Hybrid VR and Nerve Stimulation Doubles Stroke Recovery

 Still not 100% recovery, so still a failure! The only goal in stroke is 100% recovery

Hybrid VR and Nerve Stimulation Doubles Stroke Recovery

Summary: Stroke remains a primary driver of long-term adult disability globally. Even when survivors undergo intensive early-stage physical therapy, immense numbers continue to struggle with permanent upper limb deficits, experiencing a profound loss of hand dexterity, blunted sensory perception, and distorted body ownership.

While standard rehabilitation routines can slowly improve basic muscle mechanics, they almost exclusively prioritize raw movement training. This leaves underlying sensory deficits and altered body awareness virtually unaddressed, leaving a critical structural gap in comprehensive neuro-rehabilitation strategy.

To close this therapeutic gap, an international engineering coalition developed MultiSensy, a personalized rehabilitation platform that seamlessly merges immersive virtual reality (VR) with real-time transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). Rather than treating movement in a vacuum, MultiSensy pairs targeted digital tasks (such as reaching, grasping, and pinching) with synchronized skin electrodes that physically recreate the tactile sensation of touching virtual objects.

Key Facts

• The Hybrid MultiSensy Array: MultiSensy combines an immersive, task-based VR environment with real-time skin electrodes that stimulate peripheral nerves, enabling stroke survivors to physically feel the shape, position, and texture of virtual digital objects.
• Doubling Motor Recovery Rate: On the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA-UE)—the global clinical gold standard for measuring post-stroke upper limb motor recovery—the MultiSensy group demonstrated nearly twice the structural improvement seen in the conventional control group.
• Everyday Functional Gains: Participants using the sensory-VR platform achieved massive functional leaps on the Action Research Arm Test (ARAT), proving that the combined training transfers directly into everyday life activities like forearm rotation and pinching.
• Healing Altered Body Somatognosis: Beyond restoring motor control, the real-time electrical feedback successfully repaired touch deficits and reduced body schema distortions, such as patients perceiving their paralyzed arm as warped in size, shape, or space.
• Continuous Kinematic Data Logging: The MultiSensy platform functions as an active diagnostic tool, continuously harvesting precise movement and trajectory data during gameplay to supply clinicians with automated, objective indicators of recovery.
• Chronic-Phase Efficacy: The clinical trial confirms that sensory-motor integration can successfully trigger neuroplastic recovery in chronic stroke patients long after the acute event (greater than three months post-stroke), clearing a pathway for future home-based, decentralized therapy.

Source: University of Vienna

Stroke is one of the leading causes of long-term disability worldwide. Even after intensive early physiotherapy, many stroke survivors continue to live with reduced arm and hand function, impaired sensation and altered body awareness long after the initial event.

While conventional rehabilitation can improve motor functions, it often focuses primarily on movement training, instead sensory deficits and body awareness are frequently given insufficient attention. There is therefore a need for more comprehensive rehabilitation strategies.

Combining immersive tasks with electrotactile feedback accelerates upper limb motor recovery by closing the brain’s processing loop. Credit: Neuroscience News

Personalised training in a virtual environment

To address this need, a research team led by Stanisa Raspopovic (Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, MedUni Vienna) has developed “MultiSensy”, a rehabilitation platform for patients with arm and hand impairments following a stroke, which combines immersive virtual reality with transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. The system turns rehabilitation exercises into interactive virtual tasks designed to train specific arm and hand functions, including reaching, grasping, pinching, and forearm rotation. 

At the same time, electrodes attached to their skin stimulate the nerves in real time, allowing participants to feel virtual objects as if they were physically touching them. Inspired by occupational therapy principles, the games can be adapted to each participant’s impairment level, allowing training to be both targeted and engaging.

“Our aim was to go beyond mere movement training,” says study leader Stanisa Raspopovic. “After a stroke, patients often have difficulty not only moving the affected limb, but also feeling it and perceiving it correctly. MultiSensy was developed to reconnect movement, sensation and body awareness during rehabilitation.” (Fixing proprioception then!)

The system was tested on 34 patients who had suffered a stroke more than three months before the study. Some participants trained using MultiSensy: they wore VR goggles and performed arm and hand exercises in a digital training environment designed to simulate everyday tasks. The control group received conventional rehabilitation, including physiotherapy and occupational therapy. Both groups completed a three-week rehabilitation protocol consisting of twelve training sessions. The clinical examinations were supported by a team from the Faculty of Medicine in Belgrade.

