Gender Difference News

February 16, 2026

Top Headlines

One in Three People Carry This Brain Parasite but the Body Has a Kill Switch

Feb. 16, 2026 A parasite that may already be hiding in your brain has a shocking survival trick: it can infect the very immune cells sent to destroy it. Yet most people never get sick, and new research from UVA ...

Exercise May Be One of the Most Powerful Treatments for Depression and Anxiety

Feb. 16, 2026 A sweeping review of global research suggests that exercise—especially aerobic activities like running, swimming, and dancing—can be one of the most powerful ways to ease depression and anxiety. ...

AI Uncovers the Hidden Genetic Control Centers Driving Alzheimer’s

Feb. 15, 2026 Scientists have created the most detailed maps yet of how genes control one another inside the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease. Using a powerful new AI-based system called SIGNET, the team uncovered cause-and-effect relationships between ...

Scientists Discover Hidden Brain Cells That Help Heal Spinal Cord Injuries

Feb. 13, 2026 Scientists at Cedars-Sinai have uncovered a surprising repair system in the spinal cord that could open new doors for treating paralysis, stroke, and diseases like multiple sclerosis. They found that special support cells called astrocytes—located ...

Just 5 Weeks of Brain Training May Protect Against Dementia for 20 Years

Feb. 11, 2026 A simple brain-training program that sharpens how quickly older adults process visual information may have a surprisingly powerful long-term payoff. In a major 20-year study of adults 65 and older, those who completed five to six weeks of adaptive ...

Depression May Be the Brain’s Early Warning Sign of Parkinson’s or Dementia

Feb. 11, 2026 Depression in older adults may sometimes signal the early stages of Parkinson’s disease or Lewy body dementia. Researchers found that depression often appears years before diagnosis and remains ...

Everyone Thought Autism Mostly Affected Boys. This Study Says Otherwise

Feb. 10, 2026 Autism has long been thought of as a condition that mostly affects boys, but a massive study from Sweden suggests that idea may be misleading. Tracking nearly 3 million people over decades, researchers found that while boys are diagnosed more often ...

A Massive ADHD Study Reveals What Actually Works

Feb. 10, 2026 A sweeping new review of ADHD treatments—drawing on more than 200 meta-analyses—cuts through years of mixed messaging and hype. To make sense of it all, researchers have launched an interactive, public website that lets people with ADHD and ...

AI Reads Brain MRIs in Seconds and Flags Emergencies

Feb. 10, 2026 Researchers at the University of Michigan have created an AI system that can interpret brain MRI scans in just seconds, accurately identifying a wide range of neurological conditions and determining which cases need urgent care. Trained on hundreds ...

Feb. 9, 2026 A long-term study found that women who closely followed a Mediterranean diet had a much lower risk of stroke. The strongest benefits were seen in women who ate more plant-based foods, fish, and olive oil while cutting back on red meat and saturated ...

Scientists May Have Found the Brain Network Behind Parkinson’s

Feb. 8, 2026 A new international study points to a specific brain network as the core driver of Parkinson’s disease. Scientists found that this network becomes overly connected, disrupting not just movement but also thinking and other bodily functions. When ...

A Hidden Aloe Vera Compound Takes Aim at Alzheimer’s

Feb. 8, 2026 Scientists have uncovered promising clues that compounds found in Aloe vera could play a role in fighting Alzheimer’s disease. Using advanced computer modeling, researchers discovered that beta-sitosterol—a natural plant compound—strongly ...

Latest Headlines

updated 9:30am EST

Brain Inflammation May Be Driving Compulsive Behavior

Feb. 16, 2026 For years, compulsive behaviors have been viewed as bad habits stuck on autopilot. But new research in rats found the opposite: inflammation in a key decision-making brain region actually made ...

Scientists Found a Way to Plant Ideas in Dreams to Boost Creativity

Feb. 15, 2026 Sleeping on a problem might be more powerful than we ever imagined. Neuroscientists at Northwestern University have shown that dreams can actually be nudged in specific directions — and those dream ...

Couples Who Savor Happy Moments Together Have Stronger, Longer-Lasting Relationships

Feb. 14, 2026 Couples who intentionally slow down and soak in their happy moments together may be building a powerful shield for their relationship. Researchers at ...

A Bonobo’s Pretend Tea Party Is Rewriting What We Know About Imagination

Feb. 10, 2026 A bonobo named Kanzi surprised scientists by successfully playing along in pretend tea party experiments, tracking imaginary juice and grapes as if they were real. He consistently pointed to the ...

Scientists Find a Clue to Human Brain Evolution in Finger Length

Feb. 10, 2026 Human evolution has long been tied to growing brain size, and new research suggests prenatal hormones may have played a surprising role. By studying the relative lengths of index and ring fingers — ...

New Research Reveals Humans Could Have as Many as 33 Senses

Feb. 9, 2026 We don’t experience the world through neat, separate senses—everything blends together. Smell, touch, sound, sight, and balance constantly influence one another, shaping how food tastes, objects ...

That Dry, Bitter Taste May Be Waking Up Your Brain

Feb. 7, 2026 New research suggests the astringent sensation caused by flavanols could act as a direct signal to the brain, triggering effects similar to a mild workout for the nervous system. In mouse ...

Menopause Linked to Grey Matter Loss in Key Brain Regions

Feb. 7, 2026 A major study suggests menopause is linked to changes in brain structure, mental health, and sleep. Brain scans revealed grey matter loss in areas tied to memory and emotional regulation, while many ...

