SEATTLE, WASH.—September 15, 2025—An illusion is when we see and perceive an object that doesn’t match the sensory input that reaches our eyes. In the case of the image below, the sensory input is four Pac Man–like black figures. But what we see or perceive is a white square—i.e., the illusion. In a new study published in Nature Neuroscience, researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, working with teams at the Allen Institute, identified the key neural ...

ANN ARBOR—Dinosaurs had such an immense impact on Earth that their sudden extinction led to wide scale changes in landscapes—including the shape of rivers—and these changes are reflected in the geologic record, according to a University of Michigan study. Scientists have long recognized the stark difference in rock formations from just before dinosaurs went extinct to just after, but chalked it up to sea level rise, coincidence, or other abiotic reasons. But U-M paleontologist Luke Weaver shows that once dinosaurs were extinguished, ...

Researchers at Lund University in Sweden have developed a digital cognitive test for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease that is intended for use in primary care. “This digital test, which patients perform on their own with minimal involvement from healthcare personnel, improves the primary care physician's ability to determine who should be further examined by blood tests for Alzheimer's pathology early in the investigation phase,” says Professor Oskar Hansson, who led the study alongside Pontus Tideman. The study in brief: Clinical memory research // quantitative study, applied research // cross-sectional ...

ANN ARBOR, Mich. –  As the new school year begins, some parents may be feeling more nervous than excited — especially those whose children have different health needs. One in four parents in a new national poll say their school-aged child has a medical or behavioral condition that might require assistance at school. And these parents are more likely to be concerned about their child adjusting to a new school or teacher, dealing with conflict, staying healthy, keeping up with homework and fitting in or making friends, according ...

A new guideline on consent for clinical research that puts participant needs first and will help streamline approvals is published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.250500. “The purpose of this guidance for policy is to present a core set of elements for participant consent documents to be used in clinical research across Canada and to facilitate harmonization of multi-site projects by simplifying the approval process for all those involved,” writes Dr. Holly Longstaff, British Columbia’s Provincial Health Services Authority and the Children’s and Women’s Health ...

Canada’s government and health science sectors should commit to researching the health effects of oil sands tailings, as previous research suggests that air, water, and land contaminations negatively affect local people’s health, authors urge in a CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) commentaryhttps://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.240643. The Alberta oil sands occupy a large area of land, and Indigenous Peoples as well as others have expressed concern about the health impacts of oil sands and tailings ponds. A community-led study showed elevated levels of contaminants in some animal food sources, such as duck and moose, as well as a higher rate of rare cancers in ...

Human historians are ever more vital in the age of AI – especially with the crucial need to capture the emotional and moral complexity behind world events. That’s according to a leading academic Dr Jan Burzlaff, an expert on Nazi Germany from Cornell University, who when tasking ChatGPT to summarize the experiences of Holocaust survivors found the AI tool failed to capture intimate, vital details.  “With the testimony of Luisa D., a seven-year-old Holocaust survivor, AI overlooked heartbreaking details about her mother cutting her own finger to give her dying child drops of blood – ‘the faintest trace of moisture’ – to stay ...

A higher weekly dose of semaglutide (7.2 mg) can significantly improve weight loss and related health outcomes in adults living with obesity, including those with type 2 diabetes (T2D), according to the results of two large-scale, international phase 3 clinical trials. The findings, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology journal, suggest that a higher dose of semaglutide offers a promising new option for people with obesity, including those with T2D, who have not achieved sufficient weight loss with existing treatments.   The STEP UP and STEP UP T2D clinical trials are the first to investigate whether increasing ...

A specialist form of therapy could offer hope for some of the most vulnerable young PTSD sufferers – according to a University of East Anglia study. Researchers investigated the effectiveness of trauma-focused cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for treating children who had been through multiple traumas such as abuse, violence or serious accidents. While this type of therapy is already known to help with PTSD, the new study focused on children who had experienced multiple traumas - a group often considered harder ...

School meals, provided for free by governments around the world, could be used to curb global hunger and promote a sustainable global food system, finds a new study by UCL (University College London) researchers. In a new report, “A Mission-Oriented Approach to School Meals: An opportunity for cross-departmental and multi-sector industrial strategy”, published by UCL Institute of Innovation and Public Purpose in collaboration with the UN World Food Programme, researchers looked at ways governments can use school meals procurement to encourage ...

About The Study: In this randomized clinical trial, home high-intensity aerobic training improved ataxia symptoms, fatigue, and aerobic fitness more than dose-matched home balance training among individuals with cerebellar ataxias, a heterogenous group of disorders characterized by progressive disability due to loss of coordination. Individuals in the aerobic group who continued to train regularly maintained benefits at 1 year. Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Scott Barbuto, MD, PhD, email sb3779@cumc.columbia.edu. To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/ (doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2025.3421) Editor’s ...

Copenhagen, Denmark: Dry eyes can cause significant discomfort, and the symptoms become more common as we age. However, until now, it was unclear what proportion of the population suffered from the condition, with estimates ranging from 5-50%.  In fact, research presented today (Monday) at the 43rd Congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) [1], found that more than half of the general population in the USA and Europe experience dry eyes, yet only 20% of European patients and 17% of US patients were diagnosed, and they can wait years for professional help. Dr Piotr ...