Improvements in function and body perception 

The study showed greater improvements in arm and hand recovery in participants treated with MultiSensy than in those receiving conventional rehabilitation. In the Fugl-Meyer Assessment for the upper limb, a standard measure of motor impairment after stroke, the MultiSensy group showed nearly twice the improvement observed in the control group. Similar benefits were also seen in the Action Research Arm Test, which evaluates how well patients can use their arm and hand in everyday functional tasks. But motor disability is just a part of the problem.

“After a stroke, some patients struggle to feel touch in their affected hand and may even perceive the arm as distorted in size, shape, or position. Participants treated with the new system showed improvements in their sense of touch and in perception of their affected arm,” adds lead author Valerio Aurucci (ETH Zurich).

Furthermore, the platform collects movement data during training, providing objective indicators of rehabilitation progress. This allows patients’ performance and recovery to be monitored over time, helping clinicians to assess progress more precisely and adapt therapy for each individual.

“The results provide early clinical evidence that immersive virtual reality combined with sensory nerve stimulation can support recovery after stroke, even after months from the event”, says Stanisa Raspopovic.

“The technology is still at the research stage, and larger clinical trials are needed to confirm its benefits. However, the study opens a promising perspective for future personalised and potentially home-based stroke rehabilitation.”

Key Questions Answered:

Q: Why does adding tactile electrical simulation to a VR game make a stroke survivor’s paralyzed arm recover twice as fast?

A: When a stroke damages the brain’s motor networks, it doesn’t just interrupt the signals going out to the muscles; it also breaks the sensory pathways coming back in. Traditional therapy focuses on moving the limb, but without sensory feedback, the brain struggles to map out and rewire the damaged circuits. MultiSensy fixes this by closing the sensory-motor loop. When a patient reaches out in VR and grabs a digital cup, electrodes instantly stimulate their skin nerves to mimic the physical touch. This combined blast of visual intent and tactile reality forces the brain’s remaining pathways to undergo accelerated neuroplasticity, effectively doubling the speed of motor recovery.

(Margaret Yekutiel wrote a whole book about this in 2001, 'Sensory Re-Education of the Hand After Stroke'. Does your incompetent? doctor and therapists even know about it?)

Q: What is a “distorted body schema,” and how does this technology help fix it after a stroke?

A: Following a stroke, the brain can lose its internal map of the body, a condition known as distorted body somatognosis. Because the brain is no longer receiving healthy baseline signals from the affected limb, patients often perceive their arm as a dead weight, or even visualize it as warped, swollen, or structurally altered in size and position. By immersing patients in a virtual environment where they see a healthy digital arm moving perfectly in tandem with their real-world attempts, while simultaneously feeling accurate touch bursts, MultiSensy anchors the brain back to reality. This multi-sensory synchronization recalibrates the brain’s internal map, restoring an accurate sense of touch and limb ownership.

Q: Is this technology ready for stroke patients to use at home right now?

A: Currently, MultiSensy is still in its advanced research and clinical validation phase, meaning it isn’t quite ready for commercial purchase or deployment in home kitchens. While this initial 34-patient clinical trial delivered phenomenal proof-of-concept evidence, larger and more diverse clinical trials are required to fully clear safety and regulatory hurdles. However, because the system relies on portable VR headsets and standard transcutaneous skin electrodes rather than massive, hospital-locked robotic exoskeletons, the ultimate goal of the research team is to scale this into an affordable, home-based, personalized telerehabilitation system.

Editorial Notes:

• This article was edited by a Neuroscience News editor.
• Journal paper reviewed in full.
• Additional context added by our staff.

About this stroke and neurotech research news

Author: Karin Kirschbichler
Source: University of Vienna
Contact: Karin Kirschbichler – University of Vienna
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: Open access.

“Immersive virtual reality with synchronous neurostimulation for upper-limb recovery after stroke: a randomized feasibility trial” by Giuseppe Valerio Aurucci, Olivera Djordjevic, Andrea Cimolato, Natalija Secerovic, Tijana Dimkic Tomic, Maria Dolores Ardura Carnicero, Haotian Yao, Ljubica Konstantinovic & Stanisa Raspopovic. Nature Medicine
DOI:10.1038/s41591-026-04486-4

The no. 1 thing you can do to keep your brain healthy, according to a neurologist

 This requires your competent? doctor to get the dietician to CREATE AN EXACT DIET PROTOCOL! 

