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Musicians do not demonstrate long-believed advantage in processing sound, large-scale study finds

A large-scale study from the University of Michigan and University of Minnesota finds no evidence for a long-believed association between musical training and enhanced neural processing of sounds at the early stages of auditory processing.

Researchers attempted to recreate several results from past studies and found no evidence of several key findings.

In this latest study, demonstrated no greater ability to process speech in background sounds than non-musicians. Musicians also didn’t have superior abilities to process changes in the pitch of speech.

Brain cells follow an internal rhythm during memory formation and recall, researchers find

A research team from the University Hospital Bonn (UKB), the University of Bonn, and the Medical Center—University of Freiburg has gained new insights into the brain processes involved in encoding and retrieving new memory content. The study is based on measurements of individual nerve cells in people with epilepsy and shows how they follow an internal rhythm. The work has now been published in the journal Nature Communications.

“Similar to members of an orchestra who follow a common beat, the activity of nerve cells appears to be linked to electrical oscillations in the brain, occurring one to ten times per second. The cells prefer to fire at specific times within these , a phenomenon known as theta-phase locking,” says first author and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bonn, Dr. Tim Guth, who recently joined the Cognitive and Translational Neuroscience group at the UKB from the Medical Center—University of Freiburg.

The research team led by Guth and Lukas Kunz found that the interaction between nerve cells and brain waves is active in both the learning and remembering of new information—specifically in the , a central area for . However, in the study on spatial memory, the strength of theta-phase locking of nerve cells during memory formation was independent of whether the were later able to correctly recall the memory content.

David Furman: How Microgravity Accelerates Aging & What It Teaches Us About Longevity | LSD 2025

In this Longevity Summit Dublin 2025 talk, Dr. David Furman (Buck Institute for Research on Aging) reveals how space medicine is becoming a powerful model for studying accelerated aging. From NASA collaborations to organoid experiments in simulated microgravity, Dr. Furman shows how heart, brain, and immune organoids age up to 10 years in just 24 hours — and how this can accelerate drug discovery for neurodegeneration, cardiovascular disease, and immune decline. Learn how microgravity research can predict your biological future and identify interventions to slow or reverse aging.

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction & NASA collaboration.
01:25 Accelerated aging in astronauts.
03:02 Simulating microgravity with organoids.
05:16 Brain, heart & immune system aging signatures.
07:03 Biological age clocks in organoids.
09:22 Parkinson’s, cardiomyopathy & immune dysfunction findings.
11:56 Translating microgravity science into longevity medicine.
13:43 Predicting future aging trajectories.
15:34 Beyond Age – a clinical test for aging projection.
16:17 Closing remarks.

#LongevityScience #AgingResearch #Microgravity #SpaceMedicine #BiologicalAge #LongevitySummit

Rodent study reveals different signaling codes for learned skills and clues about human movement disorders

Among the many wonders of the brain is its ability to master learned movements—a dance step, piano sonata, or tying our shoes—acquired through trial-and-error practice. For decades, neuroscientists have known that these tasks require a cluster of brain areas known as the basal ganglia.

According to a new study led by Harvard researchers in Nature Neuroscience, this so-called “learning machine” speaks in two different codes—one for recently-acquired learned movements and another for innate “natural” behaviors. These surprising findings from may shed light on human movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.

“When we compared the codes across these two behavioral domains, we found that they were very different,” said Bence Ölveczky, professor of organismic and evolutionary biology (OEB).

Under-the-skin electrode allows for real-world epilepsy tracking

New research from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London in partnership with the Mayo Clinic and UNEEG medical, has found that an electronic device placed under the scalp is an effective and feasible means of accurately tracking epilepsy.

In their study, published in Epilepsia, researchers demonstrated that seizures can be tracked in the , giving clinicians access to data that could have a dramatic impact on the way in which is treated in the future.

Tracking over time is challenging and relies upon a person keeping a subjective diary. It is an unreliable format, as people with epilepsy can experience seizures without realizing it, due to impairment of consciousness and memory loss, or might misinterpret several symptoms as seizures when they are not. This is particularly important for those with treatment resistant epilepsy, who have ongoing seizures despite treatment with anti-seizure medication—known to occur in around a third of people with epilepsy.

Scientists Discover “Master Key” Protein for Stronger Memory and Learning

Research led by Rutgers suggests there could be significant new possibilities for treating neurodegenerative diseases and brain injuries.

Researchers have uncovered how a specific protein supports the stability of connections between brain cells, which are essential for learning and memory.

According to the scientists, their findings, published in the journal Science Advances.

More than a simple relay station: Thalamus may guide timing of brain development and plasticity

The brain is known to develop gradually throughout the human lifespan, following a hierarchical pattern. First, it adapts to support basic functions, such as movement and sensory perception, then it moves onto more advanced human abilities, such as decision-making.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and other institutes, led by Principal Investigator Dr. Theodore Satterthwaite, recently carried out a study aimed at better understanding how the , a structure deep within the brain known to be involved in the processing and routing of sensory information, could contribute to the brain’s development over time.

Their findings, published in Nature Neuroscience, suggest that the thalamus is more than a relay station for sensory and motor signals, and also plays a role in regulating the hierarchical pattern and timeline of brain development.

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