EurekAlert! National Institutes of Health

Latest news releases from NIH-funded organizations

Funded Research News

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 27-Oct-2026 08:16 ET (27-Oct-2026 12:16 GMT/UTC)

24-Jun-2026

This single well-known and widespread butterfly is actually three species in disguise

Florida Museum of Natural History
Peer-Reviewed Publication

The genus Colobura is one of the most abundant and conspicuous butterflies in Central and South America, and for 200 years, it was thought to contain a single species. Turns out there's at least three, though you have to look at their caterpillars to easily distinguish them.

Journal: Zootaxa
Funder: Welch Foundation, Canada’s New Frontiers in Research Fund, the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s Major Science Infrastructure program, BioAlfa, Project UNET (Universidad Nacional Experimental del Táchira)

24-Jun-2026

How do bilingual brains navigate between languages? Scientists discover ‘geometric neural map’

Rice University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new study by researchers at Rice and Baylor reveals that the brain maintains a geometric neural “map” for meaning that allows multilingual speakers to express themselves across languages.

Journal: Cell
Funder: Robert and Janice McNair Foundation, Gordon and Mary Cain Pediatric Neurology Research Foundation

24-Jun-2026

Bilingual brains use a shared concept map between languages

Cell Press
Peer-Reviewed Publication

For many bilingual people, switching between languages feels effortless. Now, scientists have figured out how bilingual brains accomplish this feat at the single neuron level.

In a study publishing on June 24 in the Cell Press journal Cell, researchers reveal that bilingual brains store concepts in a mental map that spans both languages. Using language-specific neurons to read the multilingual map, the brain can switch languages smoothly while also keeping them distinct.

Journal: Cell
Funder: McNair Foundation, SNS Allan Friedman RUNN Research Grant, Gordon and Mary Cain Pediatric Neurology Research Foundation, National Research Foundation of South Korea

24-Jun-2026

Personalized brain imaging may improve outcomes for treatment-resistant depression

Brigham and Women's Hospital
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A new randomized clinical trial from investigators at Mass General Brigham’s Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychiatry suggests that using personalized brain imaging to guide transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) may improve outcomes for people with treatment-resistant depression. Results are published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Journal: JAMA Psychiatry
Funder: Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, Harvard Medical School, Sidney R. Baer, Jr. Foundation, Baszucki Brain Research Fund, Mass General Brigham Women’s Brain Initiative, Mass General Brigham Accelerator Award

24-Jun-2026

Catching a virus...on purpose

Drexel University

Medical advancements over the last several decades have made great strides in the treatment of HIV. Pharmaceutical treatments are able to contain and reduce a patient’s viral load to the point where it is nearly undetectable. But a cure remains frustratingly elusive due to the virus’s ability to evade the immune system. Researchers from Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania, who specialize in modulating immune responses, have offered a new approach — one that’s likely familiar to anyone who has dealt with pest removal: setting a trap.

Journal: Biomaterials