Neuroimaging

A new study of retired athletes found that repetitive head trauma can lead to a "leaky" blood-brain barrier. This long-lasting damage allows immune cells to enter the brain, causing persistent inflammation and accelerating cognitive decline.

New research finds that high psychopathic personality traits are associated with a thinner outer layer of the brain in specific regions. This structural brain pattern was identical in men convicted of domestic violence and non-violent men.

A new longitudinal study reveals that specific brain wave patterns emerging around age nine can reliably predict whether a child will develop anxiety or depression during their teenage years, opening the door for proactive mental health interventions.

Researchers have discovered that damage to specific communication pathways in the brain makes it harder to suppress unwanted traumatic memories, leading to intense, "here-and-now" flashbacks for people with PTSD.

For the first time, researchers connected a person's overall genetic risk for ADHD to specific irregularities in how their brain coordinates attention. The finding bridges the gap between inherited DNA and observable neurological changes.

A new study explores how different types of fitness—aerobic, strength, balance, and flexibility—affect the brains of university students. The findings suggest that men and women's brains respond differently to certain types of physical fitness.

People with depression often describe feeling stuck. Now, researchers have found a physical basis for this sensation, mapping an altered energy landscape that traps the brain in maladaptive loops and restricts cognitive flexibility.

People with traits like narcissism and psychopathy show shared and distinct physical differences in brain regions linked to empathy. These anatomical variations suggest abrasive personality traits carry unique, identifiable signatures in the structure of the human brain.

Following a traumatic event, some individuals develop mental health conditions like posttraumatic stress disorder or clinical depression. A massive new brain imaging study suggests these conditions are linked to the physical size of the brain's sensory relay station.

New research in mice maps the specific brain circuitry that explains why having a friend nearby boosts courage. The findings show that social interaction shifts dopamine firing patterns to dampen risk sensitivity and motivate risky exploration.

A massive analysis of brain scans suggests that reduced gray matter volume and white matter integrity mediate aggressive behavior in patients with schizophrenia, providing new insights into the biology of violence.

By measuring brainwaves and startle reflexes on a smartphone, researchers discovered that psychopathic traits like boldness overload attention to ignore threats, while meanness is tied to a biological deficit in emotional processing.

A recent study suggests the brains of teenage girls with depression fail to adapt to repeated social rejection. This lack of habituation in the amygdala provides evidence for disrupted social learning during a sensitive developmental period.

A new study of over 18,000 adults suggests that the location of body fat, not just overall BMI, is critical to brain health. Researchers found evidence that deep belly fat is particularly damaging to the brain's white matter.