The Best Diet For Brain Health Is Probably Not What You Think

27 June 2026, By C. Cassella

https://www.sciencealert.com/the-best-diet-for-brain-health-is-probably-not-what-you-think

(Creativ Studio Heinemann/Westend61/Getty Images)

Dietary fads come and go, but one particular healthy food plan may be here to stay.

Researchers at Harvard University have now led a study to compare six dietary patterns and their long-term associations with brain health.

While every single one of these diets was associated with health benefits, there was one clear, standout winner.

Spoiler: It was not a Mediterranean-like diet.

Instead, the winner was a lesser-known food plan called DASH, which is short for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.

As the name indicates, this dietary plan was originally designed to help lower blood pressure. Today, it is endorsed by the American Heart Association for those with hypertension or a family history of heart disease.

But it may achieve much more than that.

In recent observational studies, the DASH diet has emerged as a potential way of improving cardiovascular health.

Now, it also shows promise in protecting the aging brain.

Compared to the Mediterranean diet, which places an emphasis on healthy fats, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, while still allowing for low amounts of sugar and alcohol, the DASH diet is not quite as flexible.

It was first developed in the 1990s, and while it also emphasizes fruits, vegetables, nuts, and berries, it requires low-salt intake and low-fat dairy options. Added sugars, red meat, and alcohol are to be limited.

In a long-term study of 159,347 participants, led by Harvard researchers, the DASH diet was consistently associated with the best brain health scores.

Every four years or so for three decades, participants reported their food intake. They were then scored on how well their diets aligned with six broad dietary plans.

The DASH diet emphasizes fruits, vegetables, nuts, and berries, and requires low-salt intake and low-fat dairy options.

 (Creativ Studio Heinemann/  Westend61/ Getty Images)



While every diet examined showed beneficial brain associations, those who strictly adhered to the DASH diet reaped nearly twice as many benefits as those who strictly adhered to other diets.

Participants who adhered most closely to the DASH diet had a 41 percent lower chance of subjective cognitive decline compared to those who were the least faithful to the DASH diet.

The food plans that came in second and third – the healthful plant-based index and the hyperinsulinemia index – were each associated with a 24 percent lower risk of subjective cognitive decline.

Meanwhile, the Planetary Health Index, which is similar to the Mediterranean diet, but with stricter rules on red meat, was associated with a 20 percent lower risk of subjective cognitive decline.

What's more, those who stuck most faithfully to a Mediterranean-like diet plan, called AHEI-2010, had a 16 percent lower risk of subjective cognitive decline.

The DASH diet outperformed all these other options.

Compared with the bottom 10 percent of DASH dieters, the top 10 percent scored 0.76 years younger on objective cognitive aging tests.

These participants were also 1.37 years younger, on average, on working memory tests.

"The DASH diet was consistently associated with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) risk even when measured up to 26 years before… assessments," the international team of authors write, "and had robust protective associations at various ages, particularly in midlife (45–54 years)."

In other words, the more a person sticks to a healthy diet from mid-adulthood, the better the health of their brain as they age.

That's just an association, but it keeps popping up in study after study.

Recently, scientists in the US found that a mix of the Mediterranean and DASH diet, known as the MIND diet, shows neurological perks later in life.

Those who stick mostly closely to the MIND diet show healthier brain tissue when they die in a part of the central nervous system closely involved in memory.

These findings add weight to the idea that food choices may lower our risk of neurological disease, potentially protecting against Alzheimer's or other forms of dementia.

That idea is still speculative and will require larger population studies and randomized controlled trials to confirm.

But diet and dementia seem to be closely linked in observational studies. Processed red meat, for instance, is identified as a potential risk factor for dementia.

The DASH diet may not be the best food plan for everybody, but broad, population-based studies like these can help researchers hone in on which foods may be most important for our overall health.

Lead author of the current study, Harvard epidemiologist Kjetil Bjornevik, told Everyday Health that if someone wants to improve the healthiness of their diet, they should make slow and gradual changes, as those are more likely to stick.

"What was encouraging was the consistency across different dietary patterns, which suggests that there is not just one right approach and that different dietary strategies can have beneficial effects on cognitive health," Bjornevik said.

"More broadly, any dietary pattern that emphasizes vegetables, fish, and whole grains while limiting red and processed meats, fried foods, and sugary beverages aligns with what our findings suggest may be beneficial."

What's good for the heart may be good for the brain as well.

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Slow Breathing Can Rewire Your Brain and Change the Choices You Make

By German Inst. of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, June 28, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/slow-breathing-can-rewire-your-brain-and-change-the-choices-you-make/

Researchers found that controlled breathing may subtly shape how people make decisions. The findings reveal a surprising link between bodily signals, brain activity, and the choices we make. 

Credit: Shutterstock

Extended exhalation increases reward sensitivity and heart rate variability, leading to bolder decision-making through measurable changes in brain activity.

Researchers from the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke (DIfE) and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have shown for the first time that consciously controlling breathing patterns can influence decision-making by affecting both heart and brain activity.

Led by Prof. Soyoung Q Park, the team found that extending the exhalation phase of breathing increases heart rate variability and enhances the brain’s response to rewards, making people more likely to choose bolder options. The findings were published in the journal Neuron.

Fast breathing and an elevated heart rate are often associated with rapid decisions. In these situations, people may become more cautious in an effort to avoid losses, whether they are making a financial choice under pressure, navigating an important workplace discussion, or quickly deciding what to eat. Slower breathing and a calmer cardiovascular state, on the other hand, may encourage a more positive assessment of potential outcomes and greater willingness to take risks.

While decision-making is traditionally viewed as a process that originates in the brain, this study examined how signals from different parts of the body can shape brain activity and influence choices. The research was led by Prof. Soyoung Q Park in collaboration with the Neuroscience Research Center at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, and the German Naval Institute of Maritime Medicine.

Analysis of brain scans obtained using fMRI (representative image).

