If You Like Science, You Might Enjoy Reading Neuroscience News
I’m amazed at what neuroscientists around the world are finding out about the human brain and I’ve used this source to add reliable psychological information to my weekly Substack post writing. I assume, if you’re a regular reader of my posts, you might also be interested in this kind of scientific news. So, I decided to devote this post to telling you about what Neuroscience News reports, how to get it, and to show you a few of the interesting facts I’ve found there.
What is Neuroscience News?
Neuroscience News is a website and a science magazine focused on publishing research articles and news related to neuroscience, neurology, psychology, mental health, and related fields. It covers a wide range of topics, including brain research, AI, cognitive science, and neurological disorders. The site aims to make neuroscience research accessible to a broad audience through open access articles and engaging content. It’s free. All you have to do is sign up for it. You can do it at this link.
Neuroscience News summarizes findings clearly, even for non-scientists, like me, by summarizing the key findings in a headline, with a clickable link to open and obtain relevant facts about the study, including its source (often a university), sample information, methodology, and relevant facts about the implications of the study.
I have it sent to my email inbox when I review the headline of each article, and if I want more detail, open the newsletter page for more details. If I think it’s useful to my post writing, I save the link in a separate file. I get about 12 news reports a day, believe it or not. There’s a lot of neuroscience research going on across the world. It’s also exciting to learn about the new research techniques being used today, technics such as “machine learning”.
What is Machine Learning?
Machine learning (ML) is a subfield of artificial intelligence (AI) that enables computer systems to learn from data and improve their performance on specific tasks without explicit programming. Instead of being explicitly programmed, machine learning algorithms analyze data, identify patterns, and make predictions or decisions.
Here's a more detailed explanation:
Key Concepts:
Learning from Data: Machine learning algorithms learn from data to identify patterns and relationships, allowing them to make predictions or decisions without being explicitly programmed for each specific task.
Algorithms: These are the sets of rules and instructions that guide the learning process. They analyze data and make predictions based on the patterns they identify.
Training: Machine learning models are trained on data to learn the patterns and relationships within that data. This training process helps the model to make accurate predictions on new, unseen data.
Types of Machine Learning: There are several types of machine learning, including:
Supervised Learning: The algorithm is trained on a labeled dataset, where the correct output is provided for each input.
Unsupervised Learning: The algorithm learns from unlabeled data, discovering patterns and structures within the data without explicit guidance.
Reinforcement Learning: The algorithm learns through trial and error, receiving feedback (positive or negative) for its actions, and adjusting its strategy to maximize rewards.
Applications: Machine learning has a wide range of applications, including:
Image and Speech Recognition: Identifying objects in images and understanding spoken language.
Fraud Detection: Identifying fraudulent transactions in financial data.
Recommendation Systems: Suggesting products or content based on user preferences.
Medical Diagnosis: Assisting doctors in diagnosing diseases.
Autonomous Vehicles: Enabling self-driving cars to navigate and make decisions.
In essence, machine learning allows computers to learn from data and adapt to new situations, making them more intelligent and capable of handling complex tasks without human intervention.
What I find especially exciting is the opportunity for machine learning to discover new medical relationships using examinations of massively large samples. Here's an example of machine learning:
The Neuroscience News article was titled, AI Reveals Key Predictors of Lifelong Brain Health. Remember that Machine Learning is a sub-category of Artificial Intelligence, so AI is the subject, and when you click on the link to open the report, you discover it’s about machine learning. An interesting graphic is often included as well (see below):
What I found most interesting in the specifics, were the following facts:
June 17, 2025, a study at the University of Illinois, at Champaign/Urbana, (my school) used machine learning to pinpoint the specific health factors that most strongly predicted cognitive performance over a lifetime. The sample consisted of 374 adults aged 19 to 82.
Results showed that while diet and exercise played a smaller role, the top three predictors of brain health longevity were (1) age, (2) blood pressure, and (3) BMI (Body Mass Index).
Reading further, I learned that machine learning made it possible to study the effect of multiple factors at the same time in an objective and unbiased way. In short, this study showed what to focus upon as the most valuable predictors of brain health over a lifetime.
What I Value Most in Neuroscience News Reports
Most of all, I value the integrity of these reports - I feel I can trust this source of scientific reporting. But that doesn’t mean you can also assume the advertising that might come with Neuroscience News reports is equally trustworthy. I recently ran across an ad in a report claiming that a salt and Vaseline mixture applied every night can remove wrinkles and dark skin spots. When I asked Google AI if there was evidence that this claim was true, the answer was it wasn’t true. So, always be sure you’re reading Neuroscience News reports and not confusing it with the ads.
About five or six months ago, I was shocked to discover how blatant the lies and dishonest YouTube videos could be. Two different YouTube videos made the false claim that certain vitamin pills could cure AMD, an eye disease I've had for 11 years. I brought copies of the links to both my Optometrist and my Retina Specialist for their reaction. Both said that not only were the claims false, but one of the listed pill ingredients had been shown to increase the risk of developing lung cancer. One video showed a central-casting-looking doctor, who did not have any qualifications shown, claiming he personally used these pills to develop new eye cell growth. The other video claimed that many residents in a Vermont town cured their AMD with the pills. The first video has been removed form YouTube. The second video link may still be up, but I won’t show it as to stop the spread of misinformation.
I have since seen other false-claim videos on YouTube and discovered the characteristicsd they have in common; these fraudulent videos are some of the most dangerous scams today, so you might want to remember these four characteristics as indicators of likely fraud:
4 Fraud Indicators of Scam Medical Videos
1. A presenter who looks like a doctor, maybe wearing a white jacket, and claiming to be an “expert” without a medical degree shown.
2. Use of famous medical school names, like Harvard, to imply their support for certain ingredients but not providing support for the entire product.
3. You are required to listen to the entire, long video; you cannot skip forward to the end. The purpose of this limitation, I think, is to overcome your resistance with constant emotional appeals.
4. You are offered incredible discounts by buying a lot and buying now.
The Special Fraudulent Influence of RFK, Jr.
In my opinion, the most irresponsible appointment of President Donald J. Trump after his second term election in 2024 was RFK, Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human services. According to Wikipedia, Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. is an American politician, environmental lawyer, author, conspiracy theorist, and anti-vaccine activist. Trump only seemed to require his appointees to be loyal to him, without regard for any other job credentials. RFK, Jr. attempted to validate his anti-vaccine beliefs by collecting what he thought were qualified sources but turned out to be totally fraudulent misquoted studies and even false studies. The level of his incompetence was shocking to scientists around the world. His “report” was called MAHA for Make America Healthy Again. The video below summarizes the disgust of many concerned medical profressionals:
Dan’s Net Take-Away
We are living in a time when so much information is easily obtainable on the internet, but much of it, and I would add, most media information in general, are simply not believable—at least, at face value. And this is a time when people seem more interested than ever before in learning what is really happening and what is really true. It’s more than sad. But it’s also dangerously empowering to many types of wrong-headed and unhinged zealots and bigots. It’s very helpful, therefore, to find a source of information we can believe is valid. Neuroscience News, from what I’ve seen, is that kind of source about brain research and, for that reason alone, I hope you will consider using it.
The other reason I enjoy reading Neuroscience News is it gives me an opportunity to be exposed to current scientific methods, discoveries, and terms. I feel I can keep up with what’s going on in neuroscience—at least some of the time. Your mind can only work with the information you give it. This is one good source to feed your scientific curiosity.