An experimental drug has not only stopped but reversed paralysis and vision loss in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis. The results are striking because existing MS treatments are designed to reduce future inflammatory attacks, not restore neurological function already lost. 

When kept alive for more than a year, brain organoids with mutations like those found in the leading cause of childhood epilepsy show developmental anomalies leading to inflammation, pointing to one possible cause of seizures and potential treatments. The disorder, tuberous sclerosis complex, manifests shortly after birth, when potato-shaped lesions form. The organoids develop hyperreactive astrocytes that lead to similar focal lesions. The cells’ gene expression profiles also resemble those seen in neurodegenerative diseases.

Large-scale studies across the Nature journals create one of the world’s most comprehensive single-cell atlases of Alzheimer’s disease and related neuropsychiatric conditions

The colorings, additives and preservatives added to food products, as well as food processing techniques, are a source of great concern in 2026 because they are ubiquitous worldwide, yet the effects of these items on metabolic health are not fully understood. In addition, researchers are increasingly investigating how these dietary items may also affect the brain as people age. Dr. Owen Carmichael of LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center is helping advance that understanding through a new comprehensive look at the potential relationship between ultraprocessed foods – those featuring extensive processing and additives – and the aging brain.

Brain science is entering an era in which single-cell, single-nucleus, spatial, and multimodal omics can be interpreted within a shared biological framework. Recent studies have extended brain atlases across developmental stages, populations, cell classes, brain regions, and species, while emphasizing that increasing scale or resolution does not by itself establish functional relevance. Dynamic comparisons, joint profiling of genome organization, chromatin accessibility, DNA methylation, RNA, metabolites, lipids, and glycans, and targeted perturbation experiments provide complementary means to test candidate regulatory relationships. Applications in neurodevelopmental disorders, Alzheimer's disease, pediatric high-grade glioma, and intracortical neuroengineering illustrate how multi-omics can connect molecular states with disease progression, cellular interactions, and tissue responses. Interpretation nevertheless depends on the biological material, study population, disease stage, and experimental model; findings from postmortem tissue, patient samples, organoids, and animal models should not be treated as interchangeable. Progress toward clinically useful discovery will require complete metadata, transparent analytical procedures, independent corroboration, and clear distinction between association, prioritization, and functional testing.