“Magic” mushrooms achieve their psychedelic effects by temporarily scrambling a brain network involved in introspective thinking like daydreaming and remembering, a new study reports. Brain scans of people who took psilocybin — the psychedelic drug in ‘shrooms — revealed that the substance causes profound and widespread temporary changes to the brain’s default mode network. These…  read on >  read on >

Autopsies of deceased boxers and pro football players have long confirmed that repeat head injuries can lead to a devastating brain condition known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Now, research supports the notion that contact sports can also raise the odds for a Parkinson’s-like disease, called parkinsonism, in athletes already affected by CTE. In the…  read on >  read on >

Defiance, tantrums, aggression: All signs of a condition called conduct disorder, which Mental Health America says affects up to 16% of boys and 9% of girls. Now, research is revealing real differences in the brain structure of children and youths with conduct disorder, compared to those without the condition. Specifically, the study of the brains…  read on >  read on >

Dropping weight prior to competition is a common practice among athletes. But starving oneself prior to an intense athletic event is likely a wrongheaded, self-defeating practice, a new study warns. Triathletes who ate less prior to competition lost more muscle mass and performed poorly, compared to their function after they followed a sensible diet, researchers…  read on >  read on >

Food tends to taste bland in space, astronauts have reported, making it tough for them to eat enough to stay healthy. Focusing on foods’ smell might help overcome this problem, a new study says. Aroma plays a big role in the flavor of food, and researchers found that certain scents might be more powerful in…  read on >  read on >

Hormone therapy for breast cancer might reduce a woman’s later risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, a new study finds. Overall, hormone therapy is associated with a 7% lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s or a related dementia later in life, according to findings published July 16 in the journal JAMA Network Open. However, this link…  read on >  read on >