Lifeboat Foundation

Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have discovered that odors stimulate specific brain cells that may play a role in rapid “go/no-go” decision-making.

The study was published online Tuesday (Feb. 6) in the journal Current Biology.

The scientists focused on the hippocampus, an area of the brain crucial to memory and learning. They knew that so-called “time cells” played a major role in hippocampal function, but didn’t know their role in associative learning.

A new study adds to the growing literature showing that motor neurons are not the only sites affected in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, writes Dr. Leana Doherty.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease primarily affecting motor neurons. However, nonmotor manifestations, including sensory, cognitive, and autonomic impairments, increasingly have been reported. In the current study, investigators examined cutaneous innervation and its correlation with disease severity in patients with ALS using the Small Fiber Neuropathy Symptoms Inventory Questionnaire, nerve conduction studies, and distal leg, thigh, and fingertip (glabrous skin) punch biopsies. Patients with alternate diagnoses including endocrinopathies, autoimmune disorders, and vitamin deficiencies were excluded.

Among 149 participants with ALS (mean age, 63; median disease duration, 14.3 months), 35% experienced large-fiber or small-fiber sensory symptoms or both. The frequency of small-fiber symptoms was higher in patients with more severe disease based on King’s staging; scores increase on the scale from 1 to 5 with increasing regions involved. Nearly one quarter of patients had one or more sensory nerve action potential abnormalities. The density of Meissner corpuscles (MC) was reduced in most ALS patients (53÷100), and intraepidermal nerve fiber (IENF) density was reduced at all sites (5th percentile: at the leg, 58%; thigh, 78%) compared with healthy controls. While MC density decreased with increasing King’s stage, IENF density increased. Increasing IENF density on repeat thigh biopsies at 6 and 12 months was associated with shorter survival. The researchers postulated that this may reflect an upregulation of reparative pathways paralleling disease aggressiveness.

Continue reading “Peripheral Sensory Abnormalities in ALS” »

Acetamiprid-induced oxidative stress can harm DNA and tRNA, leading to health problems. A study conducted by Huixia Zhang at Macau University of Science and Technology in 2023 introduced a comprehensive approach to assessing acetamiprid-induced oxidative damage to tRNA in human cells through oxidized nucleotide and tRNA profiling. Acetamiprid, a modern insecticide, is known for causing oxidative stress and related toxicity. Despite its impact on oxidative stress, the effects of acetamiprid-induced oxidative stress on RNA, especially tRNA, remained unexplored until this study.

Acetamiprid was found to elevate reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in HepG2 and LO2 cells, contributing to mitochondrial damage, free radical generation, and antioxidant status depletion. Oxidative damage to DNA and RNA can harm organisms, with prior research addressing RNA damage in aging, neurodegenerative diseases, and mental illnesses. However, its role in acetamiprid-induced toxicities has not been investigated.

The study employed TMSD labeling-based LC-MS/MS to measure oxidized nucleotide levels in HepG2 and LO2 cells treated with two mM acetamiprid. It also examined the impact of acetamiprid on the 8-oxo-G content of tRNAs and created volcano plots to compare RNase T1 digestion products of tRNAs from untreated and acetamiprid-treated cells.

This brain-teaser has baffled physicists since 1883. Thanks to some innovative engineering, it finally makes sense.

A team of scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison claim to have 3D-printed functional human brain tissue for the first time.

They hope their research could open the doors for the development of treatments for existing neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

As detailed in a new paper published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, the team flipped the usual method of 3D-printing on its side, fabricating horizontal layers of brain cells encased in soft “bio-ink” gel.

The brain is busy even when you’re just zoning out.

When your mind is wandering, your brain’s “default mode” network is active. Its discovery 20 years ago inspired a raft of research into networks of brain regions and how they interact with each other.

🧠 🔬 💡

Study reveals shared brain proteomic signatures in Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy, suggesting common molecular mechanisms that could pave the way for unified therapeutic strategies.

Drugs known as antidepressants target the serotonin transporter in nerve cells and are among the most commonly prescribed medicines worldwide, but are sometimes associated with significant side effects. As part of a study, a research group led by Thomas Stockner from MedUni Vienna identified the basic principles of serotonin transport and thus created a possible basis for the development of novel drugs with improved selectivity and with fewer undesirable effects. The results were recently published in the renowned scientific journal “Nature Communications”

While the desired effects of drugs unfold through the interaction with the relevant target structures, the undesirable side effects are often due to a lack of selectivity and therefore due to interactions with other target structures. Accordingly, developing drugs that can differentiate between the various physiologically relevant targets (e.g. transporters and receptors) is one of the challenges for research. A team led by Ralph Gradisch under the supervision of Thomas Stockner from MedUni Vienna’s Center for Physiology and Pharmacology set out to find a way to increase selectivity for the serotonin transporter while reducing interaction with other targets at nerve cells in the brain.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a neurological disease that usually leads to permanent disabilities. It affects about 2.9 million people worldwide, and about 15,000 in Switzerland alone. One key feature of the disease is that it causes the patient’s own immune system to attack and destroy the myelin sheaths in the central nervous system.

These protective sheaths insulate the nerve fibers, much like the plastic coating around a copper wire. Myelin sheaths ensure that electrical impulses travel quickly and efficiently from nerve cell to nerve cell. If they are damaged or become thinner, this can lead to irreversible visual, speech and coordination disorders.

So far, however, it hasn’t been possible to visualize the myelin sheaths well enough to reliably diagnose and treat MS. Now researchers at ETH Zurich, led by Markus Weiger and Emily Baadsvik from the Institute for Biomedical Engineering, have developed a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) procedure that maps the condition of the myelin sheaths more accurately than was previously possible. The researchers successfully tested the procedure on healthy people for the first time.