Category: AMBM

  • Sleep strengthens muscle and bone by boosting growth hormone levels.

    Sleep strengthens muscle and bone by boosting growth hormone levels.

    As every bodybuilder knows, a deep, restful sleep boosts levels of growth hormone to build strong muscle and bone and burn fat. And as every teenager should know, they won’t reach their full height potential without adequate growth hormone from a full night’s sleep.

    But why lack of sleep — in particular the early, deep phase called non-REM sleep — lowers levels of growth hormone has been a mystery.

    In a study published in the current issue of the journal Cell, researchers from University of California, Berkeley, dissect the brain circuits that control growth hormone release during sleep and report a novel feedback mechanism in the brain that keeps growth hormone levels finely balanced.

    The findings provide a map for understanding how sleep and hormone regulation interact. The new feedback mechanism could open avenues for treating people with sleep disorders tied to metabolic conditions like diabetes, as well as degenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

    “People know that growth hormone release is tightly related to sleep, but only through drawing blood and checking growth hormone levels during sleep,” said study first author Xinlu Ding, a postdoctoral fellow in UC Berkeley’s Department of Neuroscience and the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute. “We’re actually directly recording neural activity in mice to see what’s going on. We are providing a basic circuit to work on in the future to develop different treatments.”

    Because growth hormone regulates glucose and fat metabolism, insufficient sleep can also worsen risks for obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

    The sleep-wake cycle

    The neurons that orchestrate growth hormone release during the sleep-wake cycle — growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH) neurons and two types of somatostatin neurons — are buried deep in the hypothalamus, an ancient brain hub conserved in all mammals. Once released, growth hormone increases the activity of neurons in the locus coeruleus, an area in the brainstem involved in arousal, attention, cognition and novelty seeking. Dysregulation of locus coeruleus neurons is implicated in numerous psychiatric and neurological disorders.

    “Understanding the neural circuit for growth hormone release could eventually point toward new hormonal therapies to improve sleep quality or restore normal growth hormone balance,” said Daniel Silverman, a UC Berkeley postdoctoral fellow and study co-author. “There are some experimental gene therapies where you target a specific cell type. This circuit could be a novel handle to try to dial back the excitability of the locus coeruleus, which hasn’t been talked about before.”

    The researchers, working in the lab of Yang Dan, a professor of neuroscience and of molecular and cell biology, explored the neuroendocrine circuit by inserting electrodes in the brains of mice and measuring changes in activity after stimulating neurons in the hypothalamus with light. Mice sleep for short periods — several minutes at a time — throughout the day and night, providing many opportunities to study growth hormone changes during sleep-wake cycles.

    Using state-of-the-art circuit tracing, the team found that the two small-peptide hormones that control the release of growth hormone in the brain — GHRH, which promotes release, and somatostatin, which inhibits release — operate differently during REM and non-REM sleep. Somatostatin and GHRH surge during REM sleep to boost growth hormone, but somatostatin decreases and GHRH increases only moderately during non-REM sleep to boost growth hormone.

    Released growth hormone regulates locus coeruleus activity, as a feedback mechanism to help create a homeostatic yin-yang effect. During sleep, growth hormone slowly accumulates to stimulate the locus coeruleus and promote wakefulness, the new study found. But when the locus coeruleus becomes overexcited, it paradoxically promotes sleepiness, as Silverman showed in a study published earlier this year.

    “This suggests that sleep and growth hormone form a tightly balanced system: Too little sleep reduces growth hormone release, and too much growth hormone can in turn push the brain toward wakefulness,” Silverman said. “Sleep drives growth hormone release, and growth hormone feeds back to regulate wakefulness, and this balance is essential for growth, repair and metabolic health.”

    Because growth hormone acts in part through the locus coeruleus, which governs overall brain arousal during wakefulness, a proper balance could have a broader impact on attention and thinking.

    “Growth hormone not only helps you build your muscle and bones and reduce your fat tissue, but may also have cognitive benefits, promoting your overall arousal level when you wake up,” Ding said.

