From rejuvenating brain plasticity with magnetic stimulation to tracking genome changes with age, Stanford researchers are exploring new paths to brain aging and resilience. The Knight Initiative is supporting 4 of 8 new seed grant projects. Read more: brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/new-ide...

Institute Scholar Jon Long & team studied the extreme metabolism of pythons—snakes that gorge themselves and then go months without eating—leading to discovery of an appetite-reducing molecule that could be a starting point for new weight-loss drugs:

A clearer picture of brain aging is emerging. Explore recent research supported by the Knight Initiative on early signals of lifespan, cellular recycling in the brain, and mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration in our Winter 2026 review. www.linkedin.com/pulse/winter...

Apply for Neuroimaging Pilot Grants and explore the possibilities of MRI in neuroscience research! The Neurosciences Preclinical Imaging Lab invites Stanford researchers of all career stages to apply. Awards up to $6,000. Learn more and apply by April 10: neuroscience.stanford.edu/shared-resou...

Congrats to our 2026 Neurosciences Postdoc Scholars! They bring expertise in biology, chemistry, engineering, genetics, physiology, neuroscience, psychiatry, and radiology to research projects spanning different scales of neuroscience. Learn more: neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/announc...

New study on Pythons—snakes that can go a year without eating—hints at a potential weight-loss drug with fewer side effects than GLP-1 drugs. Research led by the Long Lab at Stanford and supported in part by the Knight Initiative. Learn more: brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/study-p...

Could boosting gut–brain communication prevent memory loss? New research by @christophthaiss.bsky.social suggests restoring vagus nerve activity can reverse cognitive decline in aging mice. He joins us to discuss microbes, memory, and internal senses. neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/could-b...

Interested in leveraging EEG and/or TMS in your research? The Koret Human Neurosciences Lab at Wu Tsai Neuro invites Stanford researchers to apply for Human Neuro Pilot grants, awarding up to $10,000 per grant. Learn more and apply by April 10: neuroscience.stanford.edu/shared-resou...

Ongoing research explores how epilepsy-like activity may influence the spread of Alzheimer’s pathology in the brain. This work is led by Brain Resilience Postdoc Scholar Annie Goettemoeller in the Soltesz Lab @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social. Learn more: brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/qa-prob...

In our monthly seminar, Julian Garcia of the Wendy Liu Lab presented his research in a talk titled "The Light Side of the Force." Meena Chakraborty of the Bhatt Lab discussed her research, "The gut-immune-brain connection in Parkinson's Disease," with lab mates Bianca Palushaj and Imani Porter.

How does pregnancy reshape the mother's brain at a molecular level? In today’s podcast, Nirao Shah and Katrin Svensson discuss the new Stanford Neuro-Pregnancy Initiative with Longzhi Tan and what neuroscience can tell us about pregnancy. neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/new-neu...

In stroke patients with aphasia, the brain spends too little time processing ambiguous sounds, suggesting new targets for precision therapies. (@lauragwilliams.bsky.social, @kriesjill.bsky.social) Read the story by @stellamayerhoff.bsky.social here: neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/why-bra...

Degradation-resistant proteins pass from neurons to glial cells in a process that may spread protein clumps around the brain, according to a study in mice. Read the full story by @thetransmitter.bsky.social here: www.thetransmitter.org/aging/aging-...

Silencing during iPSC differentiation is a major but underrecognized challenge and hard to fund. We are deeply grateful to @chanzuckerberg.bsky.social for supporting this project. Also, thanks to @brainresilience.bsky.social and @hdfcures.bsky.social for supporting my postdoctoral fellow!

Losing sleep over #iPSC transgene silencing after differentiation? Same here. Bright in iPSCs. Gone after differentiation. Our paper in @cp-cellstemcell.bsky.social maps what actually keeps expression on👇 www.cell.com/cell-stem-ce... 🔗 Free access (50 days): www.sciencedirect.com/science/auth...

Ian Guldne, @carolynbertozzi.bskyverified.social, @abu-remaileh.bsky.social & team are exploring relationship between synapse loss & defective protein recycling in the aging brain, offering new insights into brain health & disease risk news.stanford.edu/stories/2026... @brainresilience.bsky.social

Why do our minds wander? Our podcast is back! Today, we speak with cognitive scientist Vinod Menon about the brain's default mode network behind daydreaming, rumination, and our sense of self—and its links to ADHD, depression, and Alzheimer’s disease. neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/why-do-...

