Slight variations in a person’s pulse rate could give clues about the likelihood of future cognitive decline, according to a new study, potentially giving us a valuable new test for cognitive problems that would be quick and easy to run.
This is something that researchers invest a lot of time in, because knowing when cognitive decline might start, and how it may progress, means better support and more clarity for those involved. Along the way, it also reveals new insights into how these conditions develop, and how they might be stopped for good.
In this study, an international team analyzed pulse rate data across a night of sleep from 503 individuals with an average age of 82. Cognitive tests were also carried out around that same time, as well as in at least one follow-up visit.
In recent years, scientists discovered something strange: When mice with Alzheimer’s disease inhale menthol, their cognitive abilities improve.
It seems the chemical compound can stop some of the damage done to the brain that’s usually associated with the disease.
In particular, researchers noticed a reduction in the interleukin-1-beta (IL-1β) protein, which helps to regulate the body’s inflammatory response – a response that can offer natural protection but one that leads to harm when it’s not controlled properly.
The neocortex is highly susceptible to metabolic dysfunction. When exposed to global ischemia or anoxia, it suffers a slowly propagating wave of collective neuronal depolarization that ultimately impairs its structure and function. While the molecular signature of anoxic depolarization (AD) is well documented, little is known about the brain states that precede and follow AD onset. Here, by means of multisite extracellular local field potentials and intracellular recordings from identified pyramidal cells, we investigated the laminar expression of cortical activities induced by transient anoxia in rat primary somatosensory cortex. Soon after the interruption of brain oxygenation, we observed a well-organized sequence of stereotyped activity patterns across all cortical layers.
Neuralink’s second brain implant recipient shows the potential advancements in assistive technology for quadriplegics by playing video games.
