Adolescents often sleep less than recommended and have substantially different sleep patterns between weekdays and weekends. Their mismatch in sleep timing between school and free days, known as social jet lag, has been linked to adverse physical, cognitive, and mental health outcomes, though the mechanisms have been poorly understood. In a first of its kind study, published in the journal SLEEP, researchers from Boston Children’s Hospital and Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital have found that social jetlag has widespread negative effects on fundamental aspects of the developing brain's function and structure, impacting areas of the brain that support processes such as emotional regulation and social function.

A new computational approach can uncover gene interactions that influence complex human traits. Using large genome-trait datasets, researchers found that genetic background significantly changes how individual variants affect traits.

Rising sea levels along coastlines not only threaten populations, but also pose a danger to agricultural crops, which may be damaged by surging amounts of saltwater. Researchers have, in response, sought to improve salt-tolerance in plants. An international team of scientists now reports the identification of cell traits that are critical to tolerating saltwater inundation—a finding that potentially offers new pathways for creating plants that can survive in harsh environments.

Balance training patients may soon be able to get AI feedback during home exercises, with four wearable sensors and a new machine learning model developed at the University of Michigan.