Is your board of directors incompetent for not recognizing incompetence in their hospital?

The no. 1 thing you can do to keep your brain healthy, according to a neurologist

The brain is the most complex organ in the body. It regulates everything from body temperature to memories to breathing and generates thousands of thoughts every day.

So, how do we keep our gray-and-white matter in top form?

Health: New Study Reveals When The ‘Adulthood’ Brain Phase Actually Starts — And It’s Way Later Than You Think

That’s what we — Raj Punjabi and Noah Michelson, the co-hosts of HuffPost’s “Am I Doing It Wrong?” podcast — asked Dr. Madhureeta Achari, a neurologist in independent practice for 30 years, when she recently dropped by our studio.

Listen to the full episode by pressing play:

Achari said the “No. 1 reason” for many of the problems she sees in patients is that they are “nutritionally deficient.”

The United States is suffering from “high-calorie malnutrition,” she noted, which means individuals are eating a lot of food but aren’t getting the vitamins and minerals they require from it.

Health: 5 Unusual Things Neurologists Do Every Day To Lower Their Risk Of Dementia

“The brain has to have a balanced diet,” she said. “In terms of vitamins ... each of them does something. It’s like a finely tuned machine. So you can’t just fix one part, right? It’s like a car. If everything’s great, but one tire is flat, the car is still not going to go.”

Achari advised that if trying to get everything we need to keep our brains in superb shape feels “overwhelming,” we should concentrate on “eating the rainbow.” 

“[We should be eating] lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains — I think 90% of us, or something, consume most of our grains in an ultra-refined form. We need to go back to whole grains, whole foods, meats, fish, poultry that is whole ... and you want some dairy, and you want some nuts and seeds ... and you want to try to, throughout your day, get all of those things.”

Achari tells her patients to avoid supplements that claim to enhance brain function and instead focus on nutrition. 

Health: A New Study Revealed Doing This Highly Enjoyable Activity Every Day Could Lower Your Dementia Risk

“They don’t help you,” she said, noting that the “wellness industrial complex” has promoted the “weird idea that somehow we are smarter than our bodies.”

Related video: Challenging your brain helps keep it healthy. Here's how to do it (The Associated Press)“We are not smarter than our bodies,” she emphasized. “Our ancestors lived a certain way, they ate a certain way, they did certain things, and that’s the reason we exist today.”So, if you want to keep your brain as healthy as possible, “feed your cells” a wide variety of foods full of micronutrients daily, Achari said, and chew your food well.

“Eating means chewing,” she told us. “There’s this new culture of smoothies where everything goes into the gut before your teeth have ever chewed it. Teeth are the first part of the digestive system.”

Health: 14 Popular 'Healthy' Habits From 2025 That Aren't Actually Healthy

Chewing activates enzymes in your mouth like amylase, which helps break down the food and ”[wakes up] your microbiome to get ready to consume and absorb all the things that we need to absorb.”

We also chatted about how alcohol and cannabis can affect our brains (and what Achari always does after treating herself to a martini), what kind of exercise she recommends, and much more.

For more from Achari, visit her website.

I’m a surgeon and gut health expert—the No. 1 magical food I eat every day for a longer life

 Alcohol is fermented but surely that doesn't count; See this

There May Be No Safe Amount of Booze When It Comes to Dementia Risk

Safest level of alcohol consumption is none, worldwide study shows

My succinct comments here: for more details you can read my vast number of posts.

Smarter People Tend To Drink More Alcohol. 

Men must drink with male friends twice a week to stay healthy, study finds

• alcohol (209 posts to December 2011) 

I’m a surgeon and gut health expert—the No. 1 magical food I eat every day for a longer life

As a heart surgeon, people often ask what supplements I take. I tell them that yes, targeted ones can help, but the daily habit that consistently delivers real results for my patients and me are fermented foods.

Fermented foods don't come with a trendy label or a miracle marketing claim, but they do something far more important: support the trillions of microbes living in your gut, which influence digestion, immunity, metabolism and inflammation. All these factors play a major role in how fast we age.

Modern nutrition tends to focus on macros, calories and willpower. In my experience, that's backwards. The real question is whether you're feeding the ecosystem inside you.

