Articles related to BRAIN HEALTH

Use of estrogen-only hormone therapy in women over age 70 was associated with lower rates of dementia diagnoses and reduced Alzheimer-related pathology across large observational cohorts. The findings identify an association but do not establish a preventive effect against dementia.

Among adults with both sleep disturbances and mild cognitive impairment, self-reported vitamin D supplementation of at least 5,000 IU daily was associated with higher cognitive assessment scores in a small observational study, while lower doses showed no similar association.

Childhood trauma was associated with altered hippocampal reward-pathway connectivity and greater adult anhedonia in a large neuroimaging cohort. The findings identify a potential neurobiological link but did not establish causality.

Prenatal fish oil supplementation was associated with small differences in cerebral blood flow and oxygen metabolism at age 10. Cognitive and psychopathology outcomes showed no significant association.

Older adults’ real-time ratings of their mental sharpness closely tracked objective cognitive performance during everyday activities in a smartwatch-based study. The observational findings suggest potential utility for monitoring cognitive change but did not establish causality.

Three recent studies examined associations between vitamin D status and outcomes across type 2 diabetes risk, Alzheimer’s biomarkers, and inflammatory bowel disease in exploratory cohorts.