Lifeboat Foundation

Summary: Researchers have developed the first stem cell culture method that accurately models the early stages of the human central nervous system (CNS), marking a significant breakthrough in neuroscience. This 3D human organoid system simulates the development of the brain and spinal cord, offering new possibilities for studying human brain development and diseases.

By using patient-derived stem cells, the model can potentially lead to personalized treatment strategies for neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders. The innovation opens new doors for understanding the intricacies of the human CNS and its disorders, surpassing the capabilities of previous models.

A new study from a team of McGill University and Vanderbilt University researchers is shedding light on our understanding of the molecular origins of some forms of autism and intellectual disability.

For the first time, researchers were able to successfully capture atomic resolution images of the fast-moving ionotropic glutamate receptor (iGluR) as it transports calcium. iGluRs and their ability to transport calcium are vitally important for many brain functions such as vision or other information coming from sensory organs. Calcium also brings about changes in the signaling capacity of iGluRs and nerve connections, which are key cellular events that lead to our ability to learn new skills and form memories.

IGluRs are also key players in brain development and their dysfunction through genetic mutations has been shown to give rise to some forms of autism and intellectual disability. However, basic questions about how iGluRs trigger biochemical changes in the brain’s physiology by transporting calcium have remained poorly understood.

Researchers report in the journal Cell that ancient viruses may be to thank for myelin—and, by extension, our large, complex brains.

The team found that a retrovirus-derived genetic element or “retrotransposon” is essential for myelin production in mammals, amphibians, and fish. The gene sequence, which they dubbed “RetroMyelin,” is likely a result of ancient viral infection, and comparisons of RetroMyelin in mammals, amphibians, and fish suggest that retroviral infection and genome-invasion events occurred separately in each of these groups.

“Retroviruses were required for vertebrate evolution to take off,” says senior author and neuroscientist Robin Franklin of Altos Labs-Cambridge Institute of Science. “If we didn’t have retroviruses sticking their sequences into the vertebrate genome, then myelination wouldn’t have happened, and without myelination, the whole diversity of vertebrates as we know it would never have happened.”

Investigators identified 15 factors that affect risk for young-onset dementia.

Limited data are available on risk factors for young-onset dementia. In this study, researchers assessed 39 potential risk factors for young-onset dementia from data in the UK Biobank. Participants 65 years of age or older without a dementia diagnosis were included in the analysis. Potential risk factors were grouped into sociodemographic factors, genetic factors, lifestyle factors, environmental factors, blood marker factors, cardiometabolic factors, psychiatric factors, and other risk factors.

Among 359,052 participants, the mean age at baseline was 55 years and 55% were women. There were 485 incident all-cause young-onset dementia cases after a mean follow-up of 8 years. Incident young-onset dementia increased with age and was more common in men. Fewer years of formal education, lower socioeconomic status, the presence of two apolipoprotein E ℇ4 alleles, no alcohol use, alcohol use disorder, social isolation, vitamin D deficiency (1 mg/dL), lower handgrip strength, hearing impairment, orthostatic hypotension, stroke, diabetes, heart disease, and depression were associated with higher risk for young-onset dementia in fully adjusted models. Men with diabetes were more likely to have young-onset dementia than men without diabetes, and women with high C-reactive protein were more likely to have young-onset dementia than women with low C-reactive protein levels.

Continue reading “Risk Factors for Young-Onset Dementia” »

Think big. Despite its research topic, this could well be the motto of the Graphene Flagship, which was launched in 2013: With an overall budget of one billion Euros, it was Europe’s largest research initiative to date, alongside the Human Brain Flagship, which was launched at the same time.

The same applies to the review article on the effects of graphene and related materials on health and the environment, which Empa researchers Peter Wick and Tina Bürki just published together with 30 international colleagues in the journal ACS Nano; they summarize the findings on the health and ecological risks of graphene materials, the reference list includes almost 500 original publications.

A wealth of knowledge—which also gives the all-clear. “We have investigated the potential acute effects of various graphene and graphene-like materials on the lungs, in the gastrointestinal tract and in the placenta—and no serious acute cell-damaging effects were observed in any of the studies,” says Wick, summarizing the results.

Summary: Researchers made a groundbreaking discovery on how the human brain forms words before speaking. By utilizing Neuropixels probes, they’ve mapped out how neurons represent speech sounds and assemble them into language.

This study not only sheds light on the complex cognitive steps involved in speech production but also opens up possibilities for treating speech and language disorders. The technology could lead to artificial prosthetics for synthetic speech, benefiting those with neurological disorders.

New research conducted by a team led by Dr. PARK Joo Min of the Center for Cognition and Sociality within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) unveils a novel technique that could transform the treatment landscape for brain disorders.

The team developed a non-invasive brain stimulation method called Patterned Low-Intensity Low-Frequency Ultrasound (LILFUS), which holds tremendous potential for inducing long-lasting changes in brain function.

Source: Northwestern University.

Scientists have discovered a new neural pathway involved in how the brain encodes the transition to high-intensity fear response behaviors that are necessary for survival, according to a recent study published in Nature.

Jones Parker, Ph.D., assistant professor of Neuroscience, of Pharmacology and of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, was a co-author of the study.

Summary: If neural assemblies between the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex fail to sync together at the correct time, memories are lost.

Source: University of Bristol.

Learning, remembering something, and recalling memories is supported by multiple separate groups of neurons connected inside and across key regions in the brain. If these neural assemblies fail to sync together at the right time, the memories are lost, a new study led by the universities of Bristol and Heidelberg has found.