Today's children are absorbing screens at scales no previous generation has known, during the precise developmental windows when neural architecture is most malleable. A new Thought Leaders Invited Review in Brain Health offers a framework for understanding what that means. Michel Cuenod, Julio Licinio, and Kim Q. Do introduce the criticome: the complete ensemble of sensory, motor, social, cultural, and environmental experience integrated by the brain during critical periods from before birth through roughly age twenty-five. The synthesis grounds the term in six neurobiological mechanisms and reframes autism, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress, and major depression as developmental rather than purely synaptic disorders.

Researchers from The University of Osaka found that nanomicelle-mediated delivery of five mRNAs involved in angiogenesis, heart cell contraction, immune and hematopoietic stem cell recruitment, and immune response suppression promoted cardiac repair and increased overall survival in a mouse model of myocardial infarction–induced heart failure. These findings suggest that a multifactorial treatment approach effectively addresses the complex nature of heart failure and could aid new treatments in regenerative medicine for cardiovascular disease.

Researchers at Ajou University School of Medicine have successfully created the world's first pure cerebral microbleed model by targeting brain vascular collagen IV. The breakthrough uncovers how these microbleeds drive cognitive declin and found a genetic link from 836 Korean human patients.

Elli Theobald, University of Washington assistant professor of biology, aims to connect the biology concepts her students learn in class to real-world issues, something she hopes will help both retain students in the biology major at the UW and help non-majors in the class with their future careers. How common is it for educational materials — such as guidelines or test questions — to include connections to society? In a recent paper, Theobald and her team examined almost 3,000 science guidelines and assessment questions from 16 sources to answer this question. Of the approximately 200 elements — about 7% — that had real-world implications, many discussed ethics and public health issues.