RSS Amplifier

Podcast

Brain Trials

A critical look at neuroscience - the clinical trials, the research studies, how it affects our daily life, and the claims that deserve a closer read.

braintrials.substack.comRSS feed ↗20 episodes

Live Last read · last published · next check

Written by

Latest episodes

Is Fibromyalgia Genetic? What the New 2.5-Million-Person Study Found

A Nature Medicine study of 2.5 million people found 26 genetic risk variants for fibromyalgia — including the Huntington's disease gene (HTT). Then it answered questions its data couldn't support.

Anatomy of a Failed Trial

"Failed" has at least eight meanings, and the differences among them are everything. A working guide to reading a negative trial — and why only one kind of failure tells you the science was wrong.

Vagus Nerve Hacks: What the Evidence Actually Says

Cold plunges, humming, gargling, ear-clip "vagus nerve stimulation": what actually reaches the nerve, what the real (FDA-approved) devices do, and why the nerve was never the problem.

CELIA: The Dose-Response Was in the Side Effects

Biogen's tau ASO hit its biomarkers and missed its primary at AAIC — and the clinical signal was largest at the lowest dose. The safety explains why.

The Nail That Wasn't There

The body doesn't wait to find out what's real. It acts on what it expects - and sometimes what it expects is wrong.

Four AAIC Readouts, One Real Topline: How to Tell New Data From a Well-Dressed Update

Four programs, one genuine topline, and a lesson in telling a first-time readout apart from a well-dressed update.

Why We Faint

The first time I fainted, I was a medical student dissecting a vagus nerve. What happened in my body that day was older than humans — and it had nothing to do with me being weak.

1,021 Drug Trials Used Wearables. The FDA Has Formally Qualified Zero Sensor-Derived Endpoints

The digital biomarker field has spent two decades building more sensitive instruments. The FDA keeps asking a different question entirely.

Your Fitness Tracker Is Accurate About Two Things. Everything Else Depends on Algorithms.

A Stanford sleep-lab test and the scientific literature reveal which wearable claims are well validated—and which remain mostly educated guesses.

How Many Steps Do You Really Need to Prevent Dementia?

The number 10,000 came from a 1960s Japanese pedometer ad. The number 9,826 came from a single observational study that can't prove what the headlines claim. Here's what the evidence actually supports

When the Biomarker Says Stop but the Company Says Go

Two Parkinson's drugs moved their key biomarkers in the wrong direction. Both companies reframed the result as confirmatory. One program has already failed. The other is still running.

When Hitting the Target Isn't Enough: What LUMA Tells Us About Parkinson's Drug Development

BIIB122 missed every endpoint despite >90% peripheral kinase inhibition. The reasons matter for the LRRK2 hypothesis, for the Ionis ASO that worked better, and for where PD drug development goes next

Why You Wake Up at 3 AM After Drinking — and Why It Happens Even If You Don't

It's not random. As alcohol clears, five biological systems snap back at once; and the same machinery wakes the people who never touched a drink.

Diranersen Missed Its Primary Endpoint. Biogen is Going to Phase 3 Anyway.

Biogen's tau-targeting ASO slowed AD cognitive decline "comparable to approved amyloid-targeting therapies." But the trial was halved mid-enrollment and no actual numbers have been released.

No, Scientists Did Not Find the Optimal Amount of Sleep

A Nature paper claims your brain ages fastest at 6.42 hours. The entire finding rests on one subjective survey question — answered in whole hours.

Short Note: When A Meta-Analysis Answers the Wrong Question

A Recent Meta-Analysis Concludes Amyloid-Targeted Therapies Offer Little Clinical Benefit in Alzheimer’s Disease. The Analysis Has Critical Limitations.

Deep Dive: Stem Cell Therapies for Parkinson's: Where the Field is Moving

Two Nature papers last year, a recent approval in Japan, and the unanswered question of whether neuron replacement will truly change PD

Short Note: Stopping Alzheimer’s Drugs Early Costs Cognition: Real-World French Data

A nationwide natural experiment using clinical trial emulation shows that discontinuing cholinesterase inhibitors accelerates cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s patients

Short Note: A 10-Minute IV Psychedelic (DMT) for Depression — Rapid Signal, Small Study

A single short infusion produced a large antidepressant effect at 2 weeks. The biology is intriguing. The bar remains high.

Essay: Who Owns Your Autonomic Nervous System?

Big tech is building continuous physiological telemetry. Emotional certainty is another matter.