Proteins that start inside neurons accumulate faster with age and increasingly appear in microglia, the immune cells that prune damaged synapses, according to new research supported by the Knight Initiative. Led by Ian Guldner in the Wyss-Coray Lab. brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/aging-b...

In yesterday's monthly seminar, Kit Vodehnal of the Wernig Lab discussed "Neuron-glia interactions in regulating protein aggregation in human cell models," and Birgitt Schuele, an associate professor of pathology, shared "Neurodegeneration across Borders: Resilience, Fieldwork, and Gene Therapy."

A new study by @lauragwilliams.bsky.social, @kriesjill.bsky.social, and team suggests that phonetic features are robustly encoded in healthy older adults, but show reduced encoding strength in individuals with post-stroke aphasia during speech comprehension. www.jneurosci.org/content/46/4...

Our symposium is today! We look forward to scientific talks by Brit Mollenhauer of UMG, James Olzmann of @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social, Michael Ward of NIH, Gaurav Chattree of @stanfordhealthcare.bsky.social, Daisy Ding of @stanfordneuro.bsky.social, and Frank Longo @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social.

A new atlas maps lysosomal proteins across brain cell types, helping researchers study how breakdowns in cellular waste and recycling systems contribute to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Supported by a Knight Initiative Catalyst Momentum Award. brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/new-atl...

Congrats to the third round of Big Ideas in Neuroscience grant awardees! From studying post-viral fatigue to engineering transparent mouse brains, these five projects will push the bounds of what’s possible in the field. Learn more: neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/big-ide...

In our first Brain Resilience Seminar of 2026, Julia Belk shared her research, "Clonal hematopoiesis and the aging brain," and Alina Isakova discussed data from the Brain Resilience Lab in a talk, "The molecular landscape of human brain aging: Known features and unexpected findings."

Each year, Stanford researchers advance our understanding of the mind and brain and beyond. As we look ahead to the new year, we compiled some key studies covered by Wu Tsai Neuro and @brainresilience.bsky.social in 2025. 🔗 neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/2025-ne...

Meet Dr. Hülya Torun, a postdoctoral researcher at the Brain Resilience Lab. "Science generates the accumulation of knowledge so that physicians can use that knowledge to heal people, and I think that was the reason that I wanted to be a neuroscientist." youtube.com/shorts/C_USl...

Get alerts on the latest brain aging news, publications, datasets, and tools by subscribing to our newsletter. The first edition will go out on Dec 17 via email and LinkedIn. Subscribe via email: stanford.us11.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=... Follow on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/stan...

Meet Theo Guo, a research associate at the Brain Resilience Lab. “One potential impact of this work is that more of humanity will be able to live and enjoy longer lifespans and healthspans, meaning more life spent in a healthy state.” youtube.com/shorts/GM3Wt...

Thanks to all who joined our last monthly seminar of 2025! Cindy Lin gave a talk about "Investigating regulators of GCase activity using CRISPR KO screens," and Odilia Sianto shared her research on "Nonsense-mediated decay masks cryptic splicing events caused by TDP-43 loss."

Interested in neural stem cells and neurogenesis throughout lifespan? Exciting meeting in 2026 in Switzerland!! neuro-unige.ch/news/csf-mee...

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia are devastating neurodegenerative diseases. Knight Initiative postdoc Yi Zeng is finding the role a protein plays in both, and whether it can lead to new diagnostics and treatments. Learn more: brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/qa-key-...

Gummy clumps called amyloid plaques have long been the focus of Alzheimer’s therapies. But some Stanford neuroscientists are focusing on the stringy tangles of a protein called tau, the unsung second hallmark of Alzheimer’s. Learn more: med.stanford.edu/news/insight...

From molecular atlases of aging to emerging ideas about immune pathways, synapses, and glial biology, scientists from Stanford, @ucsfhealth.bsky.social, @ucl.ac.uk, and @alleninstitute.org shared new brain resilience research at our recent symposium. 🔗 brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/mind-bl...

Could brain implants read our thoughts? Not yet. Neuroengineer Erin Kunz builds BCIs to restore speech in people with paralysis. She explains how they decode brain signals—and why imagined thoughts are harder to access than you might think. Listen now: neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/could-b...

