Rockville: A new study may have unlocked understanding of a mysterious part of the brain — with implications for neurodegenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s. The results, published in Translational Vision Science & Technology (TVST), open up new areas of research in the pursuit of neuroprotective therapies.

Washington: For smokers, the number of cigarettes smoked per day and current body mass index are predictive of changes in weight after quitting smoking, according to researchers at Penn State College of Medicine.

Adelaide: University of Adelaide researchers have discovered a high-fat diet may impair important receptors located in the stomach that signal fullness.

Washington: The arguments were nothing new for the 43 couples who participated in a recent study of how marital stress affects appetite and eating patterns. Hostile exchanges were all too frequent for them, especially when certain topics came up.

Rochester: Dosing obese teens with vitamin D shows no benefits for their heart health or diabetes risk, and could have the unintended consequences of increasing cholesterol and fat-storing triglycerides. These are the latest findings in a series of Mayo Clinic studies in childhood obesity.

Columbus: Researchers have discovered a way to trigger a preventive response to a flu infection without any help from the usual players – the virus itself or interferon, a powerful infection fighter.