 Credit: David Ausserhofer/DIfE



“Our decisions are rarely determined solely by external information. Rather, our judgment emerges from the interplay between cognitive processes and our current bodily state. It was previously unknown how the conscious regulation of our body, for example, through targeted breathing, could actively control our decision–making process. We wanted to create a physiological shift using a slow breathing pattern to change the quality of our decisions,” said Soyoung Q Park, head of the Department of Decision Neuroscience and Nutrition at DIfE.

Prof. Soyoung Q Park, Head of the Department of Decision Neuroscience and Nutrition. 

Credit: Michael Reinhardt/DIfE

Testing Slow Breathing During Risk Decisions

The study involved 41 healthy volunteers who completed risk-based decision tasks while following specific breathing instructions in an advanced research environment. Participants either breathed at their normal pace or followed a slower pattern with a prolonged exhalation (2:8 inhale-exhale ratio). During both breathing conditions, they were asked to make a series of decisions involving risk.

At the same time, researchers measured brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging while also tracking breathing, heart function, skin conductance, and pupil responses. Combining these data allowed the team to determine whether longer exhalations not only reduced heart rate but also directly influenced reward-related processing in the brain.

The results showed that extended exhalation increased the likelihood of riskier choices by slowing the heart rate. Importantly, participants became more responsive to potential rewards, while their sensitivity to possible losses did not change. The researchers also observed increased activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the precuneus.

Brain Regions Link Breathing, Heart Function, and Reward Sensitivity

These brain regions are involved in regulating both heart rate variability, which reflects changes in the time between heartbeats, and sensitivity to rewards. “Our study thus underscores the transformative role of breath-based interventions. The interplay between breathing and cardiac dynamics makes the brain more receptive to rewards,” said lead author Wenhao Huang.

Wenhao Huang, PhD student in the Department of Decision Neuroscience and Nutrition. 

Credit: Carolin Schrandt/DIfE



The findings add to growing evidence on body-brain interactions and support neurovisceral models, which suggest that physical states can strongly shape cognitive function. Park said, “Breathing techniques have accompanied humanity for millennia across various religions and cultures. With this study, we provide scientific proof that it is a reliable and targeted method capable of controlling our decisions.”

Because breathing exercises are simple, inexpensive, and easy to learn, they may offer a practical tool for daily self-regulation. They could also have clinical value as a nonpharmacological approach for conditions such as anxiety and depression, which are often linked to disruptions in autonomic regulation and reward processing.

Graphical abstract. 

Credit: DIfE

Future research will examine whether these effects extend to broader patient populations, including people who are overweight. “Since dietary decisions are strongly influenced by reward assessment and physical state, targeted breath regulation could also play a role in consciously perceiving and more effectively managing eating behavior,” Park said.

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NASA Moon Base Could Become Earth’s First Defense Against Alien Microbes

By McGill U., June 27, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/nasa-moon-base-could-become-earths-first-defense-against-alien-microbes/

Scientists say the Moon could serve as Earth’s first biological shield by housing a secure facility for quarantining samples returned from space.

 Credit: Shutterstock

Researchers propose turning a future NASA moon base into a quarantine station that would screen space samples before they ever reach Earth.

A policy paper argues that NASA’s planned moon base should include a biocontainment facility to help protect Earth from potentially hazardous biological contaminants brought back from space.

“Humanity is entering a new era of space exploration, but our planetary protection strategies have not kept pace with the risks associated with returning extraterrestrial samples to Earth,” said paper coauthor Frederick I. Moxley, Director of Strategic Threat Analysis and Research Laboratories, an Idaho-based consultancy.

“The proposed facility would essentially act as a firewall between Earth and any potentially hazardous live organisms that could accompany returning future space missions,” said Moxley, whose coauthor is Anthony Ricciardi, a James McGill Professor of Biology and the Director of the Bieler School of Environment at McGill University.

Samples would stop on the moon

In their paper, published in Ambio, Moxley and Ricciardi argue that material gathered from the moon, Mars or farther destinations should not be sent straight to Earth. Instead, they say extraterrestrial samples should first go to a secure quarantine and research facility on the moon.

Moxley and Ricciardi recommend that all incoming space samples be handled only by advanced robotic systems inside the lunar facility. That approach would reduce the chances of human exposure or an accidental release.

Invasive species offer a warning

Although no extraterrestrial life has been confirmed, Moxley and Ricciardi warn that any unfamiliar form of life entering Earth’s biosphere could have unpredictable ecological effects. They point to Earth’s long history of invasive species as a cautionary example.

“Decades of research on invasive species have demonstrated how an organism introduced to the wrong place at the wrong time can spread uncontrollably with potentially devastating and irreversible long-term impacts on ecosystems,” said Ricciardi, an expert on biological invasions. “This research justifies a strong precautionary approach against introductions of extraterrestrial origin.”

Space missions raise containment stakes

The paper comes as government space agencies and private aerospace companies move more quickly into missions beyond Earth orbit. Moxley and Ricciardi argue that this busier and more competitive space environment makes strict biosafety standards increasingly important.

The study raises concerns about worst-case scenarios, including a spacecraft carrying contaminated material crashing or malfunctioning, or astronauts being exposed to extraterrestrial environments. Moxley and Ricciardi contend that no facility currently on Earth can absolutely guarantee containment, elimination or control of an unknown alien microorganism if an accident occurs.

The moon becomes a barrier

Moxley and Ricciardi conclude that the search for life beyond Earth could become one of humanity’s most important scientific milestones, but that its risks need to be managed before they become emergencies.

“The moon,” they argue, “may become humanity’s first line of biological defense.”

The Life of Earth

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Stress Can Physically Alter Your Blood's Structure, Study Reveals

26 June 2026, ByL. Fall, The Conversation

https://www.sciencealert.com/stress-can-physically-alter-your-bloods-structure-study-reveals

Scanning electron micrograph of red and white human blood cells.

