Aging

Recent articles

Roads inside a human brain.

Aging as adaptation: Learning the brain’s recipe for resilience

Some age-related changes in the brain and in behavior are not solely the result of cognitive decline but rather part of a larger adaptive process.

By Dana Rubi Levy, Kevin Mastro, Michael Ryan
14 November 2025 | 6 min listen
Tiger in a brain scanner.

Lions and tigers and bears: Long-lived zoo animals offer a promising venue to study mental health and neurodegenerative disorders

These animals’ lifestyles often mirror those of people, making them a more relevant milieu than lab mice for determining how environmental factors influence mental health and cognitive decline. Studying them could improve animal welfare in the process.

By Christine J. Charvet
17 March 2025 | 4 min read
Research image of gene expression in cells in the third ventricle of the hypothalamus of young and aged mice.

Age-related brain changes in mice strike hypothalamus ‘hot spot’

Neuronal and non-neuronal cells throughout the brain also express genes—particularly those related to neuronal structure and immune function—differently in aged mice, according to a new atlas.

By Angie Voyles Askham
8 January 2025 | 5 min read
Six different neurons.

Early trajectory of Alzheimer’s tracked in single-cell brain atlases

Inflammation in glia and the loss of certain inhibitory cells may kick off a disease cascade decades before diagnosis.

By Angie Voyles Askham
23 October 2024 | 8 min read
Photo of the U.S. Capitol Building.

In updated U.S. autism bill, Congress calls for funding boost, expanded scope

The current Autism CARES Act sunsets in late September.

By Rachel Zamzow
5 September 2024 | 5 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Autism scientists push back on CDC’s inaccurate vaccine claims

The CDC website now falsely suggests that autism-vaccine research is still an open question, prompting distrust among researchers—some of whom anticipate “more unreliable statements coming from the junta that took over” the agency.

By The Transmitter
21 November 2025 | 6 min read

Gene replacement therapy normalizes some traits in SYNGAP1 model mice

The first published virus-based gene therapy for SYNGAP1 deletion yields benefits despite the gene’s long length and complexity.

By Charles Q. Choi
20 November 2025 | 5 min read

Does AI understand what it produces? Henk de Regt explores how we might assess understanding in machines and humans

Building on his philosophy of how scientists understand what they work on, de Regt is extending his approach to test understanding in machines.

By Paul Middlebrooks
19 November 2025 | 1 min read

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