    The work was funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), which until this year supported Dan as an HHMI investigator, and the Pivotal Life Sciences Chancellor’s Chair fund. Dan is the Pivotal Life Sciences Chancellor’s Chair in Neuroscience. Other co-authors of the paper are Peng Zhong, Bing Li, Chenyan Ma, Lihui Lu, Grace Jiang, Zhe Zhang, Xiaolin Huang, Xun Tu and Zhiyu Melissa Tian of UC Berkeley; and Fuu-Jiun Hwang and Jun Ding of Stanford University.

  • Abbott and NACHC launch nationwide Food for Health initiative to make nutritious food a core part of healthcare

    Abbott and NACHC launch nationwide Food for Health initiative to make nutritious food a core part of healthcare

    Abbott (NYSE: ABT) and the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) announced a multi-year “food is medicine” effort – called the NACHC and Abbott Food for Health Initiative – aimed at making healthy, nutritious food a core part of primary healthcare at Community Health Centers (CHCs) across the U.S.

    Studies show good nutrition is essential for health and plays a critical role in disease prevention and treatment, especially for chronic diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease.1 The NACHC-Abbott partnership will include a national certification program designed to help CHCs develop the systems and capacity to advance food for health, along with structured learning, training and knowledge-sharing for CHC staff to build capabilities and expertise in addressing immediate nutrition needs, integrating nutrition into healthcare delivery, and preventing and managing nutrition-related chronic diseases.

    “Since the first health center opened, Community Health Centers – the nation’s largest network of primary care providers – have led the way in addressing food insecurity and integrating nutrition into care delivery,” said Kyu Rhee, MD, MPP, President and CEO, NACHC. “Our collaboration with Abbott builds on that legacy by strengthening Community Health Centers’ capacity to prevent and manage nutrition-related conditions through evidence-based, practical solutions that are designed to improve health outcomes.”

    “We often think about healthcare as what happens in a doctor’s office, but health is also shaped by access to nutritious food and knowledge of the role of food in your health,” said Melissa Brotz, Senior Vice President, Abbott and President of Abbott Fund, the company’s philanthropic foundation. “Food for Health is about bringing those things together – and we’re excited to work with NACHC and Community Health Centers to help make nutrition a core part of how people prevent disease, manage chronic conditions and live healthier.”

    NACHC and Abbott have worked together since 2023 to advance food for health with CHCs. Building on this earlier work, in 2025 NACHC and Abbott assessed CHCs across 37 states to determine what’s working, where gaps exist and what is needed to expand food for health in health centers. This analysis found strong interest in integrating nutrition and care, but fragmented funding, training, data collection and clinical implementation remain key barriers to expanding these efforts across CHCs.

    The NACHC and Abbott Food for Health Initiative was strategically designed to help close these gaps, with a focus on providing CHCs with the support they need to address real-life barriers to nutrition and health in the communities they serve. The framework is made up of three key components:

    • Food for Health Learning Lab, a structured learning program designed to build nutrition literacy and expertise across the CHC workforce, and guide health centers in implementing and measuring food is medicine efforts.
    • Food for Health Community of Practice, a national peer-learning network that will connect health centers to share promising practices, troubleshoot challenges and learn from top experts.
    • Food for Health CORE (Certification of Readiness and Excellence), a voluntary national certification program that will recognize and support CHCs in developing the systems, processes and competencies needed to advance food for health efforts.

    The NACHC and Abbott Food for Health Initiative is a signature program of NACHC’s Center for Nutrition and Health, bringing together public and private partners, CHCs, and other stakeholders. The broader goal of the center is to serve as an innovation hub dedicated to moving food-based clinical care from separate efforts to a coordinated body of programs and policy initiatives that improve health outcomes.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Q: What is “Food is Medicine”?
    A: Food is Medicine is an approach that recognizes the important role nutrition plays in preventing, managing and treating disease. It focuses on connecting people with nutrition support and healthy food as part of their overall healthcare.

    Q: What is chronic disease?
    A: Chronic diseases are long-term health conditions that often require ongoing care and management. Common examples include heart disease, diabetes and obesity.