 (Steve Gschmeissner/Science Photo Library/Getty Images)

We have all heard it: "It's just in your head."

When work deadlines pile up, financial worries linger or an unexpected public speaking obligation looms, we often treat anxiety as a purely psychological challenge – something to be overcome with a bit of willpower.

But our bodies don't separate the psychological from the physical. Your brain is not an island, and anxiety does not stay trapped between your ears.

It triggers a rapid cascade of biochemical changes that travel through the bloodstream and affect the body in measurable ways.

New research from my colleagues and I captured this mind-body connection in real time. By putting healthy volunteers through a laboratory stress test, we discovered that acute mental stress acts as a direct chemical catalyst.

Within minutes, it increases the production of highly reactive molecules known as free radicals. These molecules then alter the way blood clots form.

In other words, psychological stress can physically remodel your blood, making it more prone to clotting.

Scientists have known for decades that chronic stress is bad for the heart. Large population studies have repeatedly identified emotional stress as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. What has been less clear is exactly how an emotion translates into a biological change that could increase cardiovascular risk.

When we experience psychological stress, the body's finely balanced haemostasis – the system which keeps blood flowing normally while remaining ready to prevent bleeding when needed – becomes disrupted. The blood moves into what scientists call a hypercoagulable state, meaning it becomes more likely to clot.

But the mechanism behind this process has remained a subject of scientific debate.

Some experts suggested that stress activates the immune system, causing widespread inflammation. Others proposed that stress causes blood to become more concentrated as blood pressure rises. That's an idea known as the haemoconcentration hypothesis.

My colleagues and I suspected something different, that the true instigator was oxidative stress. This is an explosion of free radicals triggered by the body's fundamental stress response acting as an upstream master switch that directly changes the blood's structural properties.

Putting stress to the test

To investigate this idea, we conducted a randomised controlled crossover study involving eight healthy young men between the ages of 18 and 30.

That may seem like a surprisingly small group, but experiments that examine biological changes in real people under tightly controlled laboratory conditions are complex, labour-intensive and expensive.

Rather than looking for broad population trends, studies like this are designed to uncover the underlying mechanisms at work inside the body.

Stress increases the production of highly reactive molecules known as free radicals. These molecules then alter the way blood clots form.

 (Science Photo Library/Canva)



Each participant visited our laboratory twice, one week apart. During one visit they sat quietly and rested. During the other, they completed the Trier social stress test, the gold standard in research for inducing acute psychological stress. The order in which they did the visits was completely random.

The test is deliberately uncomfortable because it mirrors everyday social pressures. Participants were given five minutes to prepare a speech before delivering it to a camera and a panel of expressionless judges. Just before they began speaking, their notes were taken away.

Immediately afterwards, they were asked to complete a mental arithmetic challenge, counting backwards from 2003 in intervals of 17. Whenever they made a mistake, they had to start again.

We collected blood samples immediately before and after both sessions. To measure free radicals, we used a highly sensitive technique called electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. We also analysed the structure of blood clots as they formed, allowing us to examine how stress was affecting blood at a microscopic level.

Biological changes

The results were stark. During the quiet resting session, participants' blood chemistry remained stable. After the stress test, however, two things happened at the same time: free radical levels increased and the structure of blood clots completely transformed.

We observed a rise in the ascorbate free radical, our marker of oxidative stress, indicating that emotional stress rapidly increased oxidative stress within the body.

At the same time, the forming blood clots became larger, denser and more tightly packed with fibrin, which are the protein fibres that provide a clot's structural framework. We also found evidence that stress activated part of the body's coagulation system known as the intrinsic pathway.

Perhaps just as importantly, we found no evidence that stress changed blood viscosity or thickness. This challenges the idea that stress primarily works by concentrating the blood.

Instead, our findings suggest that stress alters the quality and architecture of the clot itself. This provides new evidence that even brief periods of psychological stress can trigger rapid biological changes associated with increased clotting potential.

Of course, our study does not mean that a stressful presentation or difficult day at work will immediately cause a heart attack or stroke. Cardiovascular disease is far more complex than that.

Our findings provide important clues about how psychological stress affects the body, but they should be interpreted with appropriate caution. Because the study involved only eight healthy young men, larger studies involving women, older adults and people with cardiovascular disease will be needed to determine how widely the findings apply.

The findings may also point towards new approaches for reducing cardiovascular risk. Rather than focusing solely on the psychological experience of stress, future research could explore whether targeting the underlying biochemical pathways can help protect the cardiovascular system from some of stress's physical effects.

The Life of Earth

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This Sodium Battery From China Matched Tesla in a Surprising Head-to-Head Test

By Cell Press, June 26, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/this-sodium-battery-from-china-matched-tesla-in-a-surprising-head-to-head-test/

A new study found that a commercial sodium-ion battery from China rivals Tesla’s batteries in manufacturing quality and several key performance benchmarks.

With improvements to cold-weather charging and energy density, sodium-ion batteries could become a more affordable alternative for electric vehicles and grid-scale energy storage.

Sodium-Ion Battery Shows Tesla-Like Quality in New Study

A commercially available sodium-ion battery already being used in cars and large-scale energy storage systems in China has achieved manufacturing quality and performance levels comparable to Tesla’s lithium-ion batteries, according to research published in the Cell Press journal Cell Reports Physical Science.

The findings suggest sodium-ion technology is advancing faster than many expected. Although the battery still needs improvements in cold-weather charging and energy density, researchers believe it could become a lower-cost alternative for future electric vehicles by replacing lithium with sodium, an abundant and widely available material.

“The combination of good uniformity, high power capability, and strong low‑temperature performance makes these cells attractive for stationary storage, grid services, and shorter‑range or commercial vehicles where potential lower cost and resource availability matter more than maximum driving range,” says Moritz Schütte, a battery researcher at RWTH Aachen University in Germany.

