Rutgers Brain Health Institute

09/10/2026

can persist for months after childbirth and may not present with obvious outward symptoms, even when a person is experiencing significant distress. It is a true medical condition, not a sign of weakness, and loved‑ones can offer meaningful help by moving beyond vague offers to provide concrete, practical support.

🔗 Read the full article: https://time.com/article/2026/09/04/how-to-support-someone-postpartum-depression/
🔎 Explore more women’s brain health research at Rutgers Women's Brain Health Initiative: https://brainhealthinstitute.rutgers.edu/rutgers-womens-brain-health-initiative/

Rutgers Brain Health Institute

What to say, how to lighten the load, and when to seek emergency help.

09/09/2026

type 1 is a lifelong neurological disorder that affects about 1 in 2,000 people in the United States. FDA has approved Orzeyful™ (oveporexton), the first drug addressing the underlying orexin deficit in narcolepsy type 1.

Rutgers Brain Health Institute researchers break down how the drug works and its addictive potential.
🔗 Read more: https://brainhealthinstitute.rutgers.edu/2026/09/07/fda-approves-first-drug-to-treat-the-orexin-deficit-in-narcolepsy-type-1/

Rutgers University

09/03/2026

🧠 Access science-backed guidance with BHI Toolkits!
Discover Rutgers Brain Health Institute Toolkits, offering evidence-based resources to support brain health, emotional resilience, and mental wellness for everyday life and challenging times. These practical guides address seasonal mood shifts, post-holiday adjustment, mental health challenges, and more using insights from cutting-edge .
🔗 Explore BHI toolkits: https://brainhealthinstitute.rutgers.edu/2026/05/20/bhi-toolkits/

Part of Brain Health Insights For You (BHI For You), our public knowledge hub where Rutgers researchers break down key brain health topics for all audiences.
🔗 BHI For You: https://brainhealthinstitute.rutgers.edu/resources/insights/
Rutgers University

Explore Rutgers BHI toolkits with evidence-based resources for brain health, resilience, stress, mindful drinking, and more.

09/02/2026

The recent FDA clearance of Roche and Eli Lilly’s Elecsys pTau217 blood test for diagnosis is the latest chapter in a remarkably swift transformation of how Alzheimer’s disease is detected.

The arrival of four FDA‑cleared blood tests in just fifteen months signals a new era of accessibility. A simple blood draw can now provide meaningful information about the biological changes associated with Alzheimer’s.

Yet these advances come with important caveats: no test is meant for standalone diagnosis, and results must always be interpreted alongside a full clinical evaluation. Alongside these diagnostic advances, prevention remains critical, including exercise, diet, social engagement, and careful management of vascular and metabolic risk factors.

🔗 Read more: https://brainhealthinstitute.rutgers.edu/2026/09/01/fda-clears-fourth-new-blood-test-to-diagnose-alzheimers/

09/02/2026

Regular aerobic exercise – the kind that gets your heart pumping – can improve important thinking skills called executive functions, and the benefits appear especially strong for women after menopause.

BHI has translated study findings led by Dr. Sharon Sanz Simon into clear, actionable steps in a practical aerobic exercise toolkit.

🔗 Read the full toolkit: https://brainhealthinstitute.rutgers.edu/2026/08/10/stay-sharp-after-menopause-a-practical-toolkit-for-boosting-your-brains-executive-functions-with-aerobic-exercise/
🔗 Rutgers Today Article: https://www.rutgers.edu/news/stay-sharp-after-menopause-how-aerobic-exercise-can-improve-key-thinking-skills
🔗 Explore more women's brain health research at the Rutgers Women's Brain Health Initiative: https://www.rutgers.edu/news/rutgers-brain-health-institute-launches-rutgers-womens-brain-health-initiative

Regular aerobic exercise – the kind that gets your heart pumping – can improve important thinking skills called executive functions, and the benefits appear especially strong for women after menopause, according to Rutgers researchers.