    Q: Why is nutrition important to preventing chronic disease?
    A: Good nutrition is a foundation of good health and can play an important role in helping prevent and manage chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. Access to nutritious food, combined with healthcare and education, can help people improve their long-term health and well-being.

    Q: How can Food is Medicine help improve health?
    A: Food is Medicine programs connect nutrition and healthcare to help people make healthier choices, manage chronic conditions and improve overall well-being. Through the NACHC and Abbott Food for Health Initiative, Community Health Centers will have additional tools and support to integrate nutrition into patient care.

    Q: What evidence supports the Food Is Medicine approach?
    A: Research suggests Food is Medicine interventions can improve health outcomes and help reduce healthcare utilization and costs.

    About the National Association of Community Health Centers
    NACHC’s mission is to champion Community Health Centers delivering affordable, effective, comprehensive primary care that is community-driven and improves health for all. For more information, visit www.nachc.org.

    About Abbott
    Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 122,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries. Together with our foundation, Abbott Fund, we partner with trusted organizations to build programs that strengthen care, improve access and help families and communities thrive. We’re committed to building a healthier future by inspiring lifelong habits that support well-being and help to prevent chronic disease for generations to come. Connect with us at Abbott.com and on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.

    1 The Role of Nutrition in Chronic Disease (Nutrients, 2023) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9921002/

    SOURCE Abbott

  • 7 Days of Meditation Can Rewire the Brain

    7 Days of Meditation Can Rewire the Brain

    A week of intensive meditation and other mind and body practices may be capable of producing measurable changes far beyond simple relaxation. In a recent study, researchers at the University of California San Diego found that a seven-day retreat was associated with changes in brain activity, blood chemistry, immune signaling, metabolism, and the body’s natural pain control systems.

    The researchers also found signs of increased neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to adapt, reorganize, and form new connections. The findings, published in Communications Biology, offer new clues about how mental practices and conscious experiences may influence physical biology.

    Measuring the Biology of Meditation

    Meditation and related practices have been used in cultures around the world for thousands of years as tools for health and well-being. Scientists, however, are still working to understand exactly what happens inside the brain and body when people engage in these practices.

    The new research was part of a multi-million-dollar initiative supported by the InnerScience Research Fund. According to the researchers, it is the first study to comprehensively measure the biological effects of several mind and body practices delivered together during a short, intensive program.

    “We’ve known for years that practices like meditation can influence health, but what’s striking is that combining multiple mind-body practices into a single retreat produced changes across so many biological systems that we could measure directly in the brain and blood,” said senior study author Hemal H. Patel, Ph.D., professor of anesthesiology at UC San Diego School of Medicine and research career scientist at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System. “This isn’t about just stress relief or relaxation; this is about fundamentally changing how the brain engages with reality and quantifying these changes biologically.”

    Inside the Seven-Day Retreat

    The study involved 20 healthy adults who participated in a 7-day residential program led by neuroscience educator and author Joe Dispenza, D.C. The retreat included daily lectures, approximately 33 hours of guided meditation, and group healing practices.

    Some of those healing activities relied on an “open-label placebo” approach. Unlike a traditional placebo, where participants may not know they are receiving an inactive treatment, people taking part in an open placebo know from the beginning that no active medical ingredient is involved. Researchers have studied this approach because expectations, social interaction, and the experience of participating in a treatment can sometimes produce measurable effects even when no active drug is given.

    Before and after the retreat, scientists examined participants’ brains using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). This type of scanning detects changes in blood flow associated with brain activity, allowing researchers to observe which areas and networks are more or less active.

    Blood samples were also collected so the team could examine changes involving metabolism, immune activity, molecular signaling, and other biological processes.

    Changes From the Brain to the Immune System

    The researchers reported several notable differences following the retreat.

    Brain activity became less pronounced in regions associated with internal mental chatter during meditation. The researchers interpreted this pattern as a sign of more efficient brain function.

