Why is ADHD having a moment on social media?

October is ADHD Awareness Month, and the disorder has rarely been more visible—or more discussed—online.

Kevin Antshel, professor of psychology at Syracuse University and director of the PhD Program in Clinical Psychology, studies how ADHD is diagnosed, treated, and understood across the lifespan, including how it overlaps with conditions like anxiety, autism, and learning disorders.

Here, Antshel shared his perspective on why ADHD is getting more attention now, what still gets lost in the conversation, and what to know if you or someone you love has been newly diagnosed:

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Eggshells help make stronger, lighter metal alloys

Researchers have demonstrated a technique that uses powdered eggshells to produce high-quality magnesium alloys.

These alloys have a wide variety of automotive, aerospace, and biomedical applications.

The eggshells are used as a low-cost, environmentally sustainable alternative to conventional calcium materials, which are manufactured from ore using an energy-intensive process.

Calcium materials, such as calcium carbonate and calcium oxide, are used in a wide variety of applications.

“For example, calcium carbonate and calcium oxide are important materials for manufacturing metal alloys,” says Bharat Gwalani, corresponding author of a paper on the work and an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at North Carolina State University.

“But producing those calcium materials relies on a complex process making use of mined materials. We’ve demonstrated a technique that allows us to skip a step. Rather than processing ore to make calcium materials and then using those materials to produce metals or metal alloys, we’ve shown that you can produce a high-quality metal alloy using eggshells.”

Eggshells are 95% calcium carbonate, and the process the researchers use to incorporate the eggshell into alloys converts it into calcium oxide and nascent calcium.

“There are many benefits to this,” Gwalani says. “There are fewer steps. You have a reliable, sustainable supply chain. Eggshells are inexpensive. And you use far less energy, because you do not have to go through the process of creating calcium products from ore.”

For this proof-of-concept work, the researchers used eggshells to produce stronger, harder magnesium alloys, which have a combination of strength and weight that makes them useful for things like electronics and aerospace equipment.

“Calcium is added to magnesium to improve its mechanical properties,” says Gwalani. “We wanted to see if we could use biogenic waste—eggshells—to produce the necessary calcium materials during the manufacturing process.”

For this process, the researchers begin by drilling a series of evenly spaced holes into a cylindrical block of magnesium. Those holes are then filled with finely ground eggshells. This block is then placed into a steel cylinder. A steel mandrel with a hole in the center is then lowered into the cylinder. The mandrel essentially serves as a pestle in a mortar, pressing down on the magnesium block and spinning at 300 rotations per minute.

This process is called friction stir extrusion. As the mandrel presses down and spins, several things happen at about the same time. The eggshell powder is mixed into the surrounding magnesium, creating friction between the particles of eggshell and the metal. This friction converts the calcium carbonate into calcium oxide and calcium—and produces the high-strength alloy Mg2Ca. Lastly, the downward pressure of the mandrel forces the magnesium alloy out through the hole, producing an extruded rod of the finished product.

“This work shows that you can produce high-value, high-quality magnesium alloys using an inexpensive, sustainable, biogenic waste material,” says Gwalani. “This is a scalable, energy-efficient, and environmentally responsible way to produce magnesium-based composites using biogenic waste materials.

“And we’ve already demonstrated that this approach has applications beyond magnesium and eggshells,” Gwalani says. “We demonstrated earlier this year that you can use the same approach—friction stir extrusion—to produce magnetic composites by grinding magnetic samarium-cobalt (SmCo5) powder into scrap aluminum.”

The paper appears in the Journal of Magnesium and Alloys.

Additional coauthors of the paper are from NC State, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the City University of Hong Kong, and the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi.

This work was done with support from the Office of Naval Research Global and from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Source: North Carolina State University

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Listen: How nature helps your brain recharge

In a new podcast, an expert digs into how nature helps the brain recharge.

Hala Darwish is an associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Nursing and neurology department at Michigan Medicine and assistant dean for community culture at the School of Nursing. Her research integrates neuroscience, mental health, and nursing, with a particular focus on cognitive and emotional functioning among people living with neurologic and psychiatric conditions.

Darwish’s work explores innovative solutions for cognitive impairment, mood disorders, and health disparities, including the use of nature-based virtual reality to bring the restorative power of the outdoors to people who cannot easily access it.

Below, Darwish joins the Michigan Minds podcast to discuss how our surroundings shape how we feel and how well we think. She explains why everyday green spaces—a garden, a neighborhood park, trees along a street—deserve far more attention and how nature can help the brain recover from the constant demands of modern life:

Read the transcript of this episode.

Source: University of Michigan

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OCD brain circuit discovery could pave way for new treatments

New research that identifies a previously unknown brain circuit involved in the obsessive-compulsive disorder process could be a key step to developing treatments that directly target certain brain regions to better control the condition.

Treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a mental health condition characterized by distressing and uncontrollable thoughts accompanied by repetitive behaviors, has centered on psychotherapy and medicines to curb symptoms.

