How do the metabolic waste products get cleared from our brain? And how does this process intersect with the brain's immune system? An exceptional review by @jonykipnis.bsky.social and colleagues cell.com/neuron/fullt...

Many complexities, but AI does seem to perform well in initial head-to-head tests, when using text as the medium. Text is, however, a very limited modality in relation to fluid, real-time interpersonal exchanges more typical of psychotherapy or emotional support #AI academic.oup.com/bmb/article/...

Acute and chronic viral infections, including Herpes Zoster (Shingles), Hepatitis C, HIV, CMV, influenza, and SARS-CoV-2, are linked with a substantial increased risk of cardiovascular events, from a systematic review. Figure for SARS-CoV-2 below newsroom.heart.org/news/some-ac...

Longer survival among cancer patients may be an unexpected benefit of COVID vaccination. www.nature.com/articles/d41....

RIP Dr. Nolan R. Williams (1983-2025) professor at Stanford. He was a pioneer in the treatment of depression and a friend. I read this Substack eulogy on him this morning, and I thought it really captured both the man and his brilliance. thefrontierpsychiatrists.substack.com/p/a-eulogy-f...

An up to date review on the Brian health officials impacts of exercise, with a focus on mechanism #brainhealth www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Waning immunity. A significant Covid wave in England. No new variant. Thanks Prof Pagel for highlighting and contextualizing

One third???

Our capability to prevent diseases from occurring is gaining momentum. Using A.I. to predict >1,200 diseases 20 years ahead adds to the ways we'll be able to achieve primary prevention. nature.com/articles/d41... erictopol.substack.com/p/dawn-of-a-...

A groundbreaking paper published @nature.com today—the first large health language model—predicts >1,000 diseases for a person and when. Implications here: erictopol.substack.com/p/dawn-of-a-...

Coming tomorrow. Something that's been talked about for many decades, but not done. That's changing. Subscribe; it's free, and you'll get the link by email and future posts. erictopol.substack.com

We know GLP-1 drugs reduce brain inflammation. But I didn't anticipate bipolar disorder as a possible indication in the future www.nature.com/articles/s41...

OpenAI said on Tuesday that it planned to introduce new features intended to make its chatbot safer, including parental controls, “within the next month.”

How plasma p-Tau markers can predict if and when there will be transition to mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease in cognitively unimpaired individuals, along staging of the disease www.nature.com/articles/s43...

China installed 212 gigawatts of solar capacity in the first six months of the year, more than America's entire capacity of 178 gigawatts as of the end of 2024 www.independent.co.uk/news/china-a...

COVID Vaccine for children

Naturally occurring dementia analog in cats may turn out to be a good model for humans. #dementia www.the-independent.com/life-style/h...

For #ME/CFS, genomics assessed in >15,000 indviduals with 8 genomic loci identified. "Validation of ME/CFS as a biomedical condition and an important corrective to psychologizing ‘all in the mind’ perspectives on the disease” www.science.org/content/arti... www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/publicati...

A rundown on the big advances we’re seeing on the brain-immune axis erictopol.substack.com/p/our-braini...

I’m floored … this is pretty astounding. #SARS-CoV-2 #Covid19

Infection-related visual stimuli are enough to prime the immune response via the brain #immune #brain www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Enjoying the silence. #summermorning #enjoythesilence #summer #nature #silhouette #sunrise

Oh my god, this has to stop. Let the trucks in… www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

Even in post-secondary, we are seeing some highly misogynistic language popping up in online venues, with little to no moderation. Definitely not helping the situation, as it maintains an illusion of endorsement or credibility. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

I was explaining to my Ukrainian colleague the phrase ‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch’. She told me the equivalent in Ukrainian is ‘The only free cheese is in the mousetrap’ - which is so much better

The mechanisms by which ultra-processed foods (UPF) drive obesity, an outstanding review article "the evidence is sufficiently strong to justify immediate public health efforts to reduce UPF consumption." www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A brilliant @science.org review on the brain's glymphatics, the channels for eliminating metabolic waste products, and their relationship to Alzheimer's diseases www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Why happens when you put SARS-CoV-2 in with human neural (retinal) tissue in culture (organoid)? It induces Alzheimer’s-like pathology. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

A beautiful start to the day here today. Photo taken on Glastonbury Tor at sunrise.

The lady and the rose. St Michael's tower on Glastonbury Tor.

Budapest Pride draws huge crowds in defiance of Orban legal threats - BBC News www.bbc.com/news/article...

There is remarkable extent of bi-directional cross-talk between the nervous system and Type 2 immunity (vs infectious parasites, allergens, irritants, and toxins). A new and superb review @sciimmunology.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Good afternoon, Christchurch…

Things are bleak but they’re also funny. Ah, duality.

Benefits of pharmacotherapy and rTMS for neuropathic pain; great review! “Pharmacotherapy and non-invasive neuromodulation for neuropathic pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis” - Lancet Neurology #pain #TMS www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Epigenetic (methylation, biological) age is associated with increased risk of dementia and brain structural changes (including atrophy). From UK Biobank's 280,000 participants, ~4,800 cases of dementia over 14-year follow-up www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/...

On the dysregulation of the immune system after infection resulting in #LongCovid, 2 new studies @natimmunol.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

A really nice study showing that increasing physical activity in midlife is associated with more favourable brain morphology indicators (medial temporal lobe) and reduced amyloid burden. #brainhealth #exercise alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Honored to speak at Harvard’s Radcliffe Institute workshop on #LongCOVID. I am energized by our 2 days of brainstorming about the road ahead. The challenges are real, but I’m leaving hopeful. Millions living with Long Covid are counting on our progress—we must keep keep pushing forward!!!

A male Violet-headed Hummingbird perched at @tapirvalley.bsky.social #CostaRica #birds #nature

The metabolic syndrome and young-onset dementia, from a nationwide cohort of ~2 million people www.neurology.org/doi/abs/10.1...

Delayed brain aging associated with adherence to lifestyle and health risk factors www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi...

Hospitalization due to cannabis use associated with 23% increased risk of dementia diagnosis within the 5 years following (nb even worse for hospitalizations due to alcohol however). jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

"Even if we have AGI today, we have years of trying to figure out how to integrate it into our existing human world." Great piece by Ethan with a memorable quote by Tyler Cowen!

Just in time for the playoff season: Can brain activity signal interest in a sport when viewing a game in real time? Yes, but depends on the type of gameplay event being viewed. Hint: it’s not scoring chances.. #NHL #hockey #brain @thehockeynews.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Life on other planets seems increasingly likely. www.bbc.com/news/article...

"Long COVID: Yes, let’s remember there are still pandemic issues" From the official student magazine of #UWaterloo, Imprint: uwimprint.ca/long-covid-y...

2 important papers @nature.com today indicate the potential for A.I. to improve diagnostic accuracy and overall clinical performance for patient management and interactions nature.com/articles/s41...