“We know that frequent use of technology can change the brain and that it can disrupt cognitive functioning. But what does it mean to have cognitive decline during a time period when your brain is still actually developing and maturing?”

— Amanda Elton, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the UF Department of Psychiatry, discussing accelerated brain aging in Gen Z, a population whose brains are still in a stage of growth, with National Geographic, Dec. 2

“You can’t antagonize the same receptors and processes that stimulants hit because you end up with anhedonia. Put really simply, you just induce depression in everyone, and no one would take it.”

— Courtney Miller, Ph.D., a professor at The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology, discussing the possibility of using stimulants to help combat addictive substances with Scientific American, Dec. 30

“Regular exercise, a Mediterranean-style diet and getting advice from a nutritionist are practical steps to support a healthier gut environment in Parkinson’s disease.”

— Michael Okun, M.D., director of the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases at UF Health, discussing how a healthier gut can impact those with Parkinson’s disease with AARP, Jan. 28

“You have to be absolutely 100% sure that you are willing to go there. If you were not truthful, that will burn a bridge. If you are perceived to be disingenuous, that will hurt your chances later on for a fellowship, or even a job.”

 — Diane Howell, M.D., an associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics and interim assistant dean of student affairs, discussing advice for future residents sending letters of intent to programs with Medscape, Jan. 27

“Healthy circadian rhythms require coordination of clock systems across the body.”

— Karyn Esser, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Physiology and Aging, discussing how time of day for exercise impacts the body’s peripheral clocks with Scientific American, March 5

“You’re getting extra sugar, and there’s no reason (for) rapid absorption of sodium because you’re not sodium depleted.”

 — Mark Segal, M.D., Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Medicine and the senior associate dean for faculty affairs and professional development, discussing the use of electrolyte substances in healthy individuals not sweating intensely with The Associated Press, Feb. 28

“If you add cutting, pivoting, changing directions, in 95% of humans, you need an ACL to do that. She’s obviously fallen into that 5%.”

— Kevin Farmer, M.D., a professor in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, discussing skier Lindsey Vonn competing at the Winter Olympics with a ruptured ACL with the Los Angeles Times, Feb. 7

“I see flag football as an exciting sport that one can learn teamwork, one can learn some athletic skills, one can even learn some offensive football skills. Based on the data and based on just the eyeball test, there’s a lot less risk in playing that.”

 — Michael Jaffee, M.D., chair of the Department of Neurology, discussing the no-contact sport in the context of his work to understand brain injuries with The National News Desk, Feb. 9

“It is important to balance what the ‘ideal’ reconstruction may be when reviewing a CT scan with the overall risk profile of an individual patient. Based on our analysis, most patients age 65 and older undergoing repair of acute dissection will be fine with hemiarch reconstruction and have the same long-term outcomes as they would with a higher-risk procedure.”

 — John Spratt, M.D., a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Surgery, discussing findings that show elderly patients can be spared from extended surgery for aortic dissections with MedPage Today, Feb. 2

“This is just the tip of the iceberg for this infection. Probably there’s still more to look at. There may be other essential biological processes or molecules that schistosomes need as well.”

— Norman Beatty, M.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine, discussing a study’s findings that illustrate how a host’s biology may have evolved to protect against parasites, and implications of this for schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease, with Yahoo! News, Jan. 8 

“Unlike alcohol or opioids, there currently is no medicinal therapeutic approach for methamphetamine addiction. So this is an important societal issue.”

— Habibeh Khoshbouei, Pharm.D., Ph.D., a professor of the departments of Neuroscience and Psychiatry, discussing findings that show an immune signal in the brain could open a new path for reducing cravings and drug-seeking behavior with The Brighter Side of News, Jan. 29

“The results tell us that python limb development progresses much further than we knew before. They make embryonic legs but the cells don’t complete the process of skeletal development.”

— Martin Cohn, Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, discussing a decade-old study on how mutations caused snakes to lose their limbs with IFL Science, Jan. 28

“We must think out of the box.”

— Leonid Moroz, Ph.D., a Distinguished Professor of neuroscience, genetics, biology and chemistry at the UF Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, discussing how researchers can bring fresh perspectives to the scientific debate around whether the first animal lineage stems from sponges or comb jellies with Scientific American, Feb. 7