Health & Safety

Black Americans have been underrepresented in most genomic studies of neurological disorders. As a result, scientists don't know much about whether African ancestry affects a person's risk for these disorders or their response to a particular treatment. To help close this gap, the Lieber Institute for Brain Development, African American community leaders in Baltimore, and researchers from Duke University and Morgan State University created the African Ancestry Neuroscience Research Initiative in 2019. The team found that genes associated with African ancestry appear to affect certain brain cells in ways that could increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease and stroke.

Read science correspondent Jon Hamilton's full story here.

Curious about brain science? Email us at shortwave@npr.org.

Medical amputation isn't a uniquely human form of medicine, it turns out. Some ant species will cut off the limbs of injured buddies when it's necessary to save them.

By testing the drug rapamycin as a way to prevent gum disease — often associated with heart disease and dementia — researchers may learn more about if it slows age-related diseases.

Tubal ligations doubled in the 16 months following the Dobbs decision. Vasectomies also increased, but men still get sterilized much less often than women.

Thanks to advances in AI, chatbots can act as personalized therapists, companions and romantic partners. The apps offering these services have been downloaded millions of times. If these relationships relieve stress and make us feel better, does it matter that they're not "real"?

On this episode, host Manoush Zomorodi talks to MIT sociologist and psychologist Sherry Turkle about her new research into what she calls "artificial intimacy" and its impact on our mental and physical health.

Binge the whole Body Electric series here.

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Talk to us on Instagram @ManoushZ, or record a voice memo and email it to us at BodyElectric@npr.org.

Researchers following a group of American children for decades found that even short periods of housing instability increased the chances of poor mental and physical health years later.