Published in the journal Neuron and led by Joshua L. Plotkin, associate professor in the neurobiology and behavior department in the Renaissance School of Medicine (RSOM) at Stony Brook University, the research is based on a mouse model. While the full capacity of a human brain is quite different from that of a mouse, their brains share strikingly similar structures and regional organizational principles.

This work involved using sensory stimuli to cause a mouse to make a behavioral action. During experimentation, Dr. Plotkin and his colleagues focused on two areas of the brain—the amygdala, a brain region that processes emotionally important experiences such as fear and anxiety, and the dorsolateral striatum (DLS), a region important for habitual and automatic behaviors.

The research team discovered that the amygdala directly connects to and influences the DLS, a connection not identified in previous research.

This is because the connection originates from only a small number of amygdala neurons, a scenario easy to overlook.

By using new imaging tools to functionally map brain circuits at the single synapse level, Zachary Hobel, the study’s first author and postdoctoral fellow in the neurobiology and behavior department, found that although it’s small, the amygdala-DLS connection can have an outsized influence over the DLS. Experimental measures and neuronal models confirmed that this connection both amplifies and promotes synaptic plasticity of other inputs to the DLS—inputs that are likely to encode sensory-evoked behaviors.

The team found in this study that repeatedly stimulating inputs from the amygdala to the DLS amplifies sensory-evoked behaviors. And this effect persisted long after the stimulation ended. More specifically, placing a droplet of water on a mouse’s nose prompted the mouse to groom its face. When they stimulated the amygdala-to-DLS circuit while the mouse experienced the water droplet, that same water droplet subsequently caused the mouse to groom for much longer, even after the sensation and brain stimulation had stopped. Remarkably, the mouse continued to respond more strongly to the water, even after the experimental pairing ended.

The researchers further demonstrated that this circuit is stronger, more active, and abnormally regulated in a mouse model of OCD. Therefore, by chronically inhibiting the amygdala in these mice, the researchers prevented OCD-like behavior—a key finding.

“Our study reveals a clear mechanism through which emotionally important experiences may strengthen the connection between sensory cues and actions, and this potentially helps to explain how otherwise normal behaviors can be transformed into compulsive behaviors,” summarizes Plotkin, corresponding author and a researcher affiliated with Stony Brook’s Center for Nervous System Disorders.

Plotkin points out that the mice are a strong model of OCD in that they are responsive to the same common medicines used to treat people with OCD.

He cautions that the exact neuronal connections and dysfunctions being altered and/or corrected with OCD treatments are not fully known, and the specific brain connections and processes underlying OCD are complex. However, the authors conclude that the findings from this study provide important insights into the underpinnings of OCD-like behaviors and identify specific brain circuit dysfunctions—advances that give researchers a new place to look for more precise OCD treatment targets.

Additional collaborators on the research are from RSOM, the National Institutes of Health’s Center on Compulsive Behavior, Laboratory on Neuronal Circuits and Behavior, and National Institute of Mental Health, and the University of Iowa.

The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the National Institute of Mental Health provided funding for the research.

Source: Stony Brook University

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Cancer survivors are less likely to be physically active

Adults with a history of cancer are less likely to be physically active than those without a cancer history, finds a new study.

The study in the journal AJPM Focus analyzed data from more than 2 million US adults collected from 2018-2024.

Researchers from the Brown School and Bursky School of Public Health at Washington University in St. Louis found that physical activity increased among both groups during the study period, but cancer survivors consistently reported lower levels of physical activity.

“Regular physical activity is important to everyone, but even more so for cancer survivors,” says Amy Eyler, a professor at the WashU Brown School and coauthor of the study. “A growing body of evidence suggests that regular physical activity after a cancer diagnosis is associated with many health benefits, including reduction in cancer-related fatigue, overall quality of life, physical fitness and functioning, and improved mental health.”

US guidelines recommend 150 minutes of moderate physical activity each week for adults. But the researchers emphasize that physical activity recommendations for cancer survivors should be individualized based on their health, abilities and treatment effects.

Kim Johnson, a professor at the Brown School and coauthor of the study, says the goal should be to help survivors find activity they can safely incorporate into their lives.

“The American Cancer Society recommends regular physical activity for cancer survivors, but these recommendations are not a one-size-fits-all and are customized to each person’s health, abilities, treatment effects, symptoms and side effects,” Johnson says. “For some survivors, that may mean training for a 5K, but for others it may mean gentle movement or a short walk.”

The findings point to opportunities for health care providers and caregivers to encourage physical activity among cancer survivors. Eyler says providers should discuss physical activity as part of cancer care and offer consistent, evidence-based guidance.

Caregivers also can provide important encouragement and support, she says.

“We know that social support is an important component of exercise initiation and sustainability, so this aspect should be emphasized for cancer survivors,” Eyler says.

Researchers says promoting physical activity remains an important opportunity to improve health and well-being among cancer survivors.

Source: Washington University in St. Louis

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Bullfrog brains have a hidden superpower

Researchers have uncovered a hidden biological superpower in bullfrogs: When their brains run low on energy, they can make their own emergency fuel supply.