    Evidence of increased neuroplasticity also emerged in laboratory experiments. When scientists exposed laboratory-grown neurons to blood plasma collected from participants after the retreat, the neurons developed longer branches and formed more connections. These changes are commonly associated with the ability of nerve cells to communicate and adapt.

    Metabolism changed as well. Cells exposed to plasma collected after the retreat showed increased glycolytic (sugar-burning) metabolism. Glycolysis is one of the main ways cells convert glucose into usable energy, and the researchers said the shift pointed toward a more flexible and adaptable metabolic state.

    The retreat also appeared to activate the body’s own pain control mechanisms. Blood concentrations of endogenous opioids increased after the program. Endogenous opioids are naturally produced chemicals that act on some of the same biological systems targeted by opioid pain medications, helping the body regulate pain without an external drug.

    Researchers also detected changes in immune signaling. Both inflammatory and anti-inflammatory signals increased at the same time, suggesting that the immune system was undergoing a more complicated adaptive response rather than simply becoming more or less active.

    Small RNA molecules and patterns of gene activity in the blood also changed, particularly in biological pathways associated with brain function. Small RNA molecules help control how genes are expressed and can influence the activity of cells throughout the body.

    Mystical Experiences and Brain Connectivity

    Researchers were also interested in the subjective experiences participants had while meditating.

    The volunteers completed the Mystical Experience Questionnaire (MEQ-30), which is designed to measure experiences involving feelings of unity, transcendence, and altered consciousness. Average scores increased significantly, from 2.37 before the retreat to 3.02 afterward.

    People who reported stronger mystical experiences also tended to show greater biological changes. In particular, higher questionnaire scores were associated with increased integration of activity between different regions of the brain.

    That relationship suggests that greater communication across brain networks may be associated with a stronger likelihood of experiencing profound changes in consciousness.

    Possible Implications for Health and Pain

    The findings give researchers a potential biological framework for understanding how non-drug mind and body interventions might support health and well-being.

    Increased neuroplasticity could potentially support processes involved in mental health, learning, emotional regulation, and resilience to stress. Changes in immune activity could also prove important if future research shows that these effects are reliable and clinically meaningful.

    The increase in endogenous opioids is especially interesting for pain research. Because these chemicals are part of the body’s built-in pain-regulating system, the researchers said the combination of practices used during the retreat could eventually have implications for chronic pain management.

    However, the study was conducted in healthy adults rather than patients with diagnosed medical conditions. Controlled clinical trials will therefore be necessary before researchers can determine whether the observed biological changes translate into meaningful treatment benefits.

    The team is particularly interested in studying whether similar retreats could help people living with chronic pain, mood disorders, or conditions involving the immune system.

    What Researchers Still Need to Learn

    Another major unanswered question is which parts of the retreat were responsible for the observed effects.

    Participants experienced several interventions at the same time, including meditation, reconceptualization, and open-label placebo healing. Because those elements were combined, the current study cannot establish how much each individual practice contributed.

    Future research will examine the components separately and in different combinations. Scientists also want to determine how long the biological changes last and whether repeating the interventions can strengthen or maintain them over time.

    “This study shows that our minds and bodies are deeply interconnected — what we believe, how we focus our attention, and the practices we participate in can leave measurable fingerprints on our biology,” said first author Alex Jinich-Diamant, a doctoral student in the Departments of Cognitive Science and Anesthesiology at UC San Diego. “It’s an exciting step toward understanding how conscious experience and physical health are intertwined, and how we might harness that connection to promote well-being in new ways.”

    Story Source: University of California – San Diego.

  • Mindfulness-Based Therapy for Opioid Misuse Offers Massive Return on Investment

    Mindfulness-Based Therapy for Opioid Misuse Offers Massive Return on Investment

    A new economic evaluation from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine has revealed that Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) — an innovative, evidence-based, neuroscience-informed therapy for opioid misuse and chronic pain — provides $12 in cost savings for every dollar spent, between two and six times more cost effective than other addiction treatments such as residential or intensive outpatient treatment. Over the course of a patient’s life, the analysis found that these savings came out to more than $324,000 per patient.

