**Fish-oil capsules tracked with quicker declines on thinking tests in older adults**
Researchers in China analysed observational data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, comparing 273 older adults who used omega-3 supplements with 546 matched non-users over five years. The supplement group declined faster on three standard measures of memory, thinking, and everyday function, and lower glucose use in brain areas often affected in Alzheimer's disease was statistically tied to that pattern. Because participants were not randomly assigned to take a supplement, the study cannot show that the capsules caused the decline, and it did not test whether eating fish carries the same link.
Source: Knowridge — https://knowridge.com/2026/11/omega-3-supplements-linked-to-faster-memory-decline-in-older-adults/
**Frequent television in midlife linked to smaller brain areas decades later**
A University of Southern California team examined observational data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, comparing self-reported leisure television habits in midlife with brain MRI scans taken more than 20 years later. People who reported watching television very often had smaller volumes in several regions involved in thinking and memory, including frontal and occipital areas, and more MRI signs of small blood-vessel damage. With no scans from the start of the study and habits reported by participants themselves, the work shows a long-term association rather than proof that television caused the differences, and sitting during work did not show the same pattern.
Source: Knowridge — https://knowridge.com/2026/11/heavy-tv-watching-in-midlife-linked-to-smaller-brain-regions-later/
**More vigorous movement tied to stronger thinking skills in young children**
In a cross-sectional study of 441 children aged 6 to 8 in China, researchers measured a full day of movement with wrist-worn devices over seven days and tested thinking skills with standard tasks for recall, attention, and flexible problem-solving. Children with more moderate-to-vigorous activity, relative to other daily behaviours, tended to show better forward recall and fewer repeated errors on a sorting task. Because behaviour and thinking were measured at one point in time, the study cannot show that activity itself caused the difference.
Source: Journal of Intelligence — https://www.mdpi.com/2079-3200/14/11/278