A study found that nondeceptive placebos, or placebos given with people fully knowing they are placebos, effectively manage stress -- even when the placebos are administered remotely.

Brain-computer interfaces are a groundbreaking technology that can help paralyzed people regain functions they've lost, like moving a hand. These devices record signals from the brain and decipher the user's intended action, bypassing damaged or degraded nerves that would normally transmit those brain signals to control muscles.

Since 2006, demonstrations of brain-computer interfaces in humans have primarily focused on restoring arm and hand movements by enabling people to control computer cursors or robotic arms. Recently, researchers have begun developing speech brain-computer interfaces to restore communication for people who cannot speak.

As the user attempts to talk, these brain-computer interfaces record the person's unique brain signals associated with attempted muscle movements for speaking and then translate them into words. These words can then be displayed as text on a screen or spoken aloud using text-to-speech software.

A recent study examining the sleep patterns of healthy men and women who participated in a parabolic flight—an experience that exposes individuals to brief periods of microgravity and hypergravity—revealed surprising results. According to actigraphy, a method used to objectively measure sleep by tracking movement, participants experienced more fragmented sleep and more frequent awakenings on the night following the flight compared to the night before. Strangely, however, these individuals self-reported that they slept better on the night after the flight. The findings were published in the Journal of Sleep Research.

Researchers have discovered a “spatial grammar” in DNA that redefines the role of transcription factors in gene regulation, influencing our understanding of genetic variations and disease.

A recently uncovered code within DNA, referred to as “spatial grammar,” may unlock the secret to how gene activity is encoded in the human genome.

This breakthrough finding, identified by researchers at Washington State University and the University of California, San Diego and published in Nature, revealed a long-postulated hidden spatial grammar embedded in DNA. The research could reshape scientists’ understanding of gene regulation and how genetic variations may influence gene expression in development or disease.