Video games in MRI scanners aim to map brains as they predict and adapt
For decades, neuroscientists have studied the human brain by asking people to lie very still inside a brain scanner and perform carefully controlled tasks. Those experiments…
Health news · Friday, October 9, 2026
Today's health news, in one place.
18 stories from 20 trusted newsrooms, newest first. Tap a story to read it on the newsroom's own site.
Sexual assault survivors’ stories may shift over time - a psychologist explains why it doesn’t mean they’re lying
The brain’s acute response to the trauma of sexual assault can block a person’s ability to accurately assess what they experienced.
Autism and ADHD traits appear to follow different social paths to mental health problems
Autism and ADHD traits appear to follow different social paths. In a study of 9,619 Japanese students, autistic traits were linked to later peer problems, while ADHD traits…
Harry says he 'slipped into depression' after leaving UK
The Duke of Sussex says he had an "adrenaline crash" while visiting Vancouver Island to "get some space".
Suicide is up among Black Americans. We need to talk about it.
NPR's Michel Martin hosted a panel conversation about mental health and suicide in the Black community, exploring a difficult subject in deeply personal conversations.
Brain scans find tau buildup in nearly two-thirds of patients with late-onset psychosis
Psychosis that starts later in life may sometimes be an early sign of neurodegenerative disease. In a study of 37 patients, about a third had Alzheimer’s-type amyloid, and half…
Gene therapy and special goggles give some blind people limited sight
Optogenetics, recognized by the 2026 medicine Nobel, makes cells respond to light, including eye cells that normally relay signals to the brain.
Remember the ‘caregiving kills’ study? Reality is more nuanced
A decades-old claim linking caregiving stress to risk of death has stuck around, hampering research into its benefits. But caregivers still need support.
What happens in the brain when cannabis makes you anxious?
Cannabinoids may intensify anxiety by removing a natural brake on specific neurons in the brain’s fear center, particularly during stressful situations. In mice, shutting down…
Children at risk for depression get “stuck” on sad faces
Depression may change which emotional faces children notice most, but the pattern appears to depend on family history. Children at higher familial risk became increasingly…
Hidden violence: Family members as the main victims of homicides linked to mental disorders
In recent decades, the social and legal perception of people with mental disorders who commit crimes has changed. Initially, people with mental disorders were considered…
Scientists identify the neuroblastoma cells that signal poor outcomes
Neuroblastoma is the most common solid tumor found outside the brain in children, yet why some children respond well to treatment while others do not has remained poorly…
People who favor group-based inequality tend to have less gray matter in an empathy-linked brain region
A preference for social hierarchy may be linked to both brain structure and motivation. Researchers found that people scoring higher in social dominance orientation had less…
Medication helps adults with ADHD weigh the negative consequences of their decisions
Adults with ADHD often struggle with choices that carry negative consequences. A new experiment reveals that stimulant medication improves decision-making by helping the brain…
Food insecurity in later life is linked to higher odds of probable dementia
Older adults who struggled to afford enough food had roughly twice the odds of screening positive for probable dementia, according to a study that tracked more than 2,000…
Drinking problems remained a risk factor for reoffending even among men with stronger social skills
Drinking problems may be a risk factor for reoffending that good social and cognitive skills don't offset, suggests a study of nearly 7,800 Canadian men who had perpetrated…
Brain scans reveal opposite reward responses in ADHD and autism
A new meta-analysis reveals that while ADHD and autism both feature atypical brain responses to rewards, the underlying neural activity goes in completely opposite directions,…
Scientists decode imagined melodies from human brain waves
Researchers have successfully trained computer models to decode the structure of imagined melodies from human brain waves. By tracking relative pitch, the models reconstructed…