the world, can naturally form what are known as cavities. These cavities confine light and electrons into even ...