United States: People widely believe that excessive use of digital devices, including smartphones and tablets alongside laptops, slowly deteriorates human mental function. 

However, digital technology usage appears to defend the aging brain from decline and potential dementia manifestations, especially among early adopters of the tech revolution. 

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The regular use of digital technology corresponds with a 58% decrease in senior cognitive impairment, thus matching the preventive benefits of better blood pressure control and exercise as well as brain games, according to research in Nature Human Behavior. 

Studies reject the hypothesis that individuals from the first generation of personal computer users would develop “digital dementia” because their exposure to technological devices leads to brain degradation. 

According to the evidence review led by Jared Benge, a neuropsychologist at the University of Texas at Austin’s Comprehensive Memory Center, “there was no credible evidence … for widespread digital ‘brain drain’ or ‘digital dementia’ as a result of general, natural uses of digital technology,” US News reported. 

How are the experts studying? 

Scientists collected data from 57 previously published research papers that examined anatomical and biological changes in over 411,000 research participants. 

“The first generation who engaged with digital technologies has reached the age where risks of dementia emerge,” which would make them “digital pioneers,” as per the researchers. 

People who initiated participation at 69 years formed the basis of this analysis. 

According to researchers, someone who turned sixteen in 1945 needed to handle bill payments through cash or checks and used paper maps and encyclopedia searches to get information because the US Post Office required multiple days for letter delivery. 

As the researchers described, “This same individual is now approaching their 80s and lives in a world where shopping occurs on the internet with credit cards, new knowledge is acquired by typing a question into a search engine, prospective memory is supported by digital calendars with automatic reminders, navigation is facilitated by GPS devices that are installed in most cars or phones, and text- or video-based communications can occur instantaneously with people across the world,” US News reported. 

The "digital dementia" idea suggests that devices like smartphones cause cognitive decline, but a meta-analysis of 410,000 people suggests they could actually help keep us sharp. https://t.co/9zHxv50Qf6

— New Scientist (@newscientist) April 14, 2025

According to the analysis of the pooled studies, “greater use of everyday digital technologies was associated with reduced odds for cognitive decline,” researchers found that people who regularly used devices had a 58% lower risk of brain impairment or dementia. 

The reduction of blood pressure cuts dementia risk by 13% while physical activity lowers the risk by 35%, and increased education level provides up to 47% protection, as well as brain exercises that reduce dementia risk by 31%, according to research. 

United States: The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) declared today that Putnam, Marshall, Adams, and Peoria counties have become new additions to the list of areas affected by chronic wasting disease (CWD). 

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IDNR reported the Putnam, Marshall, and Adams cases in February when they found CWD neurologic disease through annual surveillance of deer harvested by hunters, but the Peoria County deer showed symptoms of CWD infection when they were 2 years old. 

The discovery of CWD in a deer specimen from Adams County marked the confirmed case outside the northern areas that have historically shown CWD infection in Illinois. 

Since its discovery in Winnebago County near Roscoe in 2002, CWD disease has spread across 25 counties that border Wisconsin. 

Adams joins twenty-three other Illinois counties that report cases of Chronic Wasting Disease: Boone, Bureau, Carroll, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Ford, Grundy, Jo Daviess, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, Lee, Livingston, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, and Will, as cidrap.umn.edu reported. 

“Illinois is a national leader in managing and slowing the spread of CWD, and over the past two decades, IDNR’s program has served as a model for other states,” as per IDNR Director Natalie Phelps Finnie, MS. 

IDNR conducts a program update 

The IDNR conducted a program update to establish a new five-year CWD management plan, which started its execution. 

CWD primarily infects deer, elk, and moose while producing symptoms like severe weight loss accompanied by drooling and movement problems that make animals act unconcerned around humans. 

Prions known as infectious misfolded proteins create the illness, and they transmit through contact with other animals and environmental contamination. 

“While the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have not linked CWD to human transmission, they recommend against eating meat from CWD-positive deer,” according to the IDNR, as cidrap.umn.edu reported. 

.”Hunters are encouraged to have their deer tested and avoid consuming brain, spinal cord, eyes, and other tissues known to harbor the CWD agent,” they added. 

United States: The research demonstrates that regular probiotic consumption helps reduce stress and anxiety together with fatigue in ordinary healthy individuals. 

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Scientific tests using mood recording systems combined with emotional assessment tools along with psychological tests demonstrated that probiotic usage led to mood enhancements after twelve days. 

The research team gathered better data from everyday mood check-ins instead of using standard questionnaires during their investigation. 

The individuals who exhibited risk-averse tendencies received the most beneficial outcomes from the treatment, and probiotics failed to eliminate the positive emotions that antidepressants typically do. 

You can purchase probiotics through supermarket locations as both tablets and drinks, and these beneficial bacteria also exist in yogurt together with fermented cheese and sauerkraut foods. 

The link between the consumption of probiotics and mental health improvements and gut health benefits attracts increasing scientific interest. 

Previous research demonstrated beneficial associations of probiotics with brain and behavioral processes during animal experiments, but human evidence has produced conflicting outcomes. 

Johnson and Steenbergen adopted several research methods to understand how probiotics might transform emotional regulation abilities and mood state regulation. 

The study employed psychological questionnaires together with daily mood surveys and computer tests, which measured the emotional processing abilities of participants. 

Healthy young adults participated in the study by consuming probiotic agents with Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium bacteria daily for thirty days. 

Researchers have used daily mood reporting for the first time to study probiotic effects in this investigation. 

These findings indicate that taking probiotics as opposed to the placebo treatment results in decreased negative emotional states. 

Intake of the probiotic resulted in lessening the experience of anxiety, stress, fatigue, and feelings of depression. 

A new study shows that daily probiotics can significantly reduce negative emotions such as anxiety, stress, and fatigue in healthy adults. 

Using a mix of mood tracking, emotion-processing tasks, and psychological questionnaires, researchers found that probiotics began improving mood after about two weeks. 

Interestingly, the effects were best captured through simple daily mood reports rather than traditional questionnaires. 

Individuals who were more risk-averse appeared to benefit most from the intervention, and probiotics did not blunt positive emotions like some antidepressants can. 

Probiotics are “good” bacteria in the form of drinks or tablets that you can buy in the supermarket and are also found in foods like yogurts, fermented cheese and sauerkraut. 

There is growing interest in the possibility that probiotics improve not only gut health but also mental health. 

“The gut-brain connection provides various routes through which bacteria in the gut can influence how we feel and behave, including via the vagus nerve, immune system, and hormones,” says Johnson. 

Daily mood reports 

While animal studies have previously found promising effects of probiotics on the brain and behavior, human studies have yielded inconsistent results. 

Johnson and Steenbergen, therefore, used a combination of methods to capture how probiotics might influence the ability to regulate our emotions and affect our moods. 

These included psychological questionnaires, daily mood reports, and computer tasks to test how people process emotions. 

The study was conducted in young, healthy adults who took a probiotic (containing bacteria such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium) daily for a month. 

This is the first study to use daily mood reports to assess the effects of probiotics. It clearly shows that probiotics can reduce negative feelings compared to a placebo. 

This could mean a reduction in feelings such as anxiety, stress, fatigue, or depressive tendencies.