Activation of Gs signaling at mitochondria by mitoDREADD-Gs increases mitochondrial metabolism, leading to better memory in mouse models of dementia, directly linking brain mitochondrial deficits to cognitive symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases.
Category: neuroscience – Page 111
Gut neurons help body fight inflammation with immune-regulating molecule
Neurons in the gut produce a molecule that plays a pivotal role in shaping the gut’s immune response during and after inflammation, according to a new study by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The findings suggest that targeting these neurons and the molecules they produce could open the door to new treatments for inflammatory bowel disease and other disorders driven by gut inflammation.
Hundreds of millions of neurons make up the enteric nervous system, the “second brain” of the body, where they orchestrate essential functions of the gut such as moving food through the intestines, nutrient absorption and blood flow. While this system is known for regulating these fundamental processes, its role in controlling intestinal inflammatory responses has remained far less clear.
In their study, reported August 15 in Nature Immunology, the investigators focused on group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s), immune cells that reside within the linings of the gut. Their previous work revealed that ILC2s are a major source of a tissue-healing growth factor called amphiregulin and have the capacity to receive neuronal signals that modulate their function and can impact disease progression and recovery.
Prefrontal cortex astrocytes modulate distinct neuronal populations to control anxiety-like behavior
Whether and how prefrontal astrocyte Ca2+ signaling modulates different neuronal populations in aiding or inhibiting anxiety-like behavior remains not fully understood. Here authors show that prefrontal astrocytes encode anxiogenic cues and modulate excitatory and inhibitory neurons differently. Silencing prefrontal astrocytes heightens anxiety-like behavior and induces proteomic changes in astrocytes and neurons.
This Incredible Brain Implant Can Decode Inner Thoughts Into Speech
Scientists are making significant strides forward in brain-computer interface (BCI) technology, and a newly developed system can translate our thoughts into text or sound.
It’s essentially an inner speech decoder, developed by researchers from institutions across the US. In tests on four volunteers with severe paralysis, the decoder hit an accuracy rate of up to 74 percent in translating thoughts into audible speech.
The potential here is for a BCI that can help those with speech or motor impairments to communicate more effectively than ever before, though there’s still work to be done improving how accurate and personalized the system is.
Tiny protein dismantles the toxic clumps behind Alzheimer’s
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. (2025, August 23). Tiny protein dismantles the toxic clumps behind Alzheimer’s. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 23, 2025 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/08/250822073817.htm.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “Tiny protein dismantles the toxic clumps behind Alzheimer’s.” ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/08/250822073817.htm (accessed August 23, 2025).
Hemoglobin’s antioxidant role in brain cells points to new therapeutic avenue
Hemoglobin, long celebrated for ferrying oxygen in red blood cells, has now been revealed to play an overlooked—and potentially game-changing—antioxidant role in the brain.
In neurodegenerative diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and aging, brain cells endure relentless damage from the aberrant (or excessive) reactive oxygen species (ROS). For decades, scientists have tried to neutralize ROS with antioxidant drugs, but most failed: they couldn’t penetrate the brain effectively, were unstable, or indiscriminately damaged healthy cells.
This new study, led by Director C. Justin Lee of the Center for Cognition and Sociality within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in Daejeon, South Korea, set out to identify the brain’s own defenses against a particularly harmful form of ROS—hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). The study has been published in Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy.