    Each dollar spent on a mindfulness-based opioid misuse treatment could yield $12 in economic benefit

    The results suggest that, if widely implemented, MORE could provide a potent, cost-effective solution for the opioid crisis, which currently costs the U.S. as much as $4 trillion per year in health care, criminal justice and lost productivity costs. The findings are published online in the journal Value in Health.

    “Opioid misuse is a major driver of overdose deaths, hospitalizations, homelessness and economic loss, so substantially reducing opioid misuse could have huge positive consequences for society,” said lead author Eric Garland, PhD, professor of psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine and endowed professor at the Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion. “Our study suggests that MORE could be part of a scalable solution that improves outcomes for patients while also reducing burdens on the health care system and society at large.”

    MORE, developed by Garland, combines a unique sequence of mind-body techniques designed to address addiction, emotional distress and chronic pain at the same time. The intervention teaches mindfulness skills to regulate craving and pain, cognitive reappraisal skills to manage stress and negative emotions, and savoring techniques to help patients reconnect with naturally rewarding experiences.

    “Opioid addiction decreases the brain’s ability to experience natural healthy pleasure, driving increased cravings for the drug,” said Garland. “Our research shows that MORE helps restore this capacity in the brain, reducing cravings and preventing opioid misuse.”

    Previous publications from the MORE research team, based on a randomized clinical trial of 250 adults with chronic pain who were misusing prescribed opioids, found that the treatment reduced opioid misuse by 45% (tripling the effect of standard therapy), led to improvements in pain symptoms and opioid dosing, and strengthened the brain’s responses to positive experiences to reduce cravings. The new study, based on the trial data, sought to put this clinical success into an economic context, asking whether the treatment is cost-effective in addition to being clinically effective.

    The economic analysis found:

    • MORE had a benefit-to-cost ratio of 12-to-1, meaning the intervention was estimated to generate $12 in economic benefit for every $1 spent.
    • This is significantly greater than prior estimates for several other addiction treatment approaches, including comprehensive case management (1.8 to 1), residential treatment (between 2.0 to 1 and 4.8-to-1) and intensive outpatient treatment (5.1-to-1).
    • The lifetime cost savings per patient were $324,489.

    The researchers say the economic benefits of MORE likely stem from reductions across several major categories of harm associated with opioid misuse, including healthcare utilization, criminal justice involvement, lost productivity and overdose mortality.

    “At a relatively low cost, MORE has strong potential to reduce opioid misuse and generate substantial economic benefits for patients, health systems and society,” said Fernando Wilson, PhD, co-author on the study, professor of economics and population health sciences at the University of Utah, and director and endowed chair of the Matheson Center for Health Care Studies. “The cost of implementing MORE is small, and its potential payoff in averting misuse and risk of opioid use disorder is very large.”

    The new study builds on a broader body of evidence supporting the therapy. MORE has now been tested successfully in more than 16 randomized clinical trials involving over 2,500 participants, and has been taught to more than 1,200 clinicians in the United States and internationally. However, the researchers suggest that MORE could have an even larger impact if embedded more widely into health systems, which will require support and investment from healthcare organizations, insurers and policymakers.

    “My hope is that MORE can become a central part of the standard of care,” said Garland, “not only in addiction treatment settings, but also upstream in primary care, where we have a chance to intervene before opioid misuse progresses to more severe addiction.”

    Read the full paper: Economic Evaluation of Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement for the Treatment of Opioid Misuse

    Watch the video: Promising Tool Against Opioid Use Disorder

    The study was funded, in part, by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01DA058621, R01DA056537 and R01DA057631).

    Dr. Garland is Founder of the MORE Science Institute. The authors declare no other competing interests.

  • Different inflammatory processes tied to the same Alzheimer’s disease-related brain shrinkage and memory loss

    Different inflammatory processes tied to the same Alzheimer’s disease-related brain shrinkage and memory loss

    Alzheimer’s disease may look similar from one person to another even when different biological processes are driving the damage, according to a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Irvine.