Scientists and ethicists, including Wu Tsai Neuro affiliates @sergiuppasca.bsky.social and Hank Greely, call for an international process to guide the field of human neural organoids. Read the full @statnews.com story: www.statnews.com/2025/11/06/n...

“We’re making a helmet people can wear that delivers ultrasound to the brain, and we plan to initiate clinical testing of this protocol in the next few months,” said Raag Airan. With Knight Initiative support, they plan to test it on people soon. 🔗 brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/new-ult...

Fantastic talks at yesterday's seminar! Ted Wilson - Unveiling early Alzheimer’s: biomarkers and breakthroughs on the path to brain resilience. Raag Airan - Ultrasonic debris clearance for improving neurofluid flow and decreasing neuroinflammation.

We welcome three Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellows (SIGFs)—Sarah Zou, Nick M, and Pengli Wang! Projects include efforts to decode traumatic brain injury (TBI), map brain-body communication, and find treatments for rare childhood diseases. 🔗 neuroscience.stanford.edu/news/wu-tsai...

“By the time we examine an autopsied brain-tissue sample, a pathologist will have rinsed it with alcohol, removing lipids,” said Knight Initiative director Tony Wyss-Coray, D. H. Chen Professor II and @stanfordneuro.bsky.social professor. “So, we can miss them.” med.stanford.edu/news/insight...

Thank you to our wonderful speakers and everyone who joined us at the Fall 2025 Symposium and Poster Session! It was a day full of insights into the latest research on healthy brain aging, resilience, and various neuroscience studies at Stanford.

Our Fall Symposium is today! We look forward to our poster session and talks by: John W. Day, Soyon Hon @soyonhonglab.bsky.social, Alina Isakova, Andrew C. Yang, Hongkui Seng @hongkuizeng.bsky.social, and Xuchen Zhang.

Six @stanford.edu scientists, including Anne Brunet @brunetlab.bsky.social, have been awarded High-Risk, High-Reward Research program grants from the National Institutes of Health. This will support Brunet's work on the peripheral nervous system, organs & aging. news.stanford.edu/stories/2025...

Great talks at our recent seminar! Featuring: Kristy Zera - Blocking the VLA4/VCAM1 axis prevents infarct-induced neurodegeneration by reducing neuroinflammation & promoting vascular integrity Carla Shatz - Convergence of signals for pruning at a synaptic receptor implicated in Alzheimer's Disease

Great news! Our podcast, From Our Neurons to Yours, is a finalist for the Listener’s Choice Award in Science & Education at @signalawards.bsky.social!🎙️ Help us win and vote here by Oct. 9: vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting...

Join us on Oct 9 at a symposium featuring brain resilience and aging research, including a clinical presentation with a patient’s perspective, poster session, and social! Registration required. Stanford affiliates, sign up to present a poster by Oct 2. brainresilience.stanford.edu/events/knigh...

Amyloid beta and inflammation may converge on the LilrB2 receptor, according to new research led by Carla Shatz and supported by a Knight Initiative Catalyst Award. This may help explain synapse loss in Alzheimer’s. Learn more: brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/buildin...

Our Brain Resilience Seminars are back! Yesterday, Jacob Simon shared his research on "A novel toolset for understanding neuromodulation," and Joe Winer discussed "Effects of ⍺-synuclein pathology in normal aging and Alzheimer’s disease." Thank you to all who joined and participated in the Q&A.

Syed has been a vital part of our Brain Resilience Lab as the Primary Neuroanatomist and @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social’s Primary Brain Dissectionist & Coordinator, supporting research brains and rapid brain autopsies. He’s now beginning his PhD at the University of Washington . Congrats Syed!

Why do some dementia treatments work in mice but not in people? At @stanfordneuro.bsky.social, Vanessa Langness, Danielle Simmons, and Frank Longo reviewed 400+ preclinical studies to identify key differences in timing, study design, and disease stage. brainresilience.stanford.edu/news/why-pro...

Researching the aging brain starts with knowing its structure. Syed Bukhari, Primary Neuroanatomist at the Brain Resilience Lab, led a hands-on anatomy workshop for Stanford researchers—sharing expertise and building connections across the brain resilience community.