Why do certain childhood smells stay so vivid for decades? This study followed one pleasant scent from early life and found that every familiar encounter seemed to keep the memory alive even as the brain quietly handed it from one neural network to another over time
As grocery shelves fill with protein-packed foods and millions of people deliberately eat more protein for healthier aging, scientists are uncovering evidence that cutting back on protein—or even limiting just a few specific amino acids—may switch on many of the same biological programs that calorie restriction has long been known to activate
For six weeks, people with low-fiber diets simply added a blend of more than 30 whole plant ingredients to their usual meals, and by the end their gut microbes had reorganized far more extensively than those of people taking a probiotic or eating bread croutons—despite most other health measures staying much the same
Long before chronic kidney disease forces people onto dialysis, the kidneys’ microscopic filters may already be responding to an unexpected internal cannabinoid signaling network that can either accelerate damage or help tissues recover—yet the deeper scientists look, the less this biological system behaves like the simple on-and-off switch they once imagined
The empty cavity left behind after a stroke began filling with living blood vessels and repair cells, raising an unexpected question about whether damaged brain tissue is as permanently lost as it once seemed
