We know that humans are an intelligent species. But this biologist breaks down the intelligence of each of our cells — and it will blow your mind.
❍ Subscribe to The Well on YouTube: https://bit.ly/welcometothewell.
❍ Up next: An evolutionary history of the human brain, in 7 minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGArM23mMNM
A research team headed by investigators at Brigham and Women’s Hospital reported on the results of a study in which they used stem cells from Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients to identify a potential mechanism by which a gene known as SORL1 may impact the risk for the neurodegenerative disorder. Their work found that loss of normal SORL1 function leads to a reduction in two key proteins, APOE and CLU, which are known to be involved in AD, and which play an essential role in the neurons of healthy individuals. The study findings suggest a potential new strategy for AD treatment, especially for patients not responsive to existing therapies.
“Understanding the subtypes of AD is relatively new in the field of neurology research,” said Tracy Young-Pearse, PhD, of the Ann Romney Center for Neurological Diseases. “This is getting at a precision neurology approach, with which we can better predict which patients may be responsive to Alzheimer’s treatment strategies that attack specific genes or target the problems they cause.” Young-Pearse is corresponding author of the team’s published paper in Cell Reports, which is titled, “ Cell-type-specific regulation of APOE and CLU levels in human neurons by the Alzheimer’s disease risk gene SORL1,” in which they concluded, “Taken together, we demonstrate that AD-relevant SORL1 loss of function results in neuron-specific reduction in APOE and CLU and dysregulated lipid homeostasis.”
AD varies widely in its age of onset, presentation, and severity. Key neurological features of AD, including the accumulation of amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques in the brain, also vary across individuals. The anti-amyloid therapies, aducanumab and lecanemab, have received FDA accelerated and traditional approval, respectively, but not all patients respond to these drugs, warranting other treatment options.
Neuroscientists at Radboud University show that adversities permanently change the functioning of the brain. Furthermore, an aberrant reaction of the brain to adversities is related to anxiety symptoms. This may have predictive value for the development of psychiatric disorders.
Your brain is shaped by the things you experience. That sounds logical, but can you really measure that? And what can you do with it? Neuroscientists at Radboud University medical center investigated the influence of adversities in life on patterns in the brain. They found remarkable associations that may have predictive value for the development of psychiatric disorders.
The researchers conducted their study on approximately 170 people—a special group, because all kinds of data have been collected from them during their lifetime. For this study, the scientists specifically focused on adversities: factors or events that are known to have a negative effect on development. Consider, for example, the mother’s smoking during pregnancy, complications during childbirth, abuse, or a major accident.
An injection of a specific blood factor can replicate exercise’s brain benefits, offering potential treatments for age-related cognitive decline.
Pre-clinical trials by University of Queensland scientists have found that an injection of a specific blood factor can replicate the benefits of exercise in the brain.
Dr. Odette Leiter and Dr. Tara Walker from UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute led a team that discovered platelets, the tiny blood cells critical for blood clotting, secrete a protein that rejuvenates neurons in aged mice in a similar way to physical exercise.
A study published in Scientific Reports has shed light on the intricate relationship between the sense of presence in virtual reality (VR) environments and cognitive abilities. The study, titled “The role of sense of presence in expressing cognitive abilities in a virtual reality task: an initial validation study,” was conducted by a team of researchers coordinated by Dr. Andrea Chirico and marks a significant advancement in our understanding of how immersive technologies can influence cognitive functions.
The research team, which includes Prof. Antonio Giordano, Prof. Fabio Lucidi (Sapienza University of Rome), Dr. Luigi De Pietro (CNR ICAR, Italy), and others, set out to investigate the extent to which the sense of presence—the feeling of being “inside” a virtual environment —impacts an individual’s cognitive performance. By employing advanced VR technology and designing a range of tasks to test cognitive abilities, the researchers were able to gather valuable insights.
One of the key findings of the study is that a stronger sense of presence is positively correlated with enhanced cognitive abilities. Participants who reported a heightened feeling of presence in the virtual tasks demonstrated improved performance in various cognitive domains. These domains include memory, attention, problem-solving, and decision-making.
Stimulating the brain with electricity has been used for 30 years to treat Parkinson’s disease. Now, researchers are testing whether it could help restore hand and arm motion.
That early experience drove his professional interest in helping people communicate.
Now, Henderson’s an author on one of two papers published Wednesday showing substantial advances toward enabling speech in people injured by stroke, accident or disease.
Scientists have created one of the most detailed 3D images of the synapse.
A synapse is a specialized junction between nerve cells that allows for the transfer of electrical or chemical signals, through the release of neurotransmitters by the presynaptic neuron and the binding of receptors on the postsynaptic neuron. It plays a key role in communication between neurons and in various physiological processes including perception, movement, and memory.
A five-year “adversarial collaboration” of consciousness theorists led to a stagy showdown in front of an audience. It crowned no winners — but it can still claim progress.
Human Brain Project researchers from Forschungszentrum Jülich and the University of Cologne (Germany) have uncovered how neuron densities are distributed across and within cortical areas in the mammalian brain. They have unveiled a fundamental organizational principle of cortical cytoarchitecture: the ubiquitous lognormal distribution of neuron densities.
Numbers of neurons and their spatial arrangement play a crucial role in shaping the brain’s structure and function. Yet, despite the wealth of available cytoarchitectonic data, the statistical distributions of neuron densities remain largely undescribed. The new Human Brain Project (HBP) study, published in the journal Cerebral Cortex, advances our understanding of the organization of mammalian brains.
Analyzing the datasets and the lognormal distribution.
