Traci Watson

2 months ago | nature.com | Traci Watson

Scientists have found two ‘dials’ in the brain that help to explain how chronic stress hijacks decision-making1. How the stressed-out brain can weaken the immune systemThe discovery is based on experiments in mice and will therefore need to be confirmed in humans. But it shows that prolonged stress dials back deliberate decision-making while also boosting an ‘autopilot’ mode in the brain that favours rigid, habitual behaviours.

Jan 3, 2025 | nature.com | Traci Watson

New clues have emerged in the mystery of how the brain avoids ‘catastrophic forgetting’ — the distortion and overwriting of previously established memories when new ones are created. A research team has found that, at least in mice, the brain processes new and old memories in separate phases of sleep, which might prevent mixing between the two.

Dec 11, 2024 | geneticliteracyproject.org | Traci Watson

Even after drastic weight loss, the body’s fat cells carry the ‘memory’ of obesity, research shows — a finding that might help to explain why it can be hard to stay trim after a weight-loss programme. This memory arises because the experience of obesity leads to changes in the epigenome — a set of chemical tags that can be added to or removed from cells’ DNA and proteins that help to dial gene activity up or down.

Oct 30, 2024 | nature.com | Traci Watson

A blockbuster weight-loss drug sharply reduces pain from obesity-related knee arthritis and improves a person’s ability to engage in activities such as walking. That’s according to a clinical trial conducted in 11 countries — the first of its kind to prove that one of the new wave of anti-obesity drugs can treat arthritis. The drug, semaglutide, provided pain relief on a par with opioid drugs. Why do obesity drugs seem to treat so many other ailments?

May 6, 2023 | pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov | Traci Watson