Bans on teenagers’ social media use are gathering pace worldwide. Their proponents claim that social media bans will improve young people’s mental health, but what evidence supports these claims? In their new Frontiers in Developmental Psychology article, Dr Monika Neff Lind and her co-authors argue that there is no solid scientific evidence behind these bans, and reason to believe they could backfire. In this guest editorial, Neff Lind explains why she and her colleagues doubt that social media bans will work, and how bans should be evaluated to determine whether they have any positive effects.

For the first time, researchers found blood biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease that correlated with minor cognitive differences in midlife adults who did not have dementia. The study, led by UC San Francisco, also found that the biomarkers, which measure tau and amyloid plaque, were associated with a greater chance of cognitive decline in these participants.  

A University of California, Riverside-led study has found that heavily used high-puff electronic cigarettes may contain higher levels of harmful chemicals than fresh e-cigarettes, raising concerns about potential health risks for users.