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Many people’s brains deteriorate as they age, becoming riddled with malfunctioning proteins that result in cell death and the loss of memory and cognition. But other people’s brains remain almost perfectly intact, their thinking as sharp at 80 as it was in their 50s. A paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature provides a new potential explanation for this discrepancy, and it taps into one of the hottest debates in neuroscience: whether human brains can grow new neurons in adulthood, a phenomenon called neurogenesis. (Smith, 2/25)

Being an expert birdwatcher is more than a hobby. It’s a pastime that may alter the structure and function of your brain. And these changes may enhance cognition even as you age, new research suggests. In a Canadian study of 58 adults, the brains of expert birders, compared with those of novices, were more dense in areas related to attention and perception. Such tissue density may indicate increased communication between neurons, and these structural differences were associated with more accurate bird identification. (Leake, 2/23)

Aging safely and comfortably at home looks different for everyone. This room-by-room view of a modified home can help you transition for the future. (Mahoney, 2/20)

Delivering a healthy baby usually involves a supportive community encouraging the mother-to-be and her family as they bring a new life into the world. Sophia Murphy’s birth in 2022 felt a little different, her mom said. Early in her pregnancy, a sonogram revealed a significant heart defect, Kim Murphy told The Baltimore Sun. Then a blood test suggested the possibility of a rare genetic anomaly, trisomy 18, giving Sophia a 5% chance of surviving birth. (Hille, 2/24)

On the desk of Jesse Keller’s office sits a big red bag about the size of a full sack of groceries, marked “biohazard.” It’s packed with prescription pill bottles filled with fibers, and his desk drawer holds even more of them — along with boxes of specimens in glass slides and a jar filled with a murky unknown liquid. Around the room are other stashes of samples and photographs of skin lesions. Keller, a dermatologist at Oregon Health and Science University, explains that the items came from patients who have a rare skin condition known as Morgellons disease, marked by experiences of intense, incessant sensations of itch, crawling and burning across the skin, and painful open sores. (Madhusoodanan, 2/24)

For four years, the people of Ukraine have been celebrated abroad for their perseverance in the face of hardship — the smaller country that bravely stood up to Vladimir V. Putin’s Russia. President Volodymyr Zelensky himself has called Ukrainians “unbreakable.” Ms. Shetelia and many others, however, say they are fed up both with hardship and with being called resilient in the face of it. “I see myself as a weak little girl who just wants to cry but can’t,” said Ms. Shetelia, a cook in a fast-food restaurant. (Varenikova, 2/25)

More than 385,000 Ukrainian teenagers are enrolled in a defense course, expecting war, or threats, to go on for years. In Russia, children are learning the same skills. (O'Grady, Galouchka and Morgunov, 2/24)

Four years into Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, experts at the Kharkiv Oblast forensic medical bureau — the oldest in Ukraine and founded in 1797 — continue to work tirelessly in what they see as their battle to bring justice to Ukrainians killed by Russia's war. (Terajima, 2/24)