That could mean good things for human health.

For decades, scientists believed most animals relied on a steady supply of glucose, the body’s primary fuel source, to power their brains. When glucose runs out, neural activity begins to fail, potentially leading to lasting brain damage.

Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have discovered that bullfrogs don’t follow that fundamental rule. Instead, when glucose becomes scarce, their brains can produce an alternative energy source known as ketone bodies, allowing critical neural functions to continue.

In most animals, ketone bodies are produced in the liver when glucose levels drop during conditions such as fasting, starvation or prolonged exercise. The liver breaks down fatty acids into these energy molecules, which then travel through the bloodstream to organs, including the brain, where they are used as fuel.

But the researchers discovered that bullfrogs can completely bypass that process. Instead of relying entirely on the liver, their brains can generate ketones locally, creating an emergency energy reserve exactly where it’s needed most.

“Scientists generally believe ketones are delivered to the brain from elsewhere in the body,” says Joseph Santin, an associate professor of biological sciences and lead author of the study.

“That’s what makes this discovery so exciting. It’s like finding a backup generator inside a building that everyone assumed had only one power source.”

The finding helps explain how bullfrogs survive one of the most challenging periods of their year. Each winter, they enter a hibernation-like state that slows their metabolism and depletes energy reserves.

By spring, when oxygen and energy stores are running low, the animals must immediately reactivate essential brain circuits that control bodily functions. The newly discovered metabolic backup system may be one reason why they can make that transition so quickly and successfully.

The research builds on years of work in Santin’s lab exploring how frogs endure conditions that would severely damage or even kill most animals. Previous studies revealed that this hibernation-like state helps protect neural circuits during extreme oxygen deprivation. The new findings uncover another layer of that survival strategy: the ability to maintain brain activity when glucose metabolism is compromised.

The discovery also raises important questions about what triggers the switch to ketone production and how long bullfrogs can sustain it. Researchers do not believe the metabolic shift is permanent, but it appears to provide a robust backup system when the brain’s usual energy supply falls short.

While the findings offer new insight into amphibian biology, Santin believes they may also help scientists better understand the human brain because bullfrogs and humans share many of the same fundamental biological processes.

By revealing how brains adapt when energy supplies become limited, the research could open new avenues for studying neurological disorders linked to impaired energy metabolism, including Alzheimer’s disease, ALS, and schizophrenia.

The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Source: University of Missouri

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Hidden brain region helps regulate metabolism

A new study identifies the first known function of an understudied brain region that helps coordinate how the body responds to cold temperatures and regulates metabolic health.

When the body’s temperature falls, it adapts by burning more energy to generate heat and triggering appetite to replace the fuel used to stay warm.

While scientists have known about those responses for decades, precisely how the brain coordinates that process has remained unclear.

New research led by University of South Florida Health’s Yong Xu uncovered new clues to that puzzle in a little-studied region of the brain.

In a study in Neuron, researchers working in non-human models identified a previously unknown brain circuit that turns a drop in temperature into a coordinated response regulating eating, heat production, and energy use in the body.

The discovery represents the first known function of a previously underexamined brain region in the back part of the hypothalamus called the dorsal posterior periventricular hypothalamic nucleus, or dPVp, a region that has received little attention by researchers.

“We identified a very understudied brain region and then found the first function for that brain region,” says Xu, professor in the psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences department at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and director of the Center for Molecular Psychiatry.

“The basic function of the dPVp is to sense temperature fluctuations and then coordinate a comprehensive set of behaviors or metabolic changes to deal with cold exposure.”

The study shows that dPVp functions as a cold-response control center in the brain, becoming highly active when body temperatures drop and activating neurons that intensify the desire to eat and increase the body’s ability to up its heat production.

To determine the region’s function, researchers experimentally manipulated activity of cold-responsive neurons within the dPVp, revealing its central role in coordinating the body’s behavioral and metabolic responses to cold exposure.

Activating dPVp neurons produced unexpected metabolic effects, Xu says, increasing the drive to consume more food while also burning more energy, helping prevent weight gain, and improve glucose regulation.

The study also identified a biological “cold sensor” protein within dPVp neurons helping brain cells detect the cold and coordinate the body’s response.

Known as KCNK2 or TREK-1, this cold sensor offers researchers a potential new target for developing drug therapies that could mimic the metabolic benefits associated with a response to cold exposure.

“One of the future directions is to use that as a drug target to try to develop highly selective inhibitors for KCNK2 as a future medicine,” says Hailan Liu, faculty member in the USF Health Center for Molecular Psychiatry and first author on the study.

The findings could hold long-term implications for treating obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other metabolic disorders. While many current approaches focus on reducing appetite, future treatments could instead target the newly identified pathway to improve metabolic function by helping the body burn and use more energy.

“If successful treatments were developed targeting the cold sensor, we wouldn’t have to expose people to cold temperatures to achieve those benefits,” Xu says. “One could maintain metabolic health without dieting.”

Source: University of South Florida

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