Jon Hamilton

A team at Stanford University has reversed memory loss in old mice by flooding their brains with spinal fluid taken from young animals. The finding may hold promise for Alzheimer's research.

The memory of aging mice improved when they received a substance found in the spinal fluid of young animals and young people. The finding suggests a new approach to treating Alzheimer's disease.

Scientists are using MRI scans to understand how mental illness shows up in the bran. But new research raises concerns that existing studies are not reliable because the sample sizes are too small.

Researchers say most brain scan studies are too small to explain complex human traits like intelligence or mental health. Meaningful insights will require studies of thousands of brains, not dozens.

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Dr. Wilbur Lam, a lead investigator assessing COVID-19 diagnostic tests for the U.S. government, about detecting the omicron BA.2 subvariant with rapid tests.

People who sustain a concussion can develop an unusual hearing problem. Their ears work fine, but their brain struggles to process sounds. (Story first aired on All Things Considered on Nov. 3, 2021.)

Medicare officials announced on Thursday that the health insurance program for older Americans will sharply limit coverage of a costly and controversial new Alzheimer's drug.

A study of more than 120,000 brain scans shows rapid growth before age 2 and accelerating decline after age 50. The results may one day help pick up abnormalities in the developing brain.

Scientists are trying to understand PTSD and other human disorders by studying emotion-related brain circuits in animals, which research suggests may have a lot in common with the human brain.

Mild cognitive impairment, a common brain condition, can be an early sign of Alzheimer's disease. But most people don't know the symptoms. And some may mistake it for normal aging.

Mild cognitive impairment, a condition that may be a precursor to Alzheimer's disease, affects more than 12% of people 60 and up. Yet a survey found 82% of Americans know little or nothing about it.

Scientists say that for most children, masks in school aren't a major obstacle to learning or socializing. Students in classrooms find other ways to connect.

Some parents have argued that masks need to come off in schools because it affects kids' speech and social development. Is that really true? Researchers address this question from several angles.

Arts therapies appear to ease brain disorders from Parkinson's to PTSD. Now, artists and scientists have launched an effort to understand how these treatments change the brain.

Tiny, robotic fish powered by human heart cells suggest that scientists are getting closer to their goal of building replacement hearts from living tissue.

The symptoms of Parkinson's disease can vanish briefly in the face of stress or a strong emotion. Now scientists are searching for a treatment based on this phenomenon, a form of the placebo effect.

Scientists have shown that the brain uses multiple checkpoints to make sure we get enough water, but not too much.

It feels simple: When we're thirsty, we drink. But the brain science explaining that simple decision turns out to be very complicated.

Under a proposal announced Tuesday, Medicare would cover the expensive and controversial Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm — but only for those participating in clinical trials.

Scientists have found a cluster of rhythmic brain cells in newborn mice that may explain why spoken languages around the world share a common tempo.