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Category: neuroscience – Page 285

Chemicals Found In Popular Household Products Potentially Linked To Autism, Multiple Sclerosis, Study Suggests

“We hope our work will contribute to informed decisions regarding regulatory measures or behavioral interventions to minimize chemical exposure and protect human health,” Tesar said in a statement.

1.8 million. That’s how many people globally have multiple sclerosis, according to the World Health Organization. The agency also found around one in 100 children worldwide have been diagnosed with autism.

“Rigorous safety tests are in place for human health that are evaluated by [the] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for approval and compliance with all regulatory guidelines,” Brian Sansoni, senior vice president for Communications, Outreach and Membership for the American Cleaning Institute, told Forbes. The ACI represents top cleaning product manufacturers like the Clorox Company and Procter & Gamble. “ACI member company manufacturers make product safety a top priority.” Quats have been known to be effective at killing bacteria, germs, viruses and mold. “The use of cleaning products, disinfectants and their chemistries contribute to public health in homes, schools, healthcare settings and communities every single day,” the ACI said.

DNA Damage and Inflammation Key to Memory Formation

Summary: Researchers unveiled a groundbreaking discovery that DNA damage and brain inflammation are vital processes for forming long-term memories, particularly within the brain’s hippocampus.

Contrary to previous beliefs associating inflammation with neurological diseases, this study highlights inflammation’s critical role in memory formation through the activation of the Toll-Like Receptor 9 (TLR9) pathway following DNA damage in hippocampal neurons.

These findings not only challenge conventional views on brain inflammation but also caution against indiscriminate inhibition of the TLR9 pathway, given its importance in memory encoding and the potential risks of genomic instability.

Making Long-Term Memories Requires Nerve-Cell Damage

March 27, 2024—(BRONX, NY)— Just as you can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs, scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have found that you can’t make long-term memories without DNA damage and brain inflammation. Their surprising findings were published online today in the journal Nature.

“Inflammation of brain neurons is usually considered to be a bad thing, since it can lead to neurological problems such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease,” said study leader Jelena Radulovic, M.D., Ph.D., professor in the Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and the Sylvia and Robert S. Olnick Chair in Neuroscience at Einstein. “But our findings suggest that inflammation in certain neurons in the brain’s hippocampal region is essential for making long-lasting memories.”

The hippocampus has long been known as the brain’s memory center. Dr. Radulovic and her colleagues found that a stimulus sets off a cycle of DNA damage and repair within certain hippocampal neurons that leads to stable memory assemblies—clusters of brain cells that represent our past experiences. Elizabeth Wood, a Ph.D. student, and Ana Cicvaric, a postdoc in the Radulovic lab, were the study’s first authors at Einstein.

Neuroscientist Andrew Huberman Accused of Bizarre Behavior

In an alarming exposé, several women have come forward accusing neuroscientist and celebrated podcaster Andrew Huberman of manipulation, bizarre behavior, and infidelity that may have led to a sexually transmitted infection in at least one of them.

Published by New York Magazine, this deep dive into the disparate public and private lives of the Stanford University neuroscientist illustrates a jarring portrait of a man who promotes physical and mental health and wellness — but engaged in bizarre interpersonal behavior, including secretly dating five women simultaneously.

Much of the story centers around a woman whom NYMag calls Sarah, who spent years dating the “Huberman Lab” host in what she believed to be an exclusive relationship. Along with accusing the 48-year-old podcaster of obfuscating about his other relationships, Sarah described Huberman as being intense and controlling, including — in a particularly unhinged twist — constantly relitigating her romantic and reproductive decisions from back before they were together.

Tryptophan in Diet and Gut Bacteria Protect against E. Coli Infection, study shows

Gut bacteria and a diet rich in the amino acid tryptophan can play a protective role against pathogenic E. coli, which can cause severe stomach upset, cramps, fever, intestinal bleeding and renal failure, according to a study published March 13 in Nature.

The research reveals how dietary tryptophan—an amino acid found mostly in animal products, nuts, seeds, whole grains and legumes—can be broken down by gut bacteria into small molecules called metabolites. It turns out a few of these metabolites can bind to a receptor on gut epithelial (surface) cells, triggering a pathway that ultimately reduces the production of proteins that E. coli use to attach to the gut lining where they cause infection. When E. coli fail to attach and colonize the gut, the pathogen benignly moves through and passes out of the body.

The research describes a previously unknown role in the gut for a receptor, DRD2 has otherwise been known as a dopamine (neurotransmitter) receptor in the central and peripheral nervous systems.