Comparing Sodium-Ion Batteries to Tesla Cells

To evaluate how Hina’s sodium-ion batteries stack up against Tesla’s more advanced lithium-ion cells, Schütte and his colleagues analyzed 120 battery cells using a non-destructive method known as impedance spectroscopy to measure manufacturing consistency.

The team also tested each battery under realistic operating conditions, measuring power and energy performance across a range of charging currents and temperatures from −20 °C to 45 °C. X-ray imaging allowed the researchers to examine the batteries’ internal structures before they disassembled the cells to study electrode dimensions, material composition, and microscopic features.

Their analysis revealed a sophisticated design that includes a tabless, double-aluminum current collector. This layout lowers electrical resistance, promotes more even temperature distribution, and closely resembles the architecture used in current Tesla batteries.

“We were positively surprised by how uniform the cells are,” says Schütte.

Strengths and Remaining Challenges

Despite its impressive performance, the sodium-ion battery still falls short of the best lithium-ion batteries in several important areas. The researchers found that while the battery delivers better high-power performance than expected for an early commercial sodium-ion product, charging at low temperatures remains a significant challenge.

“The high-power performance was better than one might expect from an early commercial sodium-ion product,” says Schütte. “However, for applications that require frequent charging at low ambient temperatures, appropriate thermal management or operating strategies will be important because low-temperature charging remains a clear weakness.”

The team also detected unexpectedly high and uneven concentrations of copper in parts of the battery’s cathode.

According to Schütte, this “raises interesting questions about its role in performance and aging,” adding, “It will be exciting to see future sodium-ion technologies that are free of nickel and copper, as well, while achieving competitive energy density.”

Why Sodium Could Become an Important Battery Material

Sodium offers several potential advantages over lithium because it is far more abundant and easier to source worldwide. That could lower raw material costs for battery manufacturers while reducing long-term supply chain concerns.

The study also found that sodium-ion batteries maintain strong performance under heavy loads in cold conditions, making them promising candidates for stationary energy storage as well as vehicles operating in colder climates.

“However, today’s commercial sodium-ion cells generally have lower energy density than the best lithium-ion cells, and the technology is less mature overall,” said Schütte.

Next Steps for Sodium-Ion Technology

The researchers now plan to improve how sodium-ion batteries charge at temperatures below 0°C, with the goal of making charging both safer and more efficient in freezing conditions.

Future work will also focus on refining the materials used inside the batteries.

“Advances in hard-carbon anodes and electrolyte formulations may be especially promising,” he said.

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The Terrifying Theory That Consciousness Isn't Human

ThinkLab Science,  5 Jun 2026

Description: What if consciousness was never truly human to begin with?

 For decades, science has treated the mind as a biological machine—a product of neurons, chemistry, and computation. But Nobel Prize-winning physicist Roger Penrose believes there may be something deeper hiding beneath awareness itself.

 In this video, we explore the strange connection between John von Neumann, quantum mechanics, Gödel's incompleteness theorem, the measurement problem, and the controversial Orch-OR theory developed by Penrose and Stuart Hameroff.

 Could consciousness be more than computation? Could the brain be accessing a deeper layer of reality? And if awareness is fundamental to the universe itself, what does that mean for humanity, artificial intelligence, and the nature of existence? 

This is one of the most fascinating and unsettling ideas in modern science. Watch until the end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6p8tGkE_-8

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Younger Generations Are Aging Faster – and It May Be Fueling a Surge in Cancer

By Washington U. School of Medicine in St. Louis, June 25, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/younger-generations-are-aging-faster-and-it-may-be-fueling-a-surge-in-cancer/

By analyzing health data from more than 160,000 people in the U.K. and U.S., researchers found that people born more recently tend to show signs of older biological age than earlier generations at the same chronological age.

 Credit: Shutterstock

Younger generations may be aging biologically faster than those before them, and that shift could help explain rising rates of cancer at younger ages.

For decades, cancer was viewed largely as a disease of older age. Yet around the world, doctors are seeing a troubling shift: more cancers are being diagnosed in people in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and early 50s. Researchers have linked this rise to factors ranging from obesity and diet to environmental exposures, but no single explanation has fully accounted for the trend.

Now, a major new study suggests that a broader process may be unfolding beneath the surface. According to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, younger generations appear to be aging biologically faster than previous generations. Their findings indicate that this accelerated aging may be increasing the risk of developing cancer decades earlier than expected.

The research adds to growing evidence that the body’s biological age, not just the number of birthdays a person has celebrated, may play an important role in determining disease risk.

A Growing Gap Between Biological and Chronological Age

Scientists distinguish between chronological age, which is how long a person has been alive, and biological age, which reflects the condition of the body’s tissues, organs, and systems. Two people of the same chronological age can have very different biological ages depending on genetics, lifestyle, environmental exposures, and other factors.

The new study found that people born more recently tend to show signs of being biologically older than previous generations at the same age. In other words, a 40-year-old today may have a biological profile that appears older than that of a 40-year-old from decades ago.

Researchers believe this widening gap could help explain why early-onset cancers, generally defined as cancers diagnosed before age 55, have become increasingly common.

Published June 22 in Nature Medicine, the study also found that faster biological aging was linked to a greater risk of developing several types of cancer, particularly lung, gastrointestinal, and uterine cancers.

“Our ultimate goal is to decode how modern environments become biologically embedded to drive cancer risk, transforming prevention from broad recommendations to personalized interventions,” said Yin Cao, ScD, a molecular epidemiologist and associate professor of surgery and medicine at WashU Medicine. “This brings us closer to identifying risk earlier and developing prevention strategies that are tailored to an individual’s biology.”

Looking Beyond Individual Risk Factors

For years, scientists have searched for specific causes behind the rise in cancer among younger adults. Obesity, poor diet, alcohol use, sedentary lifestyles, metabolic disorders, and other factors have all been implicated.

