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The University of Oxford researchers for the first time showcased that neural cells can be 3D printed to replicate the structure of the brain’s outer layer: the cerebral cortex.

In a significant breakthrough, scientists have created brain tissue using human stem cells through 3D printing. This advancement holds promise for potential future applications in treating brain injuries.

For the first time, the University of Oxford researchers showcased that neural cells can be 3D printed to replicate the structure of the brain’s outer layer: the cerebral cortex.

Continue reading “New 3D printing approach offers hope for brain injury repair” »

Researchers with the Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDs) Center at Georgia State have identified important new methods for accurately identifying possible biomarkers in adolescent brains that can reliably predict cognitive developments and psychiatric issues.

A new study, published in Nature Mental Health, represents the first large-scale analysis of its kind in which researchers analyzed functional network connectivity (FNC) across scans and identified associations with a diverse range of health measures in children. Researchers believe that inferences about early cognitive and psychiatric behaviors in children may be made using these intra-subject variabilities as a useful biomarker.

Researchers studied four scans from more than 9,000 subjects ages 9 to 11.

In a small study, researchers at the National Institutes of Health have found that positron emission tomography (PET) scans of the heart may identify people who will go on to develop Parkinson’s disease or Lewy body dementia among those at-risk for these diseases.

The findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation and led by scientists at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of NIH, may advance efforts to detect the earliest changes that years later lead to Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia.

In 34 people with Parkinson’s disease risk factors, researchers conducted PET scans of the heