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Category: neuroscience

Benefits and Harms of Dementia Screening for Family Members of Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Alzheimer disease and related dementias screening of adults ≥65 years in primary care had no significant benefits or harms on family member quality of life or psychological well-being.

Question How does screening adults aged 65 years and older for dementia in primary care affect their family members’ health-related quality of life, stress, and perceived readiness to provide care?

Findings In this randomized clinical trial that included 1808 patient-family member dyads, there was no significant difference in benefit of screening to family members, measured by physical and mental component summary scores, and no difference in harm, measured by depression and anxiety between the screen and no screen groups over time.

Meaning These findings suggest that screening older adults for dementia in primary care did not improve or worsen their family members’ quality of life or psychological well-being.

Laser bursts flip nanoscale magnetic vortices at blistering speeds, opening a path to brain-like spintronics

Spintronics are devices that operate leveraging the spin, an intrinsic form of angular momentum, of electrons. The ability to switch magnetic states is central to the functioning of these devices, as it ultimately allows them to represent binary digits (i.e., “0” and “1”) when processing or storing information.

Some of these devices rely on magnetic vortices, nanoscale whirlpool-like patterns of magnetization that influence the alignment of spins. These vortices possess a property known as helicity, which is essentially the direction in which they rotate.

Reliably switching the helicity of magnetic vortices could open new possibilities for both neuromorphic computing systems, devices that mimic the brain’s neural organization, and multi-state memories. So far, however, this has proved challenging, mainly because it requires a synchronized wave-like rotation of spins without disrupting the geometric structure of vortices.

De novo fast motion computation in the primate visual cortex

He et al. suggest that MT and MST neurons can generate velocity selectivity anew by integrating sequential visuotopic activations from the V1 rather than by simple inheritance, as the V1 is no longer direction selective at high speeds. This de novo velocity computation provides a parsimonious explanation for fast motion processing in the primate brain.

Mechanical Thrombectomy and Final Infarct Volume in Patients With Stroke

In Stroke due to medium or distal vessel occlusion, endovascular treatment plus best medical treatment preserved more brain tissue and was linked to improved imaging outcomes and better clinical recovery compared with medical treatment alone.

Interventions EVT plus BMT compared with BMT alone.

Main Outcomes and Measures Primary outcome was calculated as the difference in volume of tissue at risk and the final infarct volume divided by the tissue at risk (change in Vrel). We defined a Vrel of 0.8 or greater as a good imaging outcome, meaning that at least 80% of the brain tissue initially at risk was not infarcted at 24 hours. Additionally, the association between brain tissue preserved and clinical outcome at 90 days was investigated.

Results From the 447 patients (252 [56.4%] male; median [IQR] age, 77.0 [68.0–84.0] years) included in this secondary analysis, 226 received EVT plus BMT and 221 received BMT alone. Median (IQR) time of the follow-up imaging was 22.9 (19.2−25.5) hours. Median (IQR) Time to maximum less than 6 seconds (Tmax6) volume was 34.0 (20.0−50.0) mL. Median follow-up infarct volume was 7.0 (1.0−22.9) mL. The median (IQR) change in absolute volume in the EVT plus BMT group was 23.6 (5.7−38.9) mL and 14.8 (0−30.3) mL in the BMT group. Median (IQR) change in Vrel was 0.8 (0.2−1.0) in the EVT plus BMT group and 0.6 (0−0.9) in the BMT group. Odds for reaching a change in Vrel of 0.8 or greater were higher in the EVT plus BMT group compared with BMT (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.6; 95% CI, 1.1−2.3) and with successful reperfusion compared with no successful reperfusion (aOR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.3−4.8). Patients with a change in Vrel of 0.8 or greater had a better clinical outcome at 90 days.

Our Universe Might Be a Giant Brain, According to New Theories

There’s something quietly unsettling about placing a photograph of a human neuron next to a simulated image of the large-scale cosmic web. The two look almost identical: delicate, branching filaments connecting dense clusters, with vast open spaces in between. One fits inside your skull. The other stretches across billions of light-years. The resemblance is hard to dismiss, and for a growing number of researchers, it’s far more than a visual coincidence.

What started as a striking observation in cosmology and neuroscience has evolved into a serious theoretical question. Could the universe, at its most fundamental level, operate the way a brain does? The ideas being put forward aren’t purely philosophical. Some of them come with testable mathematics, published peer-reviewed papers, and the names of well-regarded physicists attached. What follows is an honest look at where the science currently stands.

