Researchers led by Dr. HU Li from the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Dr. CHEN Zhoufeng from Washington University School of Medicine and the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation have found that mice can instinctively exhibit rescue-like behavior toward anesthetized conspecifics—without any prior training or external rewards. The study, published in PNAS, offers compelling evidence that prosocial behavior may be deeply rooted in biology, extending even to small mammals like mice.

A new strategy for tuberculosis (TB) screening, proposed by a team of researchers led by Queen Mary University of London, provides a solution to problems with current TB screening, which does not always accurately detect disease. Simultaneously screening for both active and dormant TB infection could save lives, curtail infection rates, and rewrite the story of the continued spread of this disease. Researchers hope that this new approach will inform guidance from global health organisations and key decision-makers on the most effective way to screen for TB. 

About The Study: By taking advantage of a quasi-experiment and corroborating findings from Wales in a different population, this study provides evidence of the potential benefits of herpes zoster vaccination for dementia that is more likely to be causal than that of more commonly conducted associational studies.