While each may contribute, their individual effects are often relatively small. Increasingly, researchers suspect that the combined impact of multiple exposures over time may be more important than any single risk factor.

That idea has led scientists to focus on biological aging itself. Rather than studying one exposure at a time, biological aging can capture the cumulative effects of many influences acting across a person’s lifetime.

Acelerated biological aging has also been associated with heart disease, diabetes, cognitive decline, and other chronic conditions, suggesting it may serve as a broad indicator of long-term health.

Tracking Aging Across the Entire Body

To investigate the connection, Cao and colleagues analyzed health data from more than 154,000 participants in the UK Biobank and more than 10,000 people enrolled in the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) All of Us Research Program.

The researchers measured aging in two ways. First, they evaluated systemic aging, which reflects the body’s overall biological condition. They also examined organ-specific aging to determine whether certain tissues or organ systems were aging faster than others.

The analysis relied on established biological age measurements, including PhenoAge, the Klemera-Doubal Method, and metabolomic age scores. These tools use blood markers and other biological data to estimate how old a person’s body appears biologically.

For organ-specific aging, the researchers analyzed proteins circulating in the blood that are linked to different organ systems. This allowed them to estimate the biological age of tissues throughout the body without invasive procedures.

Younger Generations Show Clear Signs of Accelerated Aging

The results revealed a clear generational pattern.

In the United Kingdom, people born between 1965 and 1974 showed higher levels of systemic aging than those born between 1950 and 1954 when compared at the same chronological age.

The difference was even larger in the United States. Participants born between 1990 and 1999 displayed substantially higher levels of biological aging than those born between 1965 and 1969.

These findings align with other recent research suggesting that younger generations are experiencing higher rates of obesity, metabolic dysfunction, fatty liver disease, and other conditions traditionally associated with aging.

Although the study cannot determine exactly why this is happening, researchers suspect that changes in diet, physical activity, sleep patterns, environmental exposures, stress, and other aspects of modern life may all contribute.

Faster Aging Was Linked to Higher Cancer Risk

The study found that greater systemic aging was associated with an 8% increase in the risk of early-onset solid cancers.

Participants with the highest levels of biological aging faced a 15% greater risk of developing early-onset solid cancers than those with the lowest levels.

Importantly, these associations remained even after researchers accounted for inherited genetic cancer risk and genetic factors related to accelerated aging.

The findings suggest that biological aging may provide information about cancer risk that cannot be explained by genetics alone.

Some Organs May Matter More Than Others

The study also uncovered intriguing links between specific organ systems and certain cancers.

People whose immune systems appeared biologically older than expected were more likely to develop early-onset lung cancer. Meanwhile, accelerated aging in adipose (fat) tissue was associated with a higher risk of early-onset colorectal cancer.

“If we can identify younger people with the highest cancer risk when they are still healthy, we can focus on prevention and early-detection strategies for the individuals who will benefit most from early interventions,” Cao said.

A New Way to Think About Cancer Prevention

The findings do not mean that accelerated aging directly causes cancer, nor do they prove why younger generations appear to be aging faster. However, they point toward a promising new framework for understanding one of the most puzzling trends in modern medicine.

Instead of focusing solely on individual risk factors, researchers may be able to monitor how the body responds to those factors collectively through biological aging measures.

In the future, blood tests that estimate biological age could potentially help identify people whose cancer risk is rising long before symptoms appear. Such tools might allow doctors to recommend earlier screenings, lifestyle interventions, or other preventive measures tailored to an individual’s biology.

“Right now, we don’t have a definitive answer to what’s driving the rise of early-onset cancers around the world, but studies like this are helping us piece together the bigger picture, showing that cancer may be influenced not just by changes inside individual cells, but by wider changes happening across the body as a whole,” said David Scott, PhD, director of Cancer Grand Challenges.

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Scientists Discover How the Gut May Trigger Multiple Sclerosis

By Keio U. Global Research Inst., June 25, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-discover-how-the-gut-may-trigger-multiple-sclerosis/

Researchers identified gut-derived cells involved in antigen presentation as a key trigger of autoimmune inflammation in the nervous system. 

Credit: Shutterstock



Scientists have uncovered new evidence that the gut may play a far more active role in multiple sclerosis than previously recognized.

For decades, multiple sclerosis (MS) has been viewed primarily as a disease of the brain and spinal cord. But growing evidence suggests its origins may begin much farther away: in the gut.

Scientists have increasingly linked changes in the gut microbiome to MS, yet exactly how intestinal microbes influence immune cells that attack the central nervous system has remained one of the field’s biggest unanswered questions.

MS is a debilitating autoimmune disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks myelin, the protective sheath surrounding nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord. This damage disrupts communication between neurons, leading to symptoms ranging from numbness and muscle weakness to vision problems and cognitive impairment. While genetic and environmental factors contribute to disease risk, researchers are now uncovering a surprising role for the gut in shaping the immune responses that drive MS.

Gut link comes into focus

A study published in Science Immunology identifies gut immune responses as important early drivers of neuroinflammation. The work was led by Dr. Shohei Suzuki, Assistant Professor, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and Dr. Tomohisa Sujino, Associate Professor, School of Medicine, at Keio University, Japan.

In this study, patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) mouse model of MS exhibited an accumulation of Th17 cells in the small intestine. Intestinal epithelial cells upregulate major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC II) in response to neuroinflammatory signals, enabling direct antigen presentation to CD4+ T cells and generation of pathogenic Th17 cells that home to the central nervous system (CNS). 

Created in BioRender. Suzuki, S. (2026) https://BioRender.com/x6ih9pc.

 Credit: Associate Professor Tomohisa Sujino from Keio University, Japan

“Increasing evidence shows that the gut microbiota influences neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and MS. However, the mechanisms linking gut microbes, intestinal immunity, and brain inflammation remain unclear. We were keen to identify how gut immune responses contribute to neuroinflammatory diseases,” said Dr. Sujino, explaining their motivation for the study.

