❤️ Category

physiology

110 papers

Physiology explores how living systems function, from the microscopic signals inside a single cell to the complex rhythms of an entire organism. This field seeks to understand the mechanical, physical, and biochemical processes that keep life moving, offering crucial insights into health, disease, and the body's remarkable ability to adapt.

On Gist.Science, we process every new preprint in this category from bioRxiv to make these rapid discoveries accessible to everyone. For each study, we provide both a clear, plain-language explanation and a detailed technical summary, ensuring that whether you are a curious student or a seasoned researcher, you can grasp the latest findings without getting lost in jargon.

The papers listed below represent the newest physiological research recently shared on bioRxiv, ready for you to explore.

❤️ physiology

Sensor placement causes outcome-dependent bias in ambulatory light-exposure estimates

This study demonstrates that while chest-mounted light dosimeters can provide sufficiently accurate aggregated timing and duration metrics for scalable studies, both chest and wrist placements significantly underestimate eye-level light exposure—particularly at night and for temporal dynamics—with wrist placement introducing the greatest and most unpredictable bias, thereby necessitating near-eye measurement for precise, small-sample, or time-resolved analyses.

Zauner, J., de Vries, S. W., Didikoglu, A., van Duijnhoven, J., Spitschan, M.2026-08-11
❤️ physiology

Postnatal Autonomic Development Predicts Adolescent Psychosocial Outcome

This longitudinal study demonstrates that flatter increases in vagally mediated heart rate variability and weaker heart rate decreases during infancy predict higher psychosocial difficulties at age 14 specifically in males, highlighting early autonomic nervous system maturation as a sex-specific predictor of adolescent outcomes.

Schmausser, M., Fleck, L., Fuchs, A., Moehler, E., Kaess, M., Koenig, J.2026-08-07
❤️ physiology

FoxO factors preserve airway epithelial homeostasis by coordinating adaptive stress responses

This study demonstrates that FoxO transcription factors are evolutionarily conserved regulators that maintain airway epithelial homeostasis by coordinating adaptive stress responses, with their reduced expression and altered function linked to increased stress sensitivity in asthma models across flies, mice, and humans.

Uliczka, K., Bossen, J. M., Zissler, U., Fink, C., Niu, X., Pieper, M., Prange, R. D., Vock, C., Wagner, C., Knop, M., A (…)2026-08-06
❤️ physiology

The vP300 Framework: Trial-to-Trial Variability in the P300 Event-Related Potential as a Signal of Locus Coeruleus-Norepinephrine Dynamics

The vP300 framework proposes that trial-to-trial variability in the P300 event-related potential, rather than being mere measurement error, reflects locus coeruleus-norepinephrine dynamics and provides unique, orthogonal information about cognitive flexibility beyond traditional mean amplitude measures.

Su, J., Hu, H., Su, X., Huang, Y.2026-08-05
❤️ physiology

Genomic Profiling of Estrogen-Related Receptor Identifies Adult Adipocyte-Specific Targets in Drosophila

Using a modified NanoDam approach, this study identifies that the estrogen-related receptor (ERR) directly regulates genes involved in glycolysis, the pentose phosphate pathway, and fatty acid metabolism specifically within adult Drosophila adipocytes, establishing its central role in adipose tissue metabolism.

Yin, J., Rusch, D. B., Bhatta, J. S., Merritt, D. M., Weaver, L. N.2026-07-30
❤️ physiology

Mitochondrial-targeted therapy with elamipretide preserves cardiac function and prevents late mortality in murine sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction.

This study demonstrates that early administration of the cardiolipin-stabilizing peptide elamipretide restores mitochondrial function and cardiac performance in a murine model of sepsis-induced cardiac dysfunction, thereby preventing late mortality by targeting a central metabolic bottleneck in the electron transport system.

Vu, J., Wagg, C. S., Holody, C. D., Wong, A., Baidwan, T., Lo, M., Khodabocus, I., Liu, S. N., Macala, K. F., Dufour, A. (…)2026-07-09
❤️ physiology

Molecular and Structural Basis of Cardiac Remodelling in Niemann-Pick Type C

This study reveals that Niemann-Pick disease type C is associated with significant cardiac structural and functional abnormalities, including ventricular fibrosis, conduction defects, and arrhythmias driven by glycosphingolipid accumulation and inflammation, thereby supporting the need for routine cardiac screening in affected patients.

Song, Q., Prachee, I., Stepien, K. M., Herring, N., Bueno-Orovio, A., Capel, R. A., Priestman, D., Ayagama, T., Bell, L. (…)2026-07-09
❤️ physiology

Chromatin topology control by a muscle-specific ribosomal protein

This study reveals that the muscle-specific ribosomal protein Rpl3l acts as a nuclear regulator of genome architecture in atrial cardiomyocytes by stabilizing a CTCF-anchored chromatin boundary to repress the T-type calcium channel gene *Cacna1h*, thereby maintaining cardiac rhythm stability and preventing atrial fibrillation.

Nakamura, M., Chen, X., Yao, S., Chan, L. X., Hongmei, R., Boulinguiez, A., Lally, N., Wu, H., Kodani, K., Hirose, K., P (…)2026-06-26
❤️ physiology

Carotid body mitochondria exhibit normal oxygen affinity despite COX4I2 enrichment

Despite exhibiting higher respiratory rates and enrichment of COX4I2, carotid body mitochondria possess only a marginally lower intrinsic oxygen affinity than myocardial mitochondria, suggesting that their role in oxygen sensing relies on secondary factors like nitric oxide rather than an inherent difference in cytochrome oxidase affinity.

Swiderska, A., Murphy, M. P., Galli, G. L., Trafford, A. W.2026-06-26