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Higher stages of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a disorder associated with repetitive head impacts often from contact sports like American football, were tied to increased odds of dementia, autopsy data showed. (George, 1/27)

The Food and Drug Administration paused trials for two experimental gene therapies from Regenxbio after one child developed a brain tumor, the company announced Wednesday. (Mast, 1/28)

In a challenge to conventional thinking, a study hints that sleeping with the head elevated may actually increase intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with glaucoma rather than lower it. (Dotinga, 1/27)

Scientists at the University of California San Diego have discovered a path between the brain and the immune system that could potentially lead to new ways to ease heart attacks. They showed that disabling specific parts of that circuit could profoundly improve outcomes in mice with experimentally induced heart attacks. "The injury almost disappears," says UCSD neuroscientist Vineet Augustine, who led the new study appearing Tuesday in the journal Cell. (Landhuis, 1/27)

Real-world data from Japan suggest that an organic mental disorder (one not caused by psychiatric illness, such as Alzheimer’s disease [AD] and/or delirium) is a key risk factor for COVID-19 infection and hospitalization among older adults. (Van Beusekom, 1/27)

A population-based study from British Columbia suggests that a substantial share of people already carry antibodies that may help protect against avian influenza A(H5N1), though levels vary by age and birth cohort, reflecting past exposure to different flu viruses. (Bergeson, 1/28)

A trial that placed adults infected with influenza virus and uninfected people in the same hotel room with limited ventilation but a high air-recirculation rate for two-week stints found no viral transmission, which the authors say provides insight into how to prevent infection. (Van Beusekom, 1/28)