The estimated 200 billion detectable galaxies aren’t distributed randomly, but are lumped together by gravity into clusters that form even larger clusters, which are connected to one another by “galactic filaments,” long thin threads of galaxies. This vast architecture is what scientists call the cosmic web. When you zoom far enough out, the structure of the entire observable universe begins to take on a shape that looks startlingly familiar.

Brain-fat body axis in avoidance learning

It is not yet known how the immune system’s discovery of the pathogens leads to a change in behavior. “As this learned food avoidance can be found in all species, we investigated this question in a model organism – the fruit fly Drosophila,” explains the senior author. “Within this model, we can clarify how the brain and body interact with each other to trigger an avoidance reaction that is vital for survival.”

In the current study, the group had their test animals choose between two food sources. One of them was contaminated with the pathogenic bacterium Pseudomonas entomophila. The other contained a harmless Pseudomonas strain. The two food sources were otherwise completely identical.

Flies that have not yet had any bad experiences with the pathogen prefer the harmful food because they find its odor attractive. “As this is life-threatening for the animals, we wondered how animals that have consumed these bacteria with their food behave,” explains the scientist.

The pathogens did not remain undiscovered among the flies for long: The animals’ innate immune system has sensors that raise the alarm in cases such as this. “In our experiment, receptors were activated in them that respond to components of the bacterial cell wall,” explains another author.

These sensors mainly respond to the harmful Pseudomonas strain, but hardly respond at all to the harmless strain. Many of them sit on the surface of special neurons located near the fly’s throat. Via their branches, these neurons are connected not only to the fly’s brain but also to a fat store in the fly’s head. If the receptors raise the alarm in the presence of harmful microorganisms, this leads to the release of the neurotransmitter octopamine in the neurons, which is closely related to adrenaline. This travels through the neuronal branches to the fat store.

“The octopamine then triggers the formation of another neurotransmitter, dopamine, in the fat cells,” says the author. “The dopamine, in turn, is transported into the fly’s brain, where it causes the continuous, increased activation of neuronal networks that are important for learning and trigger an avoidance response.” The animals then tend to be deterred by the odor of pathogenic bacteria. “We were able to show that the flies chose the food source with the harmless germs following their experience with the spoiled food,” explains the scientist.

The adipose tissue is significantly involved in this learned behavioral change. But why is that so? “We still do not have a definitive answer,” says the author. “However, the flies’ decision may be linked to their nutritional status.”

Continue reading “Brain-fat body axis in avoidance learning” | >

Blood test detects aggressive brain tumors early and could reduce need for risky surgery

Researchers at the University of Sussex, in collaboration with scientists from different institutes worldwide, have identified a blood test capable of early diagnosis of the most aggressive form of brain tumor. The technology has the potential to save lives. Lead author Professor Georgios Giamas and his team have identified distinctive biomarkers (molecules that act as signs of normal processes, diseases, or responses to treatment) within patient blood samples, which could signal the presence of glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive forms of brain tumor.

The study published in Cell Reports Medicine investigated whether a simple blood test—analyzing the cargo of tiny particles called small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) that are released by cells into the bloodstream—could accurately detect and classify these tumors.

More than 11,000 people are diagnosed with a primary brain tumor in the U.K. each year. Glioblastoma is the most common high grade primary brain tumor in adults, which means it can grow and spread exceptionally quickly. Currently, diagnosing glioma often requires risky brain surgery.

The physics of brain development: How cells pull together to form the neural tube

In about one out of every 1,000 pregnancies, the neural tube, a key nervous system structure, fails to close properly. Georgia Tech physicists are now helping explain why this happens, having uncovered the physics that drive neural tube closure in a pregnancy’s earliest stages.

Working with collaborators at University College London (UCL), Georgia Tech researchers used computer models to reveal how, during early development, forces generated by cells physically pull the neural tube closed—like a drawstring. This discovery offers new insight into a critical process that—when disrupted—can result in severe birth defects such as spina bifida.

“Understanding a complex developmental process like neural tube closure requires a highly interdisciplinary approach,” said Shiladitya Banerjee, an associate professor in the School of Physics. “By combining advanced biological imaging with theoretical physics, we were able to uncover the mechanical rules that drive cells to close the tube. My lab builds computational models to uncover the physical rules of living systems. The neural tube is an ideal focus because its formation requires incredible mechanical coordination.”

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