Researchers at Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins Medicine have discovered that memory consolidation during sleep depends on coordinated activity among three brain regions and disruptions to this activity can impair memory performance. This is the first human study to directly link interactions between the orbitofrontal cortex, thalamus and hippocampus to memory, offering new insight into how the brain strengthens memories and how epilepsy can impact the sleep-memory system.

Preliminary findings from a new study suggest that people who carry certain genetic variants associated with a preference for sweet or fatty tastes not only tend to eat more of these foods but also have a higher risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes as a result.

According to a new study, the high saturated fat intake that tends to accompany a low-carb diet interacts with genetic factors in ways that can increase low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, considered a key driver of heart disease risk. The role of genes explains why different individuals can follow the same diet but see different outcomes.