In women with type 2 diabetes (T2D), use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) skin patches is not associated with a higher risk of blood clots or stroke. However, an increased cardiovascular risk was found for oral HRT, according to a large real-world study being presented at this year’s Annual Meeting of The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), Vienna (15-19 Sept). Among the findings are an analysis revealing women with T2D who took the oral form of HRT doubled their risk of developing a pulmonary embolism (PE - when a blood clot blocks an artery in the lung) and faced a 21% increased risk of heart disease compared with ...

It is possible to be “fat but fit”, new research being presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Vienna, Austria (15-19 September) suggests. The study of tens of thousands of people in Denmark found that those with a BMI in the overweight category – and even some of those living with obesity – were no more likely to die during the five years of follow-up than those with a BMI of 22.5-<25.0 kg/m2, which is at the top end of the normal weight range. Individuals with a BMI in the middle and lower parts of the normal ...

Cannabis use is linked to an almost quadrupling in the risk of developing diabetes, according to an analysis of real-world data from over 4 million adults, being presented at this year’s Annual Meeting of The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Vienna, Austria (15-19 Sept). Cannabis use is increasing globally with an estimated 219 million users (4.3% of the global adult population) in 2021, but its long-term metabolic effects remain unknown [1]. While some studies have suggested potential anti-inflammatory or weight management properties, others have raised concerns regarding ...

A new synthesis of global evidence finds that experiencing gestational diabetes during pregnancy is linked with a decline in intellectual function among mothers, and may increase the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. The ongoing systematic review and meta-analysis of 48 observational studies involving over 9 million pregnancies, is being presented at this year’s Annual Meeting of The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), Vienna (15-19 Sept). The authors say that given the increasing prevalence of gestational diabetes ...

Copenhagen, Denmark: Everybody develops presbyopia as they age – a difficulty in focusing on near objects and text – and often have to resort to reading glasses. However, the solution might be as simple as using special eye drops two or three times a day. A retrospective study of 766 patients presented today (Sunday) at the 43rd Congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) [1], found that the majority could read an extra two, three or more lines on the eye chart used for testing near visual acuity (the Jaeger chart) after using specially formulated ...

Copenhagen, Denmark: Patients who have a new type of lens implanted in their eyes during surgery for cataracts or to correct their eyesight have excellent or good vision over distances both near and far, and often no longer need spectacles for reading. Research presented today (Sunday) at the 43rd Congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) [1] evaluated outcomes for around 200 patients in 17 sites in Europe and Asia-Pacific who had surgery to implant the TECNIS PureSEETM, a purely refractive extended depth of field (EDF) presbyopia correction Intraocular Lens (IOL). Presbyopia is the condition that affects ...

Copenhagen, Denmark: Researchers have successfully used artificial intelligence (AI) to predict which patients need treatment to stabilise their corneas and preserve their eyesight, in a study presented today (Sunday) at the 43rd Congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS). [1]   The research focused on people with keratoconus, a visual impairment that generally develops in teenagers and young adults and tends to worsen into adulthood. It affects up to 1 in 350 people. In some cases, the condition can be managed ...

The new class of anti-obesity drugs, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs), is proving remarkably effective at helping individuals lose weight. However, a new population-wide study being presented at this year’s Annual Meeting of The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), Vienna (15-19 Sept) finds that half of adults without diabetes who start taking the weight-loss drug semaglutide in Denmark discontinue treatment within a year. “This level of drop off is concerning because these medications aren’t ...

The relative increase in odds of an individual with diabetes developing severe symptoms of depression – and vice versa – is the same, regardless of where they live, a study of over-50s in 18 countries in Europe that is being presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Vienna, Austria (15-19 September) has found. Individuals with depression are more likely to develop diabetes and vice versa.  In addition, previous research has shown that the strength of this association depends on the quality of diabetes ...

The characteristics of type 2 diabetes vary from patient to patient and it has been proposed that the condition is made up of four subtypes. Now, new research being presented at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Vienna, Austria (15-19 September) shows that smoking increases the risk of the condition, regardless of subtype. The researchers in Sweden, Norway and Finland also found that people with a genetic susceptibility to develop diabetes seem more vulnerable to the adverse effects of smoking. It has previously been suggested that type 2 diabetes (T2D) can be divided into the following subtypes: SIRD (severe ...

Tokyo, Japan – Scientists from Tokyo Metropolitan University have determined the genetic lineage of a now extinct plant population from Nishinoshima, a volcanic island whose frequent eruptions periodically “reset” the vegetation. While they traced the lineage to a nearby island, they discovered distinct genetic quirks due to the rarity of seeds making it there, including a “founder’s effect”. Their findings offer a rare glimpse into the very earliest stages of ecosystem development in an isolated environment.   Nishinoshima, ...

An AI algorithm based only on routine mammogram images plus age can predict a woman’s risk of major cardiovascular disease as well as standard risk assessment methods, finds research published online in the journal Heart. And because it uses existing health infrastructure, routine mammography may offer a cost-effective ’two for one’ effective screening option for women, suggest the researchers. Cardiovascular disease and its risk factors are underrecognised and undertreated in women, and risk prediction algorithms have underperformed in them, point out the researchers. And while newer risk scores perform better in women than in ...

Although Black men die of prostate cancer at twice the rate of the rest of U.S. males, this fact often is not known or considered during appointments with their primary-care clinicians to discuss a common screening test.   The new qualitative study published this week in JAMA Network Open showed that Black men often view their primary-care providers as the gatekeepers to receiving a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test, which is the first step to screening for prostate cancer.  “There is an often-used phrase, ‘Prostate cancer is a cancer one dies with; it’s not a disease you die from,’” ...