Forget supplements. Here's what makes fermented foods magical

Your gut is made up of an entire community. When that community is diverse and resilient, it helps your gut lining stay strong and your immune system respond appropriately rather than overreact.

Fermented foods can shift the environment in your gut in a direction that supports better balance. 

You don't need to start fermenting vegetables in mason jars to get the benefits. A few simple choices can make fermented foods a daily habit. Of course, you should always check with your health provider before making any drastic changes to your diet.

1. Coffee and tea

Yeah, yeah, yeah!

Most people don't realize coffee beans are fermented during processing, and many teas are, too. This matters because fermentation reduces bitterness and makes plant compounds, especially polyphenols, more available. Your gut bacteria thrive on polyphenols, and for many people, coffee and tea are the easiest daily sources.

As for coffee, lighter roasts contain more polyphenols. I always avoid adding milk or cream to my tea or coffee because dairy binds to polyphenols, reducing their benefits. If you want a creamier drink, choose a nut milk like walnut or hazelnut.

2. Kombucha

If you want an intentionally fermented drink, kombucha can be a smart option — as long as you choose wisely. Many brands are essentially soda in disguise. 

Look for low sugar (under 5 grams), real tea and no fruit juice "cover-ups." A small serving can provide organic acids and compounds that support gut diversity. The key is to treat kombucha like a tool, not something you sip all day.

3. Yogurt (goat or sheep)

At breakfast, yogurt is one of the most accessible fermented foods, but the type matters. I prefer unsweetened goat or sheep yogurt over most conventional cow yogurt.

One reason is that most cow dairy products contain A1 beta-casein, a protein that can break down into compounds that may promote inflammation and increase gut permeability in susceptible people, even those who think they tolerate dairy.

A2 dairy is generally a better option than standard A1, but goat and sheep are still my first choice for daily use. And skip flavored yogurt. If it tastes like dessert, it functions like dessert.

4. Kefir

Kefir is an even bigger upgrade. It contains strains of beneficial bacteria, plus beneficial yeasts and organic acids that support gut balance. If yogurt is the entry point, kefir is fermented on steroids. As with yogurt, choose unsweetened versions and, when possible, goat, sheep or water kefir.

5. Fermented vegetables (sauerkraut and kimchi)

If I had to name the single most powerful daily fermented food, it would be fermented vegetables, especially sauerkraut and kimchi. These foods deliver beneficial bacteria along with fermentation byproducts that can support gut barrier function and immune signaling.

When you buy them, ideally choose raw, unpasteurized versions from the refrigerated section. But don't shy away from the regular jars and cans; they are just as good. You don't need a lot. Start with a forkful a day.

Dr. Steven Gundry, MD, is a former cardiac surgeon, founder of GundryMD, and author of the bestselling books "The Gut-Brain Paradox″ and "The Plant Paradox." For over two decades, his research has focused on the microbiome's role in chronic disease and longevity. He received his degrees from Yale University and the Medical College of Georgia, and completed his surgical residency at the University of Michigan. Follow him on Instagram @drstevengundry.

Want to get ahead at work? Then you need to learn how to make effective small talk. In CNBC's new online course, How To Talk To People At Work, expert instructors share practical strategies to help you use everyday conversations to gain visibility, build meaningful relationships and accelerate your career growth.

Statins may trigger muscle side effects by activating inflammatory danger signals

 Friends have discontinued statins because of side effects and always have never been believed.

• statin side effects (69 posts to December 2012)

Statins may trigger muscle side effects by activating inflammatory danger signals

New experimental findings reveal how statins may push vulnerable muscle cells into a stress state, suggesting future strategies to reduce muscle symptoms without compromising cardiovascular protection.

A recent study published in the journal Science Advances uncovered biological mechanisms that drive muscle-related side effects following statin therapy. The researchers found that statins reduced isoprenoid production, protein prenylation, and yes-associated protein (YAP) signaling.

In experimental models, statins also activated nucleotide-binding domain, leucine-rich-containing family, pyrin domain-containing-3 (NLRP3) inflammasomes, promoted nuclear forkhead box O (FOXO) accumulation, and increased caspase-1 activity. These alterations increased atrogin-1 levels, promoted muscle atrophy, and reduced muscle function in experimental models. By better defining these pathways, the findings could inform future strategies to reduce statin-associated muscle effects while preserving cardiovascular benefit.

