Caffeine hinders the brain’s recovery following sleep deprivation by suppressing cerebral grey matter response.

🧵1/9 These findings are from a study in @SciReports which explored whether daily use of caffeine could prevent or exacerbate the grey matter alterations induced by 5-day sleep restriction. 2/9 nature.com/articles/s4159…

Healthier diets & lower waist-to-hip ratio are associated with better cognition & brain connectivity.

🧵1/7 These findings are from a study in @JAMANetworkOpen which aimed to ascertain how longitudinal changes in diet quality and waist to hip ratio (WHR) during midlife are associated with hippocampal connectivity and cognitive function in later life. 2/7 jamanetwork.com/journals/jaman…

This is a neuroscientific model of a near-death experience.

🧵1/11 These findings are from a paper in @NatRevNeurol which discussed processes that underlie the rich conscious experience in near-death experiences (NDEs), addressing both the potential psychological mechanisms and neurophysiological changes. 2/11 nature.com/articles/s4158…

Citrus fruit intake is associated with a lower risk of depression.

🧵1/9 These findings are from a study in @MicrobiomeJ which aimed to determine if citrus intake protected against depression via the gut microbiome. 2/9 microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.11…

The gut-brain axis may be an evolutionary advance of the root-leaf axis in plants.

🧵1/9 These findings are from a paper in @jineuroscience which proposed morphological and functional similarities between (i) plant leaves and the human brain and (ii) plant roots and the human gastro-intestinal tract. 2/9 imrpress.com/journal/JIN/17…

"95% of serotonin is in the gut"

Many state that it's not relevant since it doesn't cross the blood-brain barrier

A new study found that deleting the serotonin reuptake transporter in the gut of mice produced significant antidepressant effects

We are still learning so much Source: gastrojournal.org/article/S0016-…

Red light increases energy (ATP) production & reduces blood glucose levels.

🧵1/10 These findings are from a study in @jbiophotonics which aimed to test the hypothesis that increased ATP production due to photobiomodulation (PBM) will demand increased glucose consumption, and change plasma glucose levels. 2/10 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jb…

The first trial of creatine in Alzheimer's dementia was just published.

Brain creatine levels & cognition significantly increased.

🧵1/8 These findings are from a study in @alzassociation which investigated the feasibility of 20 g/day creatine for 8 weeks in 20 people with Alzheimer's disease (AD). 2/8 alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tr…

Our paper was just published in Brain Medicine.

🧵1/11 Ultra-processed foods now dominate the food supplies of high-income countries, with over 50% of energy intake coming from ultra-processed foods in the United States. 2/11

People with depression have an expanded brain network which predates symptom onset.

🧵1/13 Despite depression being the leading cause of health-related disability, the neurobiological mechanisms underlying this disorder remain poorly understood from the perspective of neural network systems. 2/13

Depression may rewire the gut-brain axis towards craving carbohydrates & disliking protein.

🧵1/9 These findings are from a study in @CambUP_Psych which analyzed how depression affects food preferences in a sample of 117 people (54 with depression & 63 healthy controls) via cue reactivity tasks. 2/9 cambridge.org/core/journals/…

Cannabis smoking is linked with epigenome-wide disruptions which persist despite quitting.

🧵1/8 These findings are from a study in @BMC_series which conducted an epigenome-wide DNA methylation analysis that identified differential methylated positions (DMPs) associated with cannabis smoking. 2/8 bmcpulmmed.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.11…

Adjunctive vitamin D preserves brain structural & functional connectivity in depression.

🧵1/9 These findings are from a study in @CambUP_Psych which investigated the effects of vitamin D supplementation on the brains of people with depression. 2/9 cambridge.org/core/journals/…

The largest summary of supplements for depression.

Saffron had the largest decrease in depressive symptoms. Source: cambridge.org/core/journals/…

The geometry of the brain shapes its function more than connectivity.

🧵1/11 These findings are from a study in @Nature which aimed to determine a unified framework for how brain function emerges from a relatively stable anatomical scaffold. 2/11 nature.com/articles/s4158…

Playing a video game increased brain hippocampal grey matter.

🧵1/9 These findings are from a study in @PLOSONE which tested the impact of 3D-platform video game training (i.e., Super Mario 64) on brain grey matter of older adults. 2/9 journals.plos.org/plosone/articl…

Higher physical activity is associated with lower brain amyloid burden - a key protein linked to Alzheimer’s dementia.

🧵1/11 These findings are from a study in @alzassociation which investigated midlife physical activity changes in relation to Alzheimer's disease (AD)-related pathologies. 2/11 alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.10…

72 hours without your phone rewires neural pathways tied to impulse control and reward.

🧵1/8 These findings are from a study in @ELSpsychology which used a functional MRI (fMRI) to investigate the effects of smartphone restriction over 72 h in 25 young adult smartphone users. 2/8 sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Exercise leads to the release of myokines, increasing neuron growth by 4x.

🧵1/10 These findings are from a study in @WileyGlobal which examined the impact of myokines, released during exercise, on neuron growth. 2/10 advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ad…

Light treatment had the same effect as an antidepressant - with earlier response and less side effects.

🧵1/9 These findings are from a study in @APA_Journals which compared the effectiveness of light therapy and an antidepressant for the treatment of seasonal affective disorder. 2/9 psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/aj…

Severe exercise reversibly reduces brain myelin content.

Myelin lipids may act as glial energy reserves in extreme metabolic conditions.

🧵1/12 These findings are from a study in @NatMetabolism which used magnetic resonance imaging to study the impact of marathon running on brain structure in humans. 2/12 nature.com/articles/s4225…