Humans
We summarize the week's scientific breakthroughs every Thursday.
- Neuroscience
Autism may carry a benefit: a buffer against Alzheimer’s
Brain plasticity of people with autism may protect them from Alzheimer’s disease, scientists propose.
- Life
Tibetans live high life thanks to extinct human relatives
DNA shared by modern-day Tibetans and extinct Denisovans suggests people picked up helpful genes through interbreeding with other hominids.
- Health & Medicine
Bone marrow transplant could reverse sickle cell in adults
A relatively mild treatment involving radiation and chemo followed by a bone marrow transplant may treat sickle cell disease in adults.
- Psychology
Tablet devices help kids with autism speak up
Talking iPads may help break the near-silence of some kids with autism.
- Health & Medicine
Kids’ me time may boost brainpower
Unstructured play may give kids more opportunity to exercise their executive function, complex cognitive function that includes resisting impulses and paying attention.
- Neuroscience
Shaking up the body may improve attention
Just two minutes of whole body vibrations improved young adults’ attention to detail.
- Neuroscience
Alzheimer’s disease may come in distinct forms
Mouse experiments, if confirmed in people, imply that Alzheimer’s disease treatment should be personalized.
- Psychology
Westerners sleep more than people from Eastern nations
Sleep schedules vary from country to country, with social demands like work and study providing the primary incentives to stay up.
- Psychology
Online causes may attract more clicks than commitments
Online awareness campaigns can make people feel they’ve contributed to a good cause, but social scientists say the tangible benefits of such efforts may be small.
- Neuroscience
Busy brain hubs go awry in disorders, study suggests
Schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s and other brain disorders may occur when the brain’s most active hubs are damaged.
- Life
HIV hides in growth-promoting genes
The discovery that HIV can trigger infected cells to divide means scientists may need to rethink strategies for treating the virus that causes AIDS.
- Anthropology
Neanderthals reveal their diet with oldest excrement
50,000-year-old fossil poop hints at Neanderthals’ omnivorous, but meat-heavy, diet.
