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Articles on Brain

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Christmas drinks anyone? Why alcohol before bedtime leaves you awake at 3am, desperate for sleep

Here’s what’s going on in your body when you drink alcohol just before bedtime. And if you want to drink at the Christmas party, we have some tips on how to protect your sleep.
Electroconvulsive therapy involves inducing a controlled seizure under anesthesia. Inkoly/iStock via Getty Images Plus

How electroconvulsive therapy heals the brain − new insights into ECT, a stigmatized yet highly effective treatment for depression

Electroconvulsive therapy often evokes inaccurate images of seizing bodies and smoking ears. Better understanding of how it reduces depression symptoms can illuminate new ways to treat mental illness.
Lifestyle changes may be our best hope of delaying dementia or not developing dementia at all. (Shutterstock)

Lifestyle changes can reduce dementia risk by maintaining brain plasticity — but the time to act is now

Lifestyle-related dementia risks are complex, with factors like sleep, exercise, diet and social contact interacting with things like cognitive reserve, neuroplasticity and inflammation in the body.
Exploring the interaction between the heart and the brain, known as the heart-brain axis, has shown how heart function changes due to a concussion. (Shutterstock)

Repeated concussions can alter heart activity and impact the ‘heart-brain’ axis

Concussion doesn’t just affect the brain, but the whole body. The interaction of the ‘heart-brain axis’ means that as the brain works to heal its injury, it puts extra stress on the heart.
New research hints at how psychedelics can trigger rapid, lasting change. wildpixel/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Psychedelics plus psychotherapy can trigger rapid changes in the brain − new research at the level of neurons is untangling how

Change in the brain usually comes with plenty of effort over time. Neuroscientists are working to understand how psychedelic drugs provide a shortcut that seems to rely on existing brain systems.
Deep brain stimulation can alleviate treatment-resistant depression for some patients. PM Images/Digital Vision via Getty Images

Depression recovery can be hard to measure − new research on deep brain stimulation shows how objective biomarkers could help make treatment more precise

Deep brain stimulation can help some people with treatment-resistant depression feel better, but it can be unclear whether a bout of low mood is a relapse or a bad day.
A better understanding of dopamine could lead to better treatments for neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases, among others. Kateryna Kon/Science Photo Library via Getty Images

Dopamine is a brain chemical famously linked to mood and pleasure − but researchers have found multiple types of dopamine neurons with different functions

From dopamine hacking to dopamine detoxes, some people have sought to harness this brain chemical to improve their mood and productivity. But it’s far more complicated than that.
Modifiable risk factors for dementia include high blood pressure, obesity, physical inactivity, diabetes, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption and infrequent social contact. (Shutterstock)

Aging with a healthy brain: How lifestyle changes could help prevent up to 40% of dementia cases

While there is no guarantee of warding off cognitive decline, encouraging people to be physically, mentally and socially active could potentially keep a significant number of dementia cases at bay.

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