Using a thin tube to pull small blood clots out of the brain did not help stroke patients recover. In a trial of 244 people, 62% who had the procedure recovered well, versus 68% who got medicines alone.
Brain immune cells called microglia pull bags of waste out of nerve cells. They bite off a tiny piece of the nerve cell's long arm and leave the rest intact, seen in lab dishes and in living animal brains.
Medical trials built on invented patient data mostly came from small groups that faked results again and again. Researchers examined 236 such withdrawn trials; a single author accounted for 104 of them.
After menopause, women's blood carries a different mix of proteins, many linked to inflammation and to brain aging. In four groups of older women, totalling 11,925, higher levels of these proteins went with weaker memory and thinking scores.
In fruit flies, a protein that packs DNA tightly inside sperm keeps changing quickly. When scientists swapped in a related fly species' version, the daughter-making sperm packed badly, and the flies fathered mostly sons.
Behavioral activation — a therapy that helps people slowly return to activities they find useful or enjoyable — clearly reduces depression. Researchers pooled 105 trials covering 13,933 patients and found a moderate-to-large benefit lasting up to a year.
After watching a TV show, people recalled events by cause and effect more than by time order. Brain scans showed a memory network switching back on for earlier events that caused later ones.