    The researchers identified two distinct patterns involving inflammation in the brain. One was associated with damage to the brain’s small blood vessels, a marker known as white matter hyperintensities. The other was associated with the buildup of amyloid beta, considered a hallmark protein of Alzheimer’s disease.

    Although the two patterns differed by their connection to inflammatory markers, both were connected to higher levels of a blood marker associated with abnormal tau. They were also connected to shrinkage in brain regions that support memory and, ultimately, to poorer memory performance.

    The findings were published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring. They support the idea that Alzheimer’s is not driven by exactly the same process in every person. Different combinations of inflammation, blood vessel damage, amyloid buildup and other biological problems may produce similar patterns of brain damage and memory loss.

    The findings have potentially profound clinical impacts. They may lead to the design of more targeted therapies and provide one explanation for the failure of clinical trials in Alzheimer’s disease thus far.

    “We keep talking about Alzheimer’s as though it is one disease with one cause, but the biology is much messier than that,” said senior author Michael A. Yassa, PhD, professor and James L. McGaugh Endowed Chair in Neurobiology and Behavior and director of UC Irvine’s Center for the Neurobiology of Learning & Memory. “Different biological problems may push the brain toward the same damaged state. For treatment, the key may be figuring out which processes are doing the most harm in each person and how they interact.”

    Different markers point to different kinds of damage

    The researchers studied 126 adults aged 60 and older who did not have mild cognitive impairment or dementia. The participants were enrolled in Yassa’s NIH-funded Biomarker Exploration in Aging, Cognition, and Neurodegeneration, or BEACoN, study.

    The research team combined blood tests, magnetic resonance imaging, amyloid PET brain scans and memory assessments. The scientists then used a statistical model to understand the pathways that connected these markers to downstream memory loss.

    They focused on two proteins found in blood, YKL-40 and glial fibrillary acidic protein, or GFAP. Both are associated with the activity of support cells in the brain that respond to injury and disease, but the study found that the two markers were linked to different biological patterns. Higher YKL-40 levels were associated with more white matter hyperintensities. These appear as bright spots on MRI scans and often reflect damage caused by disease in the brain’s small blood vessels. Higher GFAP levels, by contrast, were associated with greater amyloid buildup measured with PET imaging.

    “The two markers were signaling different processes or pathways that ultimately connect to the visible signs of Alzheimer’s,” said first author Batool Rizvi, PhD, who conducted the work while a graduate student with Yassa and is now a postdoctoral fellow at UC Davis. “Our results suggest that inflammation in Alzheimer’s is not one single process and that different inflammation mechanisms may act in parallel and converge on the same downstream outcome of cell loss.”

    Different routes, similar outcomes

    Both the small blood vessel damage and amyloid buildup were independently associated with higher levels of phosphorylated tau 217, or p-tau217. This blood marker is commonly used to detect abnormal changes involving tau, another protein central to Alzheimer’s disease.

    Higher p-tau217 levels were associated with thinning of tissue in the medial temporal lobe and with a smaller hippocampus. These brain regions play major roles in learning and memory. Participants with smaller hippocampal volume also performed worse on a memory test that measured how well they retained previously learned information after being presented with new material.

    The results suggest that inflammation connected to blood vessel damage and inflammation connected to amyloid may represent separate biological routes that become associated with a common pattern of tau-related changes and damage in memory systems.

    “This may help explain why a treatment aimed at one target works for some people but has little effect on others,” Yassa said. “A person whose disease is driven largely by vascular injury may need a different treatment from someone whose dominant problem is amyloid-related inflammation. Many people will probably have a mixture of both, along with other processes that we did not measure here.”

    The researchers said that future blood tests could combine several markers to provide a clearer picture of the processes affecting an individual patient. That information could help researchers design better clinical trials and eventually match patients with treatments aimed at the biological drivers most important in their disease.

    “Amyloid and vascular injury should not necessarily be treated as competing explanations,” Rizvi said. “They may be different parts of the disease in different people, or they may occur together. Following these markers over time could help us understand which process becomes active first and which one is most closely tied to cognitive decline.”

