EurekAlert! News by Subject: Medicine & Health - News by Subject: Medicine & Health

Medicine & Health

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 5-Jan-2026 03:11 ET (5-Jan-2026 08:11 GMT/UTC)

Why nail-biting, procrastination and other self-sabotaging behaviors are rooted in survival instincts

Taylor & Francis Group
Book Announcement

Self-harming and self-sabotaging behaviours, from skin picking to ghosting people, all stem from evolutionary survival mechanisms, according to a compelling new psychological analysis.

Artificial empathy in therapy and healthcare: advancements in interpersonal interaction technologies

Beijing Institute of Technology Press Co., Ltd
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A review paper by scientists at Imperial College London explores groundbreaking techniques that integrate interpersonal interactions within therapy and healthcare, focusing on multiplayer games that strengthen real-time social connections, alongside social robots and virtual agents designed to simulate human-like affective interactions.

The review paper, published on Dec. 16, 2025 in the journal Cyborg and Bionic Systems.

Journal: Cyborg and Bionic Systems

Why some brains switch gears more efficiently than others

Rutgers University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The human brain is constantly processing information that unfolds at different speeds – from split-second reactions to sudden environmental changes to slower, more reflective processes such as understanding context or meaning.

A new study from Rutgers Health, published in Nature Communications, sheds light on how the brain integrates these fast and slow signals across its complex web of white matter connectivity pathways to support cognition and behavior.

Journal: Nature Communications

First ancient human herpesvirus genomes document their deep history with humans

University of Vienna
Peer-Reviewed Publication

For the first time, scientists have reconstructed ancient genomes of Human betaherpesvirus 6A and 6B (HHV-6A/B) from archaeological human remains more than two millennia old. The study, led by the University of Vienna and University of Tartu (Estonia) and published in Science Advances, confirms that these viruses have been evolving with and within humans since at least the Iron Age. The findings trace the long history of HHV-6 integration into human chromosomes and suggest that HHV-6A lost this ability early on.

Journal: Science Advances

UCLA study links scar healing to dangerous placenta condition

University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New research led by UCLA Health suggests that how this scar tissue heals could be the key to better understand how placenta accreta spectrum develops, who is at risk and why the placenta attaches abnormally.

Journal: American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology

The Journal of Nuclear Medicine Ahead-of-Print Tip Sheet: January 2, 2026

Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
Peer-Reviewed Publication

New research has been published ahead-of-print by The Journal of Nuclear Medicine (JNM). JNM is published by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, an international scientific and medical organization dedicated to advancing nuclear medicine, molecular imaging, and theranostics—precision medicine that allows diagnosis and treatment to be tailored to individual patients in order to achieve the best possible outcomes.

Journal: Journal of Nuclear Medicine

Many mothers in Norway do not show up for postnatal check-ups

Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Peer-Reviewed Publication

All Norwegian women who have given birth will be offered a postnatal check-up by their GP or midwife six weeks after giving birth. Most of those who participate experience this as an important offer. Nevertheless, one in four women does not attend the postnatal check-up.

Journal: BMC Primary Care

1
2
3