Most of us know the feeling: maybe it is making a difficult phone call, starting a report you fear will be criticized, or preparing a presentation that’s stressful just to think about. You understand what needs to be done, yet taking that very first step feels surprisingly hard.

When this difficulty becomes severe, it is known medically as avolition. People with avolition are not lazy or unaware: they know what they need to do, but their brain seems unable to push the “go” button.

Avolition is commonly seen in conditions such as depression, schizophrenia, and Parkinson’s disease, and it seriously disrupts a person’s ability to manage daily life and maintain social functions.

In adults receiving cochlear implants, gains in positive affect and reductions in negative affect corresponded with improvements in quality-of-life scores across listening, communication, and participation domains. Strongest statistical associations were observed in social and emotional CIQOL areas, but effect sizes were small.

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Importance The use of patient-reported outcome measures to assess outcomes in adults who use cochlear implants has increased, as highlighted by the inclusion of the Cochlear Implant Quality of Life (CIQOL) instruments in the Minimal Speech Testing Battery, version 3. However, the self-reported nature of these instruments raises questions regarding how psychosocial characteristics impact responses.

Objective To assess whether affect and CIQOL domain scores change over time and whether affect is associated with CIQOL domain scores.

Design, Setting, and Participants Prospective longitudinal cohort study in adult cochlear implant candidates (aged 18–89 years) meeting indications for cochlear implantation based on bilateral moderate to profound hearing loss with aided sentence recognition scores 60% or less between September 19, 2019, and October 8, 2021, in a single tertiary otolaryngology referral center. Patients receiving a second cochlear implant and those without Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores were excluded. Follow-up duration was 1 year. Data analysis was performed between October 15, 2023, and August 5, 2025.

When a house catches on fire, we assume that a smoke alarm inside will serve one purpose and one purpose only: warn the occupants of danger. But imagine if the device could transform into something that could fight the fire as well.

In a new study in Science, a multi-institutional team led by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine has shown in mice that the body’s “pain alarms”―sensory neurons—actually have such a dual function. In the event of a bone fracture, these nerves not only report the trauma, but they also morph into “reconstruction commanders” that actively direct the cellular workforce to rebuild the skeleton.

📄 This JAMA Patient Page describes the types of prostatitis and its risk factors, diagnosis, and treatment.

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Prostatitis involves infection, inflammation, or pain in the prostate gland and affects about 9% of men during their lifetime.

Patients with acute prostatitis typically have fever, chills, pelvic pain, sudden onset of frequent urination, and pain or burning during urination.

📄 Risk Factors, Diagnosis, and Treatment of CP/CPPS

Approximately 267 000 men in the US are diagnosed with CP/CPPS each year. Risk increases after age 50 years. Although other risk factors for CP/CPPS are unclear, men with CP/CPPS are more likely to have chronic pain syndromes such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and irritable bowel syndrome and higher rates of depression, anxiety, and panic disorder than unaffected men.

Pea-size clusters of human cells called brain organoids inspire both hope and fear. Experts are debating how scientists can responsibly use these bits of gray matter.