    Alzheimer’s may be many biological problems with a common endpoint

    The study reflects a broader view of Alzheimer’s that Yassa described in a 2025 essay in The Transmitter, titled “Everything, everywhere, all at once: Inside the chaos of Alzheimer’s disease.”

    In the essay, Yassa argued that Alzheimer’s may appear to be one disease because several biological problems can eventually produce similar symptoms. Amyloid may be an important driver in some people, while inflammation, blood vessel injury, problems with glucose use or excessive brain activity may play larger roles in others. These processes can also interact with one another. Over time, they may push the brain into a damaged and unstable condition that persists even after the original trigger is reduced.

    The current study provides evidence for one part of that framework by showing that two distinguishable patterns involving inflammation were associated with a common set of downstream brain changes.

    “Alzheimer’s may be less like a single chain of events and more like several roads leading to the same place,” Yassa said. “That makes the disease harder to understand, but it also opens more opportunities for treatment. We need to identify the main biological drivers in each person instead of assuming that everyone should receive the same therapy.”

    Study limitations and next steps

    The researchers cautioned that the study provides a snapshot in time. It cannot determine which changes occurred first or prove that one biological factor caused another. The participants were cognitively unimpaired, and some blood measurements were available in only a subset of the study group. The sample was also predominantly White, which limits how broadly the results can be applied. Larger studies will need to follow more diverse groups of people over time. Future research should examine whether these patterns predict memory decline, whether they change as Alzheimer’s progresses and whether they can be used to select and inform treatments.

    The study was supported by the National Institute on Aging grant R01AG053555.

    About the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning & Memory: Established in 1983 by the UC Regents, with James L. McGaugh as its Founding Director, the CNLM is the first research institute in the world dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of the fundamental brain mechanisms of learning and memory. It is credited with numerous seminal discoveries about how memory works and is recognized as a global leader in the area. Led by Director Michael Yassa, the CNLM is home to more than 120 faculty scientists at UC Irvine and beyond. For more information, visit cnlm.uci.edu.

    About the University of California, Irvine: Founded in 1965, UC Irvine is a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities and is ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News & World Report. The campus has produced five Nobel laureates and is known for its academic achievement, premier research, innovation and anteater mascot. Led by Chancellor Howard Gillman, UC Irvine has more than 36,000 students and offers 224 degree programs. It’s located in one of the world’s safest and most economically vibrant communities and is Orange County’s second-largest employer, contributing $7 billion annually to the local economy and $8 billion statewide. For more on UC Irvine, visit www.uci.edu.

  • For mind and body: Community gathering places may counteract cognitive disability

    For mind and body: Community gathering places may counteract cognitive disability

    Community gathering places, where residents lead group activities, have been promoted across Japan as part of long-term care prevention efforts to extend healthy life expectancy. These often involve exercise and social interaction and are meant to help prevent cognitive decline. However, previous studies have reported inconsistent findings regarding their association with cognitive disability.

    Therefore, a research group, led by Associate Professor Kazuki Uemura at Osaka Metropolitan University’s Graduate School of Rehabilitation Science, investigated whether exercise habits influence the relationship between participation in community gathering places and cognitive disability. The researchers analyzed data from self-administered questionnaires and long-term care insurance records from 3,511 older adults in Habikino City, Osaka Prefecture, who had not been certified as requiring long-term care. After excluding invalid answers, 2,578 were included in the primary analysis. Participants and non-participants in city-supported weekly exercise groups were tracked for four years, and the risk of cognitive disability was examined using survival analysis.

    The study found that among older adults without regular exercise habits, those who participated in community gathering places had approximately half the risk of developing cognitive disability compared with non-participants. In contrast, no significant association was observed among older adults who already exercised regularly.

    “These findings support a growing direction in long-term care prevention policy, which creates opportunities for participation that are accessible to older adults who may find regular exercise difficult,” said Associate Professor Uemura.

    Furthermore, additional analyses focused on physical functional decline revealed similar benefits from community activities. As they are designed to accommodate frail older adults, the physical components provide additional health benefits for those without exercise habits.

