NBC News (11/25, Bush) reports researchers say that for the first time they have “identified four distinct turning points between…phases in an average brain: at ages 9, 32, 66 and 83. During each epoch between those years, our brains show markedly different characteristics in brain architecture, they say.” The study results, “published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, suggest that human cognition does not simply increase with age until a peak, then decline. In fact, the phase from ages 9 to 32 is the only time in life when our neural networks are becoming increasingly efficient, according to the research.” They observed that “during the adulthood phase, from 32 to 66, the average person’s brain architecture essentially stabilizes without major changes, at a time when researchers think people are generally plateauing in intelligence and personality. And in the years after the last turning point – 83 and beyond – the brain becomes increasingly reliant on individual regions as connections between them begin to wither away.”

Related Links:

— “Human brains have 5 distinct ‘epochs’ in a lifetime, study finds,”Evan Bush, NBC News, November 25, 2025

The AP (11/25, Ungar) reports researchers estimate that cannabis use disorder “affects about 3 in 10 pot users and can be mild, moderate or severe.” While experts agree that “it’s an addiction – despite the common misconception” that it is not possible with marijuana – few people “who are addicted seek help for it.” A study published in Substance Use & Misuse earlier this year found that “the share of people who got treatment for cannabis use disorder from their nationally representative sample dropped from 19% in 2003 to 13% in 2019.” An earlier study “also found a marked decline and pointed to reasons that include ‘expanding cannabis legalization and more tolerant attitudes.’ Experts said people need to be educated that pot, like alcohol, can be misused and can cause real harm.”

Related Links:

— “More people are addicted to marijuana, but fewer of them are seeking help, experts say,”Laura Ungar , AP , November 25, 2025

MedPage Today (11/24, Rudd) reports, “Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination slashed cervical cancer incidence, reduced the risk of precancerous lesions and anogenital warts, and did so without increasing serious side effects, according to two large meta-analyses.” In a “meta-analysis of 225 observational studies with more than 132 million people, females ages 16 years or younger who received HPV vaccines were 80% less likely than their unvaccinated counterparts to develop cervical cancer (RR 0.20, 95% CI 0.09-0.44).” The other meta-analysis, which “included 60 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with 157,414 participants,” found that “in females ages 15-25 years, vaccination was linked to a 30% reduction in CIN2+ after 6 years regardless of HPV type (RR 0.70, 95% CI 0.56-0.88),” while “CIN2+ risk from vaccine-matched HPV types fell 60% after 6 years (RR 0.40, 95% CI 0.30-0.54).” The findings were published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Medical Economics (11/24, Littrell) reports, “Hospitals with stronger nurse staffing and healthier clinical work environments tend to have physicians who are less burned out, less dissatisfied, and less likely to plan their departure, according to a large international study.” Investigators came to this conclusion after surveying “more than 6,400 physicians and 15,000 nurses across the United States and six European countries.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Investing in nurses tied to lower physician burnout, international study finds,”Austin Littrell, Medical Economics , November 24, 2025

The New York Times (11/24, Barry) reports a study found that “dialing down the use of social media for a week reduced symptoms of anxiety, depression and insomnia in young adults.” The participants were “instructed to stay off social media as much as possible,” and “on average reduced it to a half-hour per day from just under two hours. Before and after, the participants answered surveys measuring depression, anxiety, insomnia, loneliness and a number of problematic social media behaviors.” Researchers observed positive changes among the cohort. On average, “symptoms of anxiety dropped by 16.1 percent; symptoms of depression by 24.8 percent; and symptoms of insomnia by 14.5 percent. The improvement was most pronounced in subjects with more severe depression. At the same time, there was no change in reported loneliness – perhaps, the authors wrote, because the platforms play a constructive social role.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— The New York Times (requires login and subscription)