Neuroblastoma, a pediatric cancer of the nervous system, remains the leading cause of cancer-related death in young children, particularly when the disease has spread. Despite aggressive treatment regimens that include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy, metastatic neuroblastoma often proves incurable, largely because the cancer can evade or resist standard therapies.

One approach, known as differentiation therapy, attempts to coax immature neuroblastoma cells into developing into mature, noncancerous nerve cells. But current differentiation treatments, such as retinoic acid (RA), are only partially effective: many patients fail to respond, and nearly half of those who do eventually relapse due to resistance.

Now, researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Lund University in Sweden have identified an alternative approach—targeting the antioxidant enzymes PRDX6 and GSTP1—that may sidestep the limitations of RA. The study, “Combined targeting of PRDX6 and GSTP1 as a potential differentiation strategy for neuroblastoma treatment,” published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that dual inhibition of these enzymes not only kills some neuroblastoma cells but also transforms others into healthy, active neurons.

Working long hours may actually change the structure of your brain, according to new research published in Occupational & Environmental Medicine. The study points to alterations in key brain areas responsible for emotional regulation and executive functions like working memory and problem solving.

Researchers believe that chronic overwork could trigger neuroadaptive changes, which might have lasting effects on both cognitive performance and emotional well-being.

The dangers of working too much extend beyond burnout. Long hours have already been linked to higher risks of heart disease, metabolic disorders, and mental health problems. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) reports that overwork contributes to more than 800,000 deaths worldwide each year.

A new study reveals that mitochondrial dysfunction plays a central role in the loss of Purkinje neurons in the cerebellum, contributing to motor impairments in people with multiple sclerosis (MS).

The brain is constantly mapping the external world like a GPS, even when we don’t know about it. This activity comes in the form of tiny electrical signals sent between neurons—specialized cells that communicate with one another to help us think, move, remember and feel. These signals often follow rhythmic patterns known as brain waves, such as slower theta waves and faster gamma waves, which help organize how the brain processes information.

Understanding how individual neurons respond to these rhythms is key to unlocking how the brain functions related to navigation in real time—and how it may be affected in disease.

A new study by Florida Atlantic University and collaborators from Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands, and the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, has uncovered a surprising ability of brain cells in the hippocampus to process and encode and respond to information from multiple brain rhythms at once.