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Category: neuroscience

Affecting a Signaling Pathway Alleviates Alzheimer’s in Mice

A new study shows that the overexpression of somatostatin (SST), a neuropeptide produced in neurons and acting mostly on microglia, lowers inflammation and amyloid β burden, improving cognitive abilities in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s. Drugs affecting this pathway are already available [1].

The unusual suspect

In Alzheimer’s disease, many signaling pathways in the brain become dysregulated. Since going after the main hallmarks of the disease (amyloid β and tau protein accumulation) has only yielded modest results so far, scientists are exploring various secondary targets whose levels correlate with the disease.

Single-cell epigenomics uncovers heterochromatin instability and transcription factor dysfunction during mouse brain aging

Amaral et al. present a single-cell atlas of brain aging, revealing coordinated chromatin and gene expression changes across multiple regions from young to old mice. Their analyses show that aging involves loss of progenitor cells, dysregulation of master transcription factors, and destabilization of heterochromatin, driving a gradual erosion of cellular identity.

Striatal Dopamine Transporter and Rest Tremor in Parkinson DiseaseA Clinical Validation

【】 Full article: (Authored by Nader Butto, from Petah Tikva, Israel.)

This work presents a vortex-based geometric interpretation of atomic structure, in which electrons are described as localized vortex excitations embedded in a structured vacuum, offering a physically intuitive framework for understanding shells, subshells, orbitals, quantum numbers, and electron configurations without altering the formal structure of quantum mechanics. QUANTUM_NUMBERS vortex_geometry ElectronConfiguration.

1. Introduction

The atomic structure of matter represents one of the foundational achievements of modern physics and chemistry. Early experimental investigations by Rutherford established the nuclear model of the atom [1], while Bohr introduced the concept of discrete electronic energy levels to explain atomic spectra [2]. Sommerfeld subsequently extended this picture by incorporating angular momentum quantization and relativistic corrections [3]. These developments paved the way for the formulation of quantum mechanics, which replaced classical electron orbits with a wave-based description of electronic states.

The quantum-mechanical framework, formalized through the work of Schrödinger, Pauli, Born, and Dirac, provides a mathematically rigorous and highly successful description of atomic behavior [4]-[7]. Within this formalism, electrons are described by wavefunctions whose squared modulus gives the probability density of finding an electron in a given region of space. Atomic orbitals arise as solutions of the Schrödinger equation and are characterized by a set of quantum numbers that determine their energy, angular momentum, spatial orientation, and spin. This approach accurately predicts atomic spectra, selection rules, and chemical periodicity.

The gut can drive age-associated memory loss, research reveals

While it seems logical that age-related cognitive decline would be blamed on brain aging and degeneration (which, like anything in the brain, is notoriously hard to treat), there’s some evidence that processes elsewhere in the body influence the brain’s ability to form memories. In particular, neuronal pathways that sense the status of other organs in the body can influence cognitive functions in the brain.

Other studies have shown that our gut microbiome affects learning, memory, and behavior. But what we don’t yet understand is how these connections work—the specific molecules, microbes, and gut-brain communication involved—and whether we can use that knowledge to prevent or reverse age-related memory loss.

In our new work published today in Nature, we discovered that the aging gastrointestinal tract produces specific molecules that blunt the activity of a key gut-brain neuronal pathway, leading to age-related cognitive decline in mice.

The brain’s default mode network splits into ‘sender’ and ‘receiver’ zones, study finds

The default mode network (DMN) is a distributed set of interconnected brain regions that has long been associated with internally oriented cognition, such as remembering the past, thinking about the future, or thinking about oneself. Accumulating evidence also indicates that the DMN is engaged during tasks involving external perceptual input, such as language comprehension and social perception. However, the mechanism by which the same network supports both internally and externally oriented cognition has remained unknown.

Now, a research team led by Zhang Meichao from the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has identified an organizational principle within the DMN that helps explain how the network supports both internal and external cognition.

The study, published in PNAS, reveals that distinct subregions within the DMN act as “senders” and “receivers” of information, enabling flexible shifts between perception and memory-driven thought.

Longitudinal study links associative learning gains to later improvements in fluid intelligence

As children grow, their capacity to memorize associations and their ability to solve novel problems actively reinforce each other. New research suggests that these core cognitive skills develop together in a bidirectional loop during elementary school.

The global burden of childhood and adolescent cancer (age 0–19 years) from 1990 to 2023: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023

Acute lymphoid leukemia and brain and central nervous system cancers were estimated to be the greatest contributors to new childhood cancer cases in 0–19-year-olds in 2023.

A new comprehensive study published in The Lancet from researchers at IHME and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital — Science and Medicine examined the burden of childhood and adolescent cancer from 1990 to 2023, aiming to inform effective cancer policy planning around the globe.

Read the study.

Childhood cancer was the eighth-leading cause of childhood deaths and the ninth-leading cause of DALYs among all cancers in 2023. Globally, in 2023, there were an estimated 377 000 incident childhood cancer cases, 144 000 deaths, and 11·7 million DALYs due to childhood cancer.

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