Intestinal cells present antigens

Dr. Suzuki, Dr. Sujino and colleagues built on earlier evidence that mild intestinal (ileal) inflammation appears in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a mouse model of MS. They then examined whether similar inflammation is also found in people with MS. Using single cell RNA sequencing on intestinal biopsies, the analysis showed that inflammatory Th17 cells accumulate both in the EAE mouse model and in the intestines of patients with MS, pointing to a conserved gut CNS axis that may operate in human disease.

In EAE mice and in patients with MS, intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) showed increased activity in antigen presentation pathways. Epithelial cells in the ileum had especially high expression of major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC II), which presents antigens to CD4+ T cells. When MHC II was selectively deleted in IECs, pathogenic Th17 cell generation and disease severity were reduced.

IECs usually do not present antigens to immune cells. To test whether they could perform this function, Dr. Suzuki, Dr. Sujino, and colleagues carried out co-culture assays. The findings showed that IECs can directly present antigens through an MHC II-dependent process and prime CD4+ T cells in the gut. In those assays, IECs also pushed activated CD4+ T cells toward Th17 polarization. The results made clear that the gut can serve as an important site where pathogenic CD4+ T cells are activated and become pro-inflammatory Th17 cells.

Gut cells reach the spine

To find out whether these Th17 cells directly add to the autoreactive cell population in the CNS, Dr. Suzuki, Dr. Sujino, and colleagues used transgenic mice that express the Kaede protein, which undergoes photoconversion from green to red fluorescence upon exposure to violet light. This system made it possible to precisely follow pathogenic Th17 cells that were induced in the intestinal lamina propria and then moved to the spinal cord, where they drove neuroinflammation.

Together, the study shows that MHC II expressed by IECs plays a critical role in expanding pathogenic Th17 cells that later migrate to the CNS during EAE. The findings provide a cellular mechanism linking gut immune responses to autoimmune neuroinflammatory disease. The work also shows that although systemic circulation allows T cells to move among immune tissues, interactions between epithelial and immune cells in the gut mucosa can strongly influence effector T cell responses in the brain.

“While current therapies for MS often target B cells, our study highlights the gut as an important therapeutic site. Modulating intestinal microbiota or antigen-presenting activity of IECs represents new approaches to treating autoimmune neurological diseases,” explained Dr. Suzuki, emphasizing the therapeutic implications of their findings.

A deeper understanding of immune activity in the gut mucosa could support the development of better treatments for disabling neurological diseases such as MS.

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Humans And Apes Have Laughed The Same Way For Millions of Years, Study Suggests

26 June 2026, ByA. RAMAKRISHNAN, ASSOCIATED PRESS

https://www.sciencealert.com/humans-and-apes-have-laughed-the-same-way-for-millions-of-years-study-suggests

(Fiona Rogers/Stone/Getty Images)

NEW YORK (AP) – Humans and great apes have been giggling in similar ways since branching off the evolutionary tree, a new study suggests.

How do we know this? Researchers tickled 13 captive apes – including gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos – and recorded the results.

The new research reexamined those decades-old recordings and compared them with the newly captured giggles of four young children while they were being tickled and playing at home.

It turns out that the chuckles of humans and great apes follow similar rhythms, with regular timing between their laughs, a uniting thread that likely reflects their ties to a common ancestor, researchers said.

"In a way, we are very similar to other great apes because we've been laughing in a similar way for 15 million years," said study author Chiara De Gregorio, a primatologist at the University of Warwick in England.

Laughter communicates a playful, happy feeling without using words. Many animals can laugh too, but the giggles don't follow human patterns as closely. When researchers tickle rats, for example, they respond with ultrasonic squeaks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtAlb8Loc1c

Scientists trying to uncover how laughter evolved have picked apart animals' facial expressions, but less work has been done on how laughs sound. And compared with apes, human laughter has become faster and more complex.

For one, our laughs sound different based on context – from a polite chuckle among colleagues to a full-bodied guffaw with close friends.

"We are like the masters of laughter, I would say," said De Gregorio, whose findings were published Thursday in the journal Communications Biology.

These giggles evolved to best suit animals' different social lives, said Brittany Florkiewicz, who studies animal communication at Lyon College and had no role in the new research. She said the study's findings make sense, and point to a need for more investigation.

Florkiewicz said she'd like to hear comparable recordings of other animals with playful facial expressions, like dogs, horses and cats. That could tell us more about how laughter evolved, so we can "understand what makes us uniquely human, but also what is similar between humans and other animals."

Studying the origins of laughter may seem corny, but it's one aspect of human communication that can help us understand others – including how we learned to speak. Because sounds don't fossilize, scientists are using the evidence we do have to trace things back, one chuckle at a time.

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Ancient DNA Reveals a Genetic Surprise in The Last Neanderthals

25 June 2026, By J. Cockerill

https://www.sciencealert.com/ancient-dna-reveals-a-genetic-surprise-in-the-last-neanderthals

A Neanderthal skull from Forbes' Quarry, Gibraltar. 

(AquilaGib/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0)

Genetic deterioration may not have been the major cause of Neanderthal extinction, new evidence suggests.

In fact, new genetic analysis shows that some of the last Neanderthals to have lived before the extinction of their lineage were not particularly inbred.

This flies in the face of prevailing theories that suggest genetic deterioration from inbreeding is the main reason our closest relatives disappeared roughly 40,000 years ago.

Evolutionary anthropologist Alba Bossoms Mesa and team have re-examined the genetic remains of 27 Neanderthal individuals, in unprecedented detail.

These Neanderthals were found in seven different locations across the Meuse Basin in Belgium, and two other locations in France.

Map of the studied archaeological sites. For all sites, each cross represents a sample, colored according to the type of genetic data generated. 

(Bossoms Mesa et al., Nature, 2026)

They represent some of the last surviving Neanderthal populations in northwestern Europe, living less than 52,500 years ago.

