Massimo Balestri PHD

05/03/2026

We have known for years that the gut microbiome can alter brain function, but now research in mice is suggesting that the opposite is also true – that the brain modifies gut bacteria

05/01/2026

This study explores the neural and behavioral consequences of LLM-assisted essay writing. Participants were divided into three groups: LLM, Search Engine, and Brain-only (no tools). Each completed three sessions under the same condition. In a fourth session, LLM users were reassigned to Brain-only g...

02/26/2026

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00584-y?utm_source=Live+Audience&utm_campaign=6e30f5dcf8-nature-briefing-daily-20260226&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-33f35e09ea-50460904

Elderly people with frailty, which affects up to one-quarter of over-50s, increased their endurance after a single dose of stem cells.

02/19/2026

https://italianacademy.columbia.edu/events/conscious-and-unconscious-vision?utm_source=The+Italian+Academy&utm_campaign=e401d09757-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_01_16_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a11ef674b0-e401d09757-254075841

Our Fellows’ seminars are now open to the public! Fascinating topics from the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciencesThe March 31 seminar has moderator Stefano Fusi (Professor of Neuroscience; Principal Investigator at the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, Columbia University) in ...

02/11/2026

At the end of the eighteenth century, the French naturalist Georges Cuvier boldly proclaimed that there existed a previous world, most possibly very different from the contemporary one. From his study of fossils, Cuvier argued that extinction, the total disappearance of species, was part and parcel....

10/16/2025

09/04/2025

11/29/2023

Your chance to recline on a replica of Freud's psychoanalytic couch. The couch was among several props created for a film about the psychoanalyst's life in England. BBC London
https://ow.ly/j67850QbSP3

07/22/2023

“The alleviation of pain appears to be one motivation to drink and continue to drink”

According to a study, the alteration of a group of genes known to influence neuronal plasticity and pain perceptions, rather than a single gene defect, is linked to alcohol use disorders.

05/18/2023

Birds are a way to connect with nature, which is associated with better body and brain health, research shows.