Explore current research and scientific developments curated by Seven Reflections. This section serves as our future home for official press releases - bridging the gap between discovery, structure, and meaning across science and society.
Preventing psychosis depends on spotting risk before the first episode arrives. For years, the CAARMS interview has been the gold standard - but its length made it difficult to use outside specialized clinics. Now researchers have developed the mini-CAARMS, a short version that cuts time dramatically while keeping the same power to detect who is truly at risk.
When we face the unknown, the brain does something remarkable: it lets itself wander. Neural activity grows more variable, as if entertaining many possible realities at once. But as evidence accumulates and clarity emerges, that variability compresses. A new study shows this quieting of the brain is not random - it is the hidden signal of belief taking shape.
Death is universal, but its predictors are not. Using explainable AI, researchers show how age, gender, and inequality dominate across countries - yet the specific risks of smoking, income, or occupation shift with culture and context.
Stress hormones pulse through the body in waves. New research shows these rhythms keep brain receptors sensitive by balancing activation and recovery - a discovery that could reshape how we understand stress, resilience, and steroid therapy.
A biscuit that calms anxiety? A date that strengthens decision-making? Emerging research suggests probiotics can act as psychobiotics - microbes that influence cognition through the gut - brain axis. Food may become the most direct way to feed the mind.
Depression may not just alter mood - it may distort the very way the brain learns from reward and loss. A new commentary in Brain explores how unipolar and bipolar depression show distinct learning impairments, and why computational psychiatry could unlock new diagnostic and treatment pathways.
Sleepless nights may leave more than tired eyes - they may shape life-or-death outcomes. A groundbreaking study following more than 8,500 British teenagers shows that poor sleep in early adolescence significantly increases the risk of suicide attempts just three years later.
Urban squirrels may be clever, but city life comes with hidden costs. A new Finnish study shows that human presence and everyday activities - from playground noise to dog walking - significantly reduce red squirrels' problem-solving abilities, revealing how our daily habits shape wildlife cognition.
Apathy is often overlooked in Parkinson's disease, yet it can transform daily life more profoundly than tremors or stiffness. A new study following hundreds of patients reveals that apathy progression is tied to both gray matter atrophy and white matter damage, especially in the brain's motivation circuits. Beyond the scans, these findings help explain why loved ones sometimes withdraw, lose interest, or seem unlike themselves. Apathy is not laziness - it is a measurable, biological shift that challenges how we understand illness, personality, and even the human approach to life's final stages.