"The genetic data is new, but the specimens are not," Bossoms Mesa, who is based at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, told ScienceAlert.

Some of the specimens were discovered as early as the 19th century. One of the individuals, named Engis 2, was actually the first Neanderthal specimen discovered (although it wasn't recognised as such until more than a century later).

The most recently discovered specimen, a tooth known as the Walou molar, was excavated in 1997.

"Some specimens were even 'rediscovered' in museum collections after having been misattributed to other species, as was the case for the Trou Magrite femur, identified as Neanderthal in 2015," Bossoms Mesa explained.

Their remains have been in the hands of scientists for decades (if not centuries), but only now has it been possible to retrieve their genetic data at such a high resolution.

And the results don't agree with that major theory of Neanderthal extinction.

"The genomes show no evidence of increasing genetic load or reduced diversity over time, providing little support for the hypothesis that genetic deterioration was the main cause of Neanderthal extinction," Bossoms Mesa told ScienceAlert.

The population genetic model proposed for Neanderthals shows a number of genetically interconnected populations with low rates of inbreeding, late in the Neanderthal timeline. 

(Bossoms Mesa et al., Nature, 2026)



"Our results do not rule out the possibility of demographic vulnerability… but they challenge the idea that Neanderthals disappeared mainly because their genomes steadily deteriorated," she added.

"Instead, late Neanderthals in Belgium and France appear to have been part of a connected, genetically diverse regional population during a period of profound ecological and demographic change."

The study paints a picture of several Neanderthal populations spread across a large geographic area, from Belgium to Croatia, if not further.

Within these populations, the level of inbreeding is low, the new analysis showed, but there was plenty of healthy 'cross-pollination' between groups.

It seems previous interpretations might have been too narrow – the product of the Neanderthal specimens analyzed at the time.

The skull of Engis 2, the first Neanderthal specimen discovered. It was recognized as Neanderthal in 1936, more than a century after its discovery in 1829. 

(Thilo Parg/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0)



"Until now, most high-coverage Neanderthal genomes came from older individuals in eastern Eurasia, particularly from Chagyrskaya and Denisova Caves," Bossoms Mesa explained.

"These genomes showed relatively high levels of inbreeding. However, those populations lived somewhat earlier and at the easternmost known edge of Neanderthal distribution, which may have contributed to their relative isolation."

Previous studies have suggested that geographic isolation might have made Neanderthals more vulnerable to sudden changes, contributing to their demise.

It's also possible that the reasons Neanderthals disappeared might not be exactly the same in every place, but rather a mix of factors stemming from their environment and connections.

This new analysis finds similarly:

"Overall, the study suggests that late Neanderthals in north-western Eurasia were more interconnected and experienced less inbreeding than some of their earlier eastern counterparts," Bossoms Mesa said.

However, an alternate theory to the Neanderthal population crash suggests Neanderthals may never have truly disappeared – and this new study adds another dimension to that line of thinking, too.

Instead, Neanderthals may have 'folded in' to modern human populations, a theory supported by extensive evidence of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals hooking up right across Eurasia for tens of thousands of years.

Neanderthal populations in northwestern Europe are thought to have inhabited the region alongside modern humans for up to 500 generations, giving them ample time to entwine their genetic branches.

Interestingly, the new analysis suggests the flow of genetic material only went one way: Humans 'absorbed' some Neanderthal DNA into their genomes, but maybe not the other way around.

However, the genetic traces that remain may be a reflection of the timing of those interactions – or where they took place.

"We have several examples of early modern humans who had Neanderthal ancestors only a few generations back (effectively Neanderthal great-great-great-grandparents)," Bossoms Mesa pointed out.

"However, we do not yet have a single example of a Neanderthal individual with a recent modern human ancestor in their immediate family tree."

That's something they're going to keep looking for, because understanding this asymmetry could be important to deciphering our shared history.

The birth of modern Man

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Mushroom Behind 'Tiny Human' Visions Lacks Genes For Known Psychedelics

23 June 2026, By D. Nield

https://www.sciencealert.com/mushroom-behind-tiny-human-visions-lacks-genes-for-known-psychedelics

(Luda311/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

If you consumed a wild mushroom and suddenly started seeing tiny people around you, you might reasonably assume it contained a familiar psychedelic.

But that does not appear to be the case with Lanmaoa asiatica, known locally as jian shou qing, a mushroom species sold in markets in Yunnan, southwestern China.

When eaten undercooked, the mushroom can produce vivid visions of miniature people – not unlike Gulliver on his travels to Lilliput.

Yunnan hospitals get dozens of these cases each year.

To try and find out the root cause, University of Utah mycologists Colin Domnauer and Bryn Dentinger sequenced the genomes of 53 mushroom samples from across the wider Lanmaoa genus.

Lanmaoa asiatica mushrooms. (University of Utah)



And despite the reported hallucinations, they found no close matches to genes associated with psilocybin or ibotenic acid, two well-known mushroom hallucinogens whose biosynthetic pathways were specifically examined in the study.

"Biosynthetic gene mining of the L. asiatica genome found no close hits with any genes known in the production of mushroom psychoactive compounds," write the researchers in their published paper.

"This supports our hypothesis of the presence of a novel unidentified metabolite responsible for the unique hallucinogenic properties of L. asiatica."

There's an official name for seeing tiny people: Lilliputian hallucinations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deVIo8oGAGw

Lilliputian hallucinations are not the only side effect of eating undercooked L. asiatica, but they're the most common. Dizziness, auditory hallucinations, and physical sickness have also been reported.

Whatever chemical pathways are causing these effects in the brain, the responsible compound appears to be something scientists have not yet identified.

"This finding corroborates observational and clinical data, which report drastically different psychological and physiological symptoms following L. asiatica intoxication compared with psilocybin or ibotenic acid," write the researchers.