    “We hope this evidence will help inform community-based initiatives that support a wide range of older adults and contribute to policies aimed at reducing health inequalities.”

    The findings were published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

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    About OMU 

    Established in Osaka as one of the largest public universities in Japan, Osaka Metropolitan University is committed to shaping the future of society through the “Convergence of Knowledge” and the promotion of world-class research. For more research news, visit https://www.omu.ac.jp/en/ and follow us on social media: X, Instagram, LinkedIn.

  • Dreams aren’t random. The brain is rewriting reality.

    Dreams aren’t random. The brain is rewriting reality.

    Why do some dreams feel so vivid that they seem almost real, while others unfold as confusing fragments that are difficult to remember or understand? New research suggests the answer may depend on a combination of personality, sleep quality, mental habits, and major events unfolding in the outside world.

    A study led by researchers at the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca found that dreams are not simply random collections of images and thoughts. Instead, they appear to be shaped by both individual differences and shared experiences, including major social disruptions such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Thousands of Dream Reports Reveal Hidden Patterns

    The research, published in Communications Psychology, examined more than 3,700 descriptions of dreams and waking experiences from 287 people between the ages of 18 and 70.

    For two weeks, participants recorded their dreams and daily experiences. The researchers also collected information about each person’s sleeping habits, personality, cognitive abilities, and psychological characteristics.

    This broad set of information allowed the team to compare what people experienced while awake with the stories, settings, and emotions that appeared in their dreams.

    How AI Helped Scientists Study Dreams

    To analyze such a large number of written reports, the researchers used natural language processing (NLP), a form of artificial intelligence that examines patterns, relationships, and meaning in language.

    Rather than relying only on researchers to read and interpret every dream individually, the technology allowed the team to measure the semantic structure of the reports. Semantic structure refers to how ideas, words, and concepts are connected within a piece of language.

    The results showed that dream content was neither completely random nor inherently chaotic. Instead, dreams reflected a complex mixture of personal characteristics, including a tendency to mind-wander, an interest in dreams, and the quality of a person’s sleep. Events occurring in the broader world also influenced what people dreamed about.

    Dreams Do Not Simply Replay the Day

    When the researchers compared participants’ descriptions of waking life with their dream reports, they found that the brain did not appear to reproduce daily experiences exactly as they happened.

    Instead, familiar details were transformed.

    A workplace, hospital, classroom, or other everyday setting might appear in a dream, but it would often be combined with unrelated places, shifting viewpoints, or unfamiliar surroundings. Different parts of a person’s life could merge into a single vivid scene.

    These findings suggest that dreaming is not a simple replay system. The sleeping mind appears to reorganize pieces of reality, combining memories with imagination, expectations, and possible future experiences.

    The result can be a completely new scenario that feels immersive, emotionally intense, or surreal.

    Personality May Influence Dream Vividness

    The way dreams were transformed also differed from person to person.

    People who were more likely to experience mind-wandering while awake tended to report dreams that changed quickly and felt more fragmented. Their dreams often moved rapidly between scenes, ideas, or perspectives.

    By contrast, participants who placed greater value on dreams and believed that dreaming had personal meaning tended to describe richer and more immersive experiences. Their dream reports contained stronger perceptual detail, making the scenes feel more vivid and lifelike.

    The findings do not necessarily show that believing in dreams directly causes more vivid dreaming. However, they reveal a strong relationship between how people think about dreams and how they experience or remember them.

    The Pandemic Left a Mark on Dreams

    The researchers also examined dream reports collected during the COVID-19 lockdown by scientists at Sapienza University of Rome. They compared those reports with data gathered in later months and years by the IMT School team.

    During the lockdown, dreams contained stronger emotions and more references to restrictions, barriers, confinement, and other limitations. These themes reflected the conditions people were experiencing in daily life.

    As the months passed, those patterns became less pronounced. This gradual change suggests that dreams may evolve alongside psychological adjustment, particularly as people adapt to stressful or disruptive events.

    In other words, dreams may provide clues about how the mind responds to major changes over time.