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.