"The phylogeny and genomic data provided in this study may support future drug discovery efforts, as well as research into the evolution and phylogenetic distribution of the potentially important bioactive secondary chemistry within the genus Lanmaoa."

Two new species were identified, including Lanmaoa carbonilivor. (Domnauer & Dentinger, Mycologia, 2026)



The findings from the genome sequencing conducted in this study go beyond merely ruling out the effects of psilocybin or ibotenic acid.

By identifying 1,515 corresponding genes across the selected specimens, the researchers obtained a clearer answer to the question of what defines a mushroom species as part of the genus Lanmaoa.

There are now 17 recognized species in the genus, including four that haven't been identified before, two of which the researchers specifically named here: Lanmaoa fallax and Lanmaoa carbonilivor.

The researchers say the Lanmaoa family and evolutionary tree can now be more fully mapped out, and some existing specimens may need to be reclassified.

Part of the problem in categorizing them before now is that they share many of the same physical characteristics, even if their biological signatures differ.

"As Lanmaoa species are popular globally traded commercial products, frequent misidentification of wild edible mushrooms with potentially poisonous lookalikes is a both well-documented and serious concern for public food safety and medical practitioners," write the researchers.

"That highlights the need for greater taxonomic understanding."

That these mushrooms can produce such a specific psychedelic hallucination is fascinating.

The next question is how it's triggered, and the researchers suggest that once we get that answer, it could tell us much more about the workings of the human psyche.

If you've been following the science, you might be aware of just how much has been discovered about the humble mushroom: its links to disease prevention, its evolutionary innovations, and its role in the planet's ecosystem.

When it comes to the Lanmaoa genus in particular, there's still much more to find.

"This study establishes a comprehensive genomic foundation for Lanmaoa systematics, enabling future research to more robustly explore the evolutionary history and secondary chemistry of the genus," write the researchers.

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Scientists Discover Troubling Link Between Processed Foods and Preschool Behavior

By U. of Toronto, June 23, 2026

https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-discover-troubling-link-between-processed-foods-and-preschool-behavior/

A large Canadian study has uncovered a link between preschoolers’ consumption of ultra-processed foods and later behavioral and emotional challenges.

 Credit: Shutterstock

Early childhood diets higher in ultra-processed foods were associated with more behavioral and emotional challenges two years later.

The preschool years are a critical period for both brain development and the formation of lifelong eating habits. New research led by the University of Toronto suggests that what children eat during this window may be associated with how they feel and behave later in early childhood.

The study found that higher consumption of ultra-processed foods was linked to greater behavioral and emotional difficulties, including anxiety, fearfulness, aggression, and hyperactivity.

“The preschool years are critical for child development, and it’s also when children begin to establish dietary habits,” said Kozeta Miliku, principal investigator on the study and an assistant professor of nutritional sciences in U of T’s Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

“Our findings underscore the need for early-life interventions such as professional advice for parents and caregivers, as well as public health campaigns, nutrition standards for child-care providers and reformulation of some packaged foods,” Miliku said.

Professor Kozeta Miliku. 

Credit: University of Toronto

Early diets shape behavior

Published in JAMA Network Open, the study is the first to use detailed, prospective data to examine ultra-processed food consumption alongside standardized behavioral assessments in young children. It is also among the largest studies to investigate behavior and mental health during early childhood.

Ultra-processed foods are industrial products made mostly from refined ingredients and additives that are not usually found in home kitchens. In Canada, these foods account for almost half of the calories consumed by preschoolers.

The researchers used data from the CHILD Cohort Study, a long-term, population-based study that enrolled pregnant women between 2009 and 2012 and has followed their children from before birth into adolescence at four sites across Canada.

The analysis included dietary information from more than 2,000 children at age three. When the children reached age five, the researchers evaluated their scores using the validated Child Behavior Checklist, a widely used tool for measuring emotional and behavioral well-being in children.

A cohort tracks childhood change

The research team, which included first authors Meaghan Kavanagh (a postdoctoral fellow) and Zheng Hao Chen (a PhD student in Miliku’s lab), found that every 10 percent increase in calories from ultra-processed foods was associated with higher scores for internalizing behaviors (such as anxiety and fearfulness), externalizing behaviors (such as aggression and hyperactivity), and overall behavioral difficulties.

Higher scores reflect more reported behavioral challenges.

Certain foods show stronger links

Some ultra-processed food categories had stronger associations than others. These included drinks sweetened with sugar, artificially sweetened drinks, and foods that are ready to eat or ready to heat, such as French fries or macaroni and cheese.

In statistical models that simulated dietary changes, replacing 10 percent of energy from ultra-processed foods with minimally processed foods, including fruits, vegetables, and other whole foods, was linked to lower behavioral scores.

Miliku, who is also a researcher at U of T’s Joannah & Brian Lawson Centre for Child Nutrition, said the findings suggest that even small dietary shifts may help support healthier development.

“Our findings suggest that even modest shifts toward minimally processed foods, like whole fruits and vegetables, in early childhood may support healthier behavioral and emotional development,” she said.

Small changes may matter

Miliku’s interest in the topic grew out of observations from her own life as a parent.

“As a parent of a toddler, I started noting how often convenience foods appear in children’s diets, sometimes even in places we consider healthy environments,” she said.

A growing body of research has connected ultra-processed foods with higher risks of obesity and cardiometabolic disease in both adults and children. Earlier studies have also suggested links between these foods and poorer behavior and mental health outcomes in adolescents and adults.

“Parents are doing their best and not all families have access to single-ingredient foods, or the tools and time needed to incorporate them into their families’ diets,” said Miliku.

“Ultra-processed foods are widely available, affordable, and convenient,” she added. “It is important to consider how we can gradually increase whole and minimally processed options when possible.”

Miliku said that small steps, such as offering a piece of fruit or replacing a sugary drink with water, may help support children’s emotional and behavioral development over time.

“The goal is to provide evidence that can help families make informed choices,” she said.

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