Healthcare providers routinely prescribe statin medications to people with lipid imbalances, such as elevated low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels. These medications help reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and death. However, some statin users experience muscle pain and weakness. Due to these side effects, they may take reduced doses or discontinue the drug altogether. These side effects may occur even when routine blood tests do not show evidence of muscle injury. However, the biological mechanisms underlying them are unclear. Most previous studies examined complications such as severe muscle toxicity and extensive muscle breakdown (rhabdomyolysis), but these are rarely observed among statin users.

About the Study

In the present study, researchers investigated why some people develop statin myopathy, or muscle-related side effects, following statin therapy. They developed a model of mild statin-related muscle problems for analysis. They exposed mouse muscle cells (C2C12 myotubes) to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a bacterial component that stimulates the immune system. These LPS-primed cells developed an inflammasome-primed state and became much more sensitive to statins.

With LPS priming, a clinically relevant dose (1 μM) of fluvastatin increased atrogin-1 expression, an effect usually observed with 10 μM of the drug in cells without priming. As a result, lower statin doses could trigger molecular changes associated with muscle atrophy. Within 24 hours, atrogin-1 increased, followed by a decrease in muscle fiber diameter over 48 hours. In LPS-injected, statin-fed wild-type (WT) mice, fluvastatin reduced grip strength even though muscle mass did not decrease significantly, resembling the mild weakness experienced by many statin users. Human-derived muscle cells exposed to LPS and fluvastatin showed a reduction in actin alpha 1, skeletal muscle (ACTA1)-positive areas, indicating muscle-cell atrophy.

To investigate whether the muscle-related problems were due to cholesterol reduction or isoprenoid loss, the team added back an isoprenoid, geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate (GG). They then used 25-hydroxycholesterol to restore cellular cholesterol levels. They also used small interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) to reduce NLRP3 expression and MCC950 to inhibit NLRP3 inflammasome activity. The researchers compared the findings in WT mice, mice lacking the NLRP3 gene, and human-induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived myoblasts. Most mechanistic experiments focused on fluvastatin, although atorvastatin and cerivastatin supported a broader statin-class effect in LPS-primed muscle cells.

Results

The team found that statins block the mevalonate pathway that produces cholesterol, but this pathway also produces important molecules such as isoprenoids. A decrease in isoprenoid levels also reduces protein prenylation. These alterations lead to metabolic stress and act as danger signals that activate NLRP3 inflammasomes. Upon activation, the NLRP3 inflammasome initiates inflammatory signaling that contributes to muscle atrophy and cell death. Therefore, some side effects might arise from the loss of isoprenoids rather than from cholesterol reduction itself.

Spectroscopy Applications in the Environment eBook eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download the latest edition

Statin-fed WT mice exhibited more damaged muscle fibers, including centrally nucleated fibers, a hallmark of muscle injury and repair. These animals also contained necrotic myofibers. Mice lacking NLRP3 contained about 50% fewer abnormal muscle fibers and showed fewer signs of muscle damage and repair. These findings suggest that NLRP3 contributes considerably to statin-induced muscle injury.

Restoring isoprenoid levels with GG and inhibiting NLRP3 signaling in cellular models reduced muscle atrophy-related changes, further implicating these pathways in statin-associated muscle injury. Likewise, genetic deletion of NLRP3 protected mice from statin-induced muscle abnormalities. Upon GG addition, atrogin-1 levels decreased, and the reduction in phosphorylated FOXO was prevented, improving muscle-cell size.

Reduced protein prenylation impaired YAP, a protein that helps maintain muscle mass and function in skeletal muscles. Statins also altered muscle-cell metabolism by reducing glycolysis, a process that generates energy from glucose in cells. Reduced glycolysis may act as a metabolic danger signal capable of activating the NLRP3 inflammasome. Experiments using hiPSC-derived myoblasts supported the pathway changes observed in mouse cells and mice.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that statins may contribute to muscle weakness and atrophy by reducing isoprenoid levels and protein prenylation and activating NLRP3 inflammasome signaling. Statins also altered proteins involved in muscle growth and function and reduced glycolysis.

The findings suggest that the muscle-related effects are linked to impaired prenylation and inflammatory signaling rather than cholesterol reduction itself. If confirmed in future human studies, including research on inflammatory priming and gut-barrier-related signals, scientists could develop strategies to block NLRP3 inflammasome activation, modulate YAP-linked pathways, or carefully evaluate isoprenoid-related rescue approaches. These approaches could help mitigate muscle-related side effects without compromising statins' cholesterol-lowering benefits.