08/31/2026

📩 Check out the Rutgers Brain Health Institute (BHI) August Monthly Newsletter. Stay up-to-date with our latest faculty achievements, upcoming events, activities, opportunities, and more.
🔗 https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Rutgers-Brain-Health-Institute--BHI--Monthly-Newsletter---August-2026.html?soid=1140446653813&aid=_KwQubx_jzk
Rutgers University

08/28/2026

is one of the main hormones shaping a woman's health, and its level rises and falls in distinct patterns across life.

Expand your understanding of estrogen's changing levels across female life stages and its links to health conditions with our illustrated factsheet — where it comes from, what it does, how it changes across life, and the disorders it drives.

📥 Download the Estrogen Factsheet:https://brainhealthinstitute.rutgers.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/R-BHI_Estrogen_Infosheet.pdf
🔎 Check out the interactive dynamic estrogen graph tracking fluctuating hormone levels across women’s full lifespan and explore more women’s brain health research at Rutgers Women's Brain Health Initiative: https://brainhealthinstitute.rutgers.edu/2026/08/04/menopause-a-key-transition-in-womens-brain-health-a-new-series-from-the-rutgers-womens-brain-health-initiative/

08/27/2026

How the trillions of microbes in your gut shape your immune system and metabolism, and what they mean for your long-term ? 🧠

In Norah O'Donnell's new Healthful podcast, Dr. Laura Cox, assistant professor at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, explains how the gut microbiome supports our health by making vitamins, educating our immune system, and protecting us from pathogens. It can affect our brains by changing our immune systems and our metabolism, and may be linked to like and .

🔗 Norah O'Donnell's podcast: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gut-microbiome-impact-brain-health-dr-laura-cox-healthful/

CBS News Rutgers University

Dr. Laura Cox, an assistant professor at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, explains how our dietary patterns play a significant role in our gut and long-term brain health.

08/19/2026

A second pregnancy changes women's brains in the same way as a first pregnancy, but in a different way than the first time, according to a study published in Nature Communications.

The study showed that the brain adapts during both the first and second pregnancy, with each pregnancy leaving a unique mark on the female brain. The first pregnancy saw the biggest changes in the Default Mode Network, while the second brought more changes in networks related to paying attention and responding to stimuli, with links observed between structural brain changes and peripartum depression.

🔗 Nature Communications: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-69370-8
🔗 Read the article: https://www.amsterdamumc.org/en/research/institutes/amsterdam-neuroscience/news/changes-in-the-brain-of-women-during-a-second-pregnancy
🔎 Explore more women’s brain health research at Rutgers Women's Brain Health Initiative: https://brainhealthinstitute.rutgers.edu/rutgers-womens-brain-health-initiative/

Extending their previous findings of brain changes in a first pregnancy, the authors show that a second pregnancy uniquely alters women’s brains, involving both a further fine-tuning of first-pregnancy effects and distinct changes in other networks.

08/18/2026

Norah O’Donnell’s new Healthful podcast: she sat down with her doctor, Dr. Rachel Rubin, to tackle .

“Menopause is a castration event, whether we like it or not,” Dr. Rubin says. “Your ovaries no longer make estrogen, progesterone or testosterone. You have hormone receptors throughout your entire body,” with common symptoms including hot flashes, poor sleep, mood changes, weight gain, and memory issues. While some men see a natural decline of testosterone as they age, they “don’t really get to ‘castrate’ levels.”

🔎 Check out the interactive dynamic estrogen graph tracking fluctuating hormone levels across women’s full lifespan and explore more women’s brain health research at Rutgers Women's Brain Health Initiative: https://brainhealthinstitute.rutgers.edu/2026/08/04/menopause-a-key-transition-in-womens-brain-health-a-new-series-from-the-rutgers-womens-brain-health-initiative/
🔗 Norah O’Donnell's podcast: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/menopause-norah-odonnell-dr-rachel-rubin-healthful/

Norah O'Donnell sat down with her own doctor, Rachel Rubin, to tackle the important topic of menopause: How your body changes, why women may be needlessly suffering, and what you can actually do about it.