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New research suggests that having a stronger purpose in life (PiL) may promote cognitive resilience among middle-aged adults. Cognitive resilience refers to the capacity of the brain to cope with stressors, injuries and pathology, and resist the development of symptoms or disabilities. Furthermore, having a purposeful life implies changes in the organization of the brain with one specific brain network, the dorsal Default Mode Network, showing greater functional connections within its components and with other brain areas. This may represent a neuroprotection mechanism that ultimately ensures better cognitive function into old age.

Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil have shown for the first time that gestational obesity associated with infection by Zika virus influences the placenta’s antiviral response, weakening the organ’s capacity to attack the pathogen and protect the fetus.

Quebec scientists have succeeded in isolating infectious particles of the SARS-CoV-2 virus from air samples collected from hospital rooms of COVID-19 patients and kept frozen for more than a year, a new study shows.

Functional movement/conversion disorder (FMD), part of the spectrum of Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), is a neuropsychiatric condition marked by a range of neurological symptoms, including tremors, muscular spasms and cognitive difficulties. Despite being the second-most common cause of referrals to neurology outpatient clinics after headache, scientists have struggled to pin down the disorder’s root cause. Female sex and a history of childhood trauma are factors associated with higher risk of developing FMD, but it’s been unclear why.

The skin is an appealing route for drug delivery because it allows drugs to go directly to the site where they’re needed, which could be useful for wound healing, pain relief, or other medical and cosmetic applications. However, delivering drugs through the skin is difficult because the tough outer layer of the skin prevents most small molecules from passing through it.

UC Davis Health researchers have dosed the second participant in their clinical trial looking to identify a potential cure for HIV utilizing CAR T-cell therapy. The novel study uses immunotherapy. It involves taking a patient’s own white blood cells, called T-cells, and modifying them so they can identify and target HIV cells to control the virus without medication.

The blood–brain barrier (BBB) is a stringent, nearly impenetrable layer of cells that guards the brain, protecting the vital organ from hazards in the bloodstream such as toxins or bacteria and allowing only a very limited set of small molecules, such as nutrients, to pass through. This layer of protection, however, makes it difficult for researchers to study the brain and to design drugs that can treat brain disorders.

As autism diagnoses become increasingly common, health officials have wondered how many U.S. kids have relatively mild symptoms and how many have more serious symptoms, such as very low IQ and inability to speak.

Surgery to relieve leg pain and disability in some people with sciatica may be better than other non-surgical treatments, but the benefits are short-lived, lasting only up to 12 months, finds an analysis of the latest evidence published by The BMJ today.

Black adults with heart failure (HF) are more likely to die than white adults with the same condition. A new study published today in JAMA Cardiology that used the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines—Heart Failure registry data to examine quality and outcomes at hospitals treating high proportions of Black patients with HF found that care is equitable, although areas for improvement remain to examine quality and outcomes at hospitals treating high proportions of Black patients.