Download your PDF copy by clicking here.

Drug-induced ‘brain freeze’ could slow stroke damage, study finds

 

Have your competent? doctor and hospital initiate research that finishes the job and delivers 100% recovery protocols! Why can't that be done?

Laziness? Incompetence? Or just don't care? NO leadership? NO strategy? Not my job? Not my Problem!

Drug-induced ‘brain freeze’ could slow stroke damage, study finds

Drug-induced hypometabolism may slow stroke-related brain damage, according to early research involving animals and people.

The experimental treatment uses two existing medicines to reduce metabolism and create a state resembling hypothermia.

Tests in mice and rhesus monkeys found that the approach protected brain tissue, while an early trial involving 32 stroke patients reported no notable side effects.

The treatment combined chlorpromazine, an antipsychotic medicine, with the sedative promethazine. The combination was known as C+P.

The small human trial found no significant improvements in the amount of brain damage or participants’ ability to carry out daily activities independently.

Further studies will be needed to establish what benefits the treatment might offer people who have experienced strokes.

The research also provided more information about the role of hypometabolism, when the body uses less energy, in the protective effects associated with hypothermia.

Dr Eric Landsness, assistant professor of neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, was not involved in the research.

He said: “What’s exciting about this study is that it’s clear that it’s not just the hypothermia, but it’s the hypometabolism.”

The researchers tested C+P as a treatment for acute ischaemic stroke, which occurs when blood flow to the brain is suddenly blocked.

Ischaemic strokes account for more than 85 per cent of strokes. The acute form is a medical emergency involving the sudden loss of blood flow and neurological function.

Restoring blood flow through reperfusion treatment can cause further damage through processes that began while the brain was deprived of blood.(That's called the neuronal cascade of death and will kill off hundreds of millions of neurons in the first week!; noted by Rockefeller University back in 2008! And you incompetently don't know that?)

Dr Patrick Lyden, professor of physiology and neuroscience, neurology and neurosurgery at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, was not involved in the study.

He said: “You can get significant injury from a lot of processes that were set in motion during the ischaemia.”

Researchers have previously examined whether hypothermia could protect brain tissue from damage caused by both ischaemia and the return of blood flow.

Lyden described hypothermia as “one of the most powerful ways of protecting the brain that we’ve ever studied in lab animals”.

He added: “It’s the standard by which all other brain protectants are measured.”

Hypothermia occurs when body temperature falls below 35°C.

Under normal circumstances, it can be dangerous because the cold may slow the heart and nervous system enough to cause cardiac and respiratory failure.

One theory behind its therapeutic effects is that cooling slows metabolism in a similar way to hibernation.

Lyden said slowing metabolism could also delay the process of brain-cell death.

Therapeutic hypothermia can protect the brain following cardiac arrest and is sometimes used to treat newborn babies with hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy.

This is a brain injury caused by reduced oxygen and blood flow around the time of birth.

However, studies of hypothermia in adults who have experienced strokes have produced less encouraging results.

The researchers suggested C+P might provide a more effective way to slow metabolism in stroke patients.

Earlier experiments found that the combination reduced inflammation in the nervous system in rodent stroke models, possibly through metabolic changes that were independent of hypothermia.

In the new study, researchers compared C+P with two other ways of lowering body temperature in mice: adenosine 5’-monophosphate and surface cooling using cold water and ice packs.

All three approaches caused hypothermia, but only C+P reduced overall oxygen consumption and energy expenditure, two signs of slower metabolism.

Landsness said the findings suggested metabolism was more than a secondary effect of hypothermia and should be studied in its own right.

In mice, C+P reduced the burning of sugar by the brain and brown fat, tissue that burns fuel to produce heat.

The treatment was also linked to less brain tissue damage and lower lactate accumulation after stroke. Lactate can build up and contribute to cell death.

Similar effects were observed in rhesus monkeys treated with C+P.

The small human trial suggested that the metabolic effects could also occur in people.

Patients given the highest dose had lower levels of metabolism-related proteins in their blood.

They were also the only participants to experience a significant fall in body temperature four hours after treatment, although their temperatures did not reach the level defined as hypothermia.

Temperatures did fall to that level in the mice and monkeys.

The participants also received standard treatments to restore blood flow to the brain.

