Author: Toni Alaka

As global populations and life expectancy continue to rise, there is increasing concern about the occurrence of neurodegenerative diseases (such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, etc.). For most of these diseases, there is no cure, and so it is key to understand what affects and influences cognitive function over an individual’s lifetime, with a specific focus […]

It’s a well-known fact that exercise improves health. Whilst decreasing the risk of basically all chronic illnesses – including type 2 diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and neurological conditions – exercising also improves our mood, helps us better manage stress, leads to better mental health, lowers our overall risk of mortality, and the list of the […]

Psychological disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are categorized as severe mental disorders, having large costs to both the individual and society. The pathogenic process of psychosis is complex, involving many biological and environmental factors across one’s lifetime. Importantly, early identification and intervention are linked with improved symptomatic and functional outcomes. A key aspect […]

The parental environment can have a strong influence on the development of their children and subsequent phenotype (their physical traits). There is now growing evidence that these parental effects can be transgenerational – meaning that they’re able to span multiple generations. For example, stressful situations (e.g. early life stress), and exposure to some drugs and […]

The neurones of our brains communicate via electrical impulses called action potentials. A portion of these neurones are wrapped in a fatty substance called myelin, which helps to insulate them and increase the rate at which action potentials are passed from neurone to neurone. Similar to the way an electrical wire is covered with insulating […]