Top stories of 2025

This year, I’ve shared 43 editions of my neuroscience and women’s brain health micro-briefings with you all.

These updates, carefully curated by my talented PhD neuroscience team (lead by Lily at ​Pitch Science​), identify science news stories, break down complex research into simple, actionable takeaways (proudly AI-free!). We’ve covered a range of topics, from aging and dementia to mental health and wellbeing to neurodivergency to women’s brain health, and more.

Much like Spotify Wrapped, we wanted to share the top 5 updates from the past year. Here are the most popular stories from 2025:

5️⃣ During the menopausal transition, some women experience symptoms that disrupt their whole lives, while others sail through. But do your menopausal experiences relate to your health in old age? In this article in The Conversation, discover the link between the number of perimenopausal symptoms and the risk of cognitive changes later in life. But always remember, correlation is not causation, and more research is needed to understand why this connection exists and what it means. Read it here: ​Menopause symptoms may be critical to understanding Alzheimer’s disease risk in women​.

4️⃣ When people retire, they are at greater risk of becoming depressed. Though numerous factors impact mental health in later life, one way to help buffer against the impact of retirement is through volunteering. As explored in this article from BBC’s Science Focus, retirees who volunteer have a reduced risk of developing depression. This is likely due to increased social connections and a continued sense of purpose. Learn more here: ​Here’s the best way to prevent depression in retirement.​

3️⃣ People often believe that the quicker they make decisions, the less reliable their choices will be. But when faced with a judgement call, ‘trusting our gut’ helps us make faster and better decisions that align with our personal values. In this TED Talk, Hrund Gunnsteinsdóttir shares how we can tune into our intuition to find meaningful purpose and make the world a better place. Watch it here: ​Listen to your intuition — it can help you navigate the future.​

2️⃣ Much of past research into Alzheimer’s disease focussed on reducing the accumulation of a brain protein called beta-amyloid. However, scientists are now realising that Alzheimer’s disease is far more complex than a simple protein buildup. Prof Michael Yassa puts it best in this article for The Transmitter. Rather than being a chain of dominoes, Alzheimer’s disease is more like a knot of tangled threads. To start detangling it yourself, ​read his full article here​.

1️⃣ There’s a huge variation in how people experience visual imagery. Aphantasia is a phenomenon where people can’t conjure up images in their mind’s eye at all. Meanwhile, some people (including me!) instead experience hyperphantasia, where they can visualise extremely vivid mental imagery. Now it turns out that the intensity of your visual imagination may be linked to your ability to control your thoughts. Read about it here: ​The pink elephant test: what your visual imagination predicts about your ability to control your thoughts​.