C+P did not reduce the amount of brain damage detected 72 hours after treatment or improve independence in daily activities after 90 days.

The study authors, based at Capital Medical University in Beijing, did not respond to a request for comment.

They said future trials could establish whether C+P protects the brain following a stroke.

Although the treatment caused no notable side effects in the early human trial, Lyden said the medicines could potentially interact and cause muscle spasms, seizures or changes in heart rhythm.

He suggested that researchers may need to find other medicines capable of slowing metabolism without these potential risks.

Landsness said: “The new paper happened to fall upon a drug [combo] that happens to induce hypothermia and hypometabolism, but we don’t necessarily know why.”

Further research will be needed to understand how the drugs produce these effects.

Landsness’s laboratory is studying the neural circuits involved in hypothermia and hypometabolism, which could identify other targets for treatment.

This everyday drink is linked to an 18% lower risk of dementia, according to a 43-year study

 Gee, this as been known for years and YOUR INCOMETENT? DOCTOR STILL HASN'T INSTALLED A 24-HOUR COFFEE STATION!

How did you manage to miss that caffeine is likely not the beneficial compound?

How Coffee May Protect Brain Health: A New Study Suggests The Benefits Aren't Just From Caffeine December 2018

The coffee benefits have been out there for years!     IF YOUR DOCTOR WAS COMPETENT AT ALL A 24 HOUR COFFEE STATION WOULD HAVE ALREADY BEEN INSTALLED! Since nothing was done your board of directors is so incompetent they don't know they have incompetent persons working for them?

I do coffee all day, takes that long to get in a 12 cup pot of coffee. This won't change my habit, it's mainly to reduce my dementia and Parkinsons risk and no one knows the amounts for that.

I'm still doing a 12 cup pot of coffee daily to prevent Parkinsons and frailty! Much more important than any problems it can cause.

How coffee protects against Parkinson’s Aug. 2014 

Coffee May Lower Your Risk of Dementia Feb. 2013

Coffee drinkers rejoice! Drinking coffee could lower the risk of Alzheimer’s disease 

And this: Coffee's Phenylindanes Fight Alzheimer's Plaque December 2018

New research suggests drinking coffee may reduce the risk of frailty May 2025

I think I'm in this category:  I never get the jitters or flushed skin.

Genetics determine how much coffee you can drink before it goes wrong

I'm doing a 12 cup pot of coffee a day with full fat milk to lessen my chances of dementia and Parkinsons. Tell me EXACTLY how much coffee to drink for that and I'll change. Yep, that is a lot more than the 400mg. suggested limit, I don't care! Preventing dementia and Parkinsons is vastly more important than whatever problems it can cause! 

Of course, your fuckingly incompetent? doctor did nothing with this from 2+ years ago! And still hasn't created a 24 hour coffee station

Dementia risk could drop by drinking just one shot daily of common beverage  August 2023

This line is great: The findings indicate that even the Espresso Martini cocktail contains the espresso's beneficial compounds - and can contribute to staving off dementia.

The latest here: 

This everyday drink is linked to an 18% lower risk of dementia, according to a 43-year studyResearchers followed nearly 132,000 adults for decades, tracking diet and health outcomes to uncover patterns in long-term cognitive decline.

Key Points

• A decades-long study of nearly 132,000 people found that higher consumption of caffeinated coffee and tea was associated with an 18% lower risk of dementia, along with better cognitive performance. No similar benefits were observed among decaf drinkers.
• Experts say the link may be due to caffeine and other compounds in coffee and tea, which are associated with lower inflammation and reduced oxidative stress.
• The FDA recommends that generally healthy adults limit caffeine intake to no more than 400 milligrams per day, or about four-and-a-half eight-ounce cups of coffee.

Many people rely on a cup of coffee to wake up in the morning, and new research suggests the daily habit could offer more than just a pick-me-up. The study, which analyzed 43 years of data, found that a daily coffee habit is linked to a significantly reduced risk of dementia.

“Dementia is a growing public health concern, and coffee and tea are things many people drink every day,” said Yu Zhang, MBBS, the lead study author and a researcher at the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “We wanted to see whether these common habits might be linked to better brain health over the long term.”

It’s important to stress that the study found a link — it doesn’t definitively prove that your daily cup will ward off dementia. But doctors said the findings are worth paying attention to. “It’s useful information, and it helps us to know that having a caffeinated beverage or two each day may be in our best interests,” said Anna Hohler, MD, director of neurology for Northwell’s Westchester Region. Here’s why. 