Doctors Test Brain Cell Implants to Restore Movement in Parkinson’s

Feb. 6, 2026 Scientists at Keck Medicine of USC are testing an experimental stem cell therapy that aims to restore the brain’s ability to produce dopamine, the chemical whose loss drives Parkinson’s disease. ...

A Hidden Brain Effect of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure

Feb. 6, 2026 New research using rhesus monkeys suggests that the brain’s relationship with alcohol may begin forming long before a person ever takes a drink. Scientists found that exposure to alcohol before ...

Two-Month-Old Babies Are Already Making Sense of the World

Feb. 5, 2026 At just two months old, babies are already organizing the world in their minds. Brain scans revealed distinct patterns as infants looked at pictures of animals, toys, and everyday objects, showing ...

Alzheimer’s Scrambles Memories While the Brain Rests

Feb. 1, 2026 When the brain rests, it usually replays recent experiences to strengthen memory. Scientists found that in Alzheimer’s-like mice, this replay still occurs — but the signals are jumbled and poorly ...

A Simple Blood Test Could Spot Parkinson’s Years Before Symptoms

Jan. 29, 2026 Scientists in Sweden and Norway have uncovered a promising way to spot Parkinson’s disease years—possibly decades—before its most damaging symptoms appear. By detecting subtle biological ...

Why Long COVID Brain Fog Seems So Much Worse in the U.S.

Jan. 28, 2026 A massive international study of more than 3,100 long COVID patients uncovered a striking divide in how brain-related symptoms are reported around the world. In the U.S., the vast majority of ...

This Brain Discovery Is Forcing Scientists to Rethink How Memory Works

Feb. 3, 2026 A new brain imaging study reveals that remembering facts and recalling life events activate nearly identical brain networks. Researchers expected clear differences but instead found strong overlap ...

AI That Talks to Itself Learns Faster and Smarter

Jan. 28, 2026 AI may learn better when it’s allowed to talk to itself. Researchers showed that internal “mumbling,” combined with short-term memory, helps AI adapt to new tasks, switch goals, and handle ...

The Fat You Can’t See Could Be Shrinking Your Brain

Jan. 28, 2026 Where your body stores fat may matter just as much as how much you carry—especially for your brain. Using advanced MRI scans and data from nearly 26,000 people, researchers identified two ...

A Common Parasite in the Brain Is Far More Active Than We Thought

Jan. 27, 2026 A common parasite long thought to lie dormant is actually much more active and complex. Researchers found that Toxoplasma gondii cysts contain multiple parasite subtypes, not just one sleeping form. ...

Middle Age Is Becoming a Breaking Point in the U.S.

Feb. 1, 2026 Middle age is becoming a tougher chapter for many Americans, especially those born in the 1960s and early 1970s. Compared with earlier generations, they report more loneliness and depression, along ...

Obesity and High Blood Pressure May Directly Cause Dementia

Jan. 26, 2026 A new genetic study suggests that obesity and high blood pressure may play a direct role in causing dementia, not just increasing the risk. By analyzing data from large populations in Denmark and the ...

Researchers Tested AI Against 100,000 Humans on Creativity

Jan. 25, 2026 A massive new study comparing more than 100,000 people with today’s most advanced AI systems delivers a surprising result: generative AI can now beat the average human on certain creativity tests. ...

The Hidden Health Impact of Growing Up With ADHD Traits

Jan. 24, 2026 A large, decades-long study suggests that signs of ADHD in childhood may have consequences that extend well beyond school and behavior. Researchers followed nearly 11,000 people from childhood into ...

Scientists Identify Hidden Protein Interaction Driving Parkinson’s Disease

Jan. 20, 2026 Researchers have identified a key molecular interaction that accelerates Parkinson’s disease by damaging the brain’s energy systems. They designed a new treatment that intercepts this harmful ...

New Research Shows Emotional Expressions Work Differently in Autism

Jan. 19, 2026 Researchers found that autistic and non-autistic people move their faces differently when expressing emotions like anger, happiness, and sadness. Autistic participants tended to rely on different ...

The Genetic Advantage That Helps Some People Stay Sharp for Life

Jan. 22, 2026 A new study reveals that super agers over 80 have a distinct genetic edge. They are much less likely to carry the gene most associated with Alzheimer’s risk, even when compared with other healthy ...

Scientists Found Hidden Synapse Hotspots in the Teen Brain

Jan. 16, 2026 Scientists have discovered that the adolescent brain does more than prune old connections. During the teen years, it actively builds dense new clusters of synapses in specific parts of neurons. These ...

MRI Scans Show Exercise Can Make the Brain Look Younger

Jan. 22, 2026 New research suggests that consistent aerobic exercise can help keep your brain biologically younger. Adults who exercised regularly for a year showed brains that appeared nearly a year younger than ...

Patients Tried Everything for Depression Then This Implant Changed Their Lives

Jan. 20, 2026 Researchers report that vagus nerve stimulation helped many people with long-standing, treatment-resistant depression feel better—and stay better—for at least two years. Most participants had ...

Massive Brain Study Reveals Why Memory Loss Can Suddenly Speed Up With Age

Jan. 14, 2026 A massive international brain study has revealed that memory decline with age isn’t driven by a single brain region or gene, but by widespread structural changes across the brain that build up over ...

MIT's New Brain Tool Could Finally Explain Consciousness

Feb. 4, 2026 Scientists still don’t know how the brain turns physical activity into thoughts, feelings, and awareness—but a powerful new tool may help crack the mystery. Researchers at MIT are exploring ...