What a decades-long study reveals about coffee, tea, and brain health

The study, published in JAMA, analyzed data from nearly 132,000 people who participated in the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, both of which are long-term biomedical databases. 

Each participant answered questions about their diet every two to four years, and their health data was tracked for up to 43 years. During the study, 11,033 people were diagnosed with dementia. After analyzing dietary and health data, the researchers found that participants who consumed higher levels of caffeinated coffee and tea had an 18% lower risk of developing dementia than those who consumed little to no caffeine. 

Related: No Amount of Alcohol Is Safe for Your Brain, New Landmark Study Finds

Consuming caffeinated coffee and tea was also linked to a lower risk of developing cognitive decline, a gradual worsening of mental function usually associated with age. Coffee-drinking participants also performed better on cognitive function tests. 

The researchers didn’t observe the same benefits among decaf coffee drinkers, suggesting the benefits were related to caffeine, though it's unclear whether caffeine was the only factor at work.

How coffee and tea could support brain health over time

This isn’t the only study linking coffee to a lower risk of dementia. A scientific review and data analysis published in the Journal of Lifestyle Medicine in 2023 found that people who regularly drank one to four cups of coffee a day had a “significantly” lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. However, those who drank more than four cups of coffee a day had an increased risk of developing the disease. 

Related: Regularly Eating Breakfast Could Shield You Against Age-Related Brain Changes, Study Finds

Doctors suggest there are likely a few reasons for this association. “It could be that caffeine is lowering the levels of harmful proteins—amyloid—in the brain, reducing inflammation, or helping brain cells be more adaptable,” said Amalia Peterson, MD, a behavioral neurologist and assistant professor of Neurology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. “Caffeine is also linked to a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, which is a risk factor for dementia, and this could help explain this association.”

Coffee may also contain compounds that can help reduce oxidative stress, an imbalance between free radicals and the body’s ability to eliminate them that’s linked to a range of chronic illnesses, Zhang said.

“Caffeine is probably one important part of the story, especially since we saw benefits with caffeinated coffee and tea but not decaf,” Zhang continued. “But it’s likely not just one compound. Coffee and tea also contain polyphenols and other bioactive compounds, so it may be a combination working together rather than one single ingredient.”

What are the other benefits of caffeine?

Caffeine may have many benefits when used in moderation. “Caffeine can improve reaction time, attention, and perceived energy, which has practical benefits for daily functioning,” Keatley says. “It is also associated with improved exercise performance and may support metabolic rate modestly.”

Caffeinated coffee could potentially help you live longer, too. A 2025 study published in The Journal of Nutrition found a link between drinking caffeinated coffee and a lower risk of death over the 11-year study period. The benefits were limited to black coffee and coffee with just a little added sugar. 

Can other sources of caffeine provide the same perks?

The study didn’t investigate beverages outside of coffee and black tea, but Scott Keatley, RD, co-founder of Keatley Medical Nutrition Therapy, said it’s possible that other caffeinated beverages, such as matcha, may offer similar benefits. “Matcha and [black] tea contain caffeine, along with catechins like EGCG and the amino acid L-theanine, which may support attention and reduce neural stress,” he said. “The profile is different from coffee, but the combination of mild stimulation and high antioxidant content could produce similar long-term effects.”

Hohler agrees. “Theoretically, we would expect matcha to have the same properties,” she said. It’s unclear how more-processed caffeinated beverages, such as energy drinks, would affect dementia risk.

“Different beverages have very different overall compositions — things like sugar content, processing, and what other compounds come along with the caffeine all matter,” Zhang said.

The recommended daily limit for caffeine, explained

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, it’s recommended that generally healthy individuals consume no more than 400 milligrams of caffeine per day. 

The amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee varies by type and brew strength. However, this roughly translates to limiting yourself to four-and-a-half eight-ounce cups of coffee, or up to three 12-ounce cups. Ultimately, the study makes the case for enjoying coffee as part of a balanced diet. “It’s not a reason to overdo it, but it is reassuring for people who already enjoy these drinks,” Zhang said.

Reviewed by

Lauren Manaker MS, RDN, LD, CLEC: Lauren is an award-winning registered dietitian and three-time book author, with more than 22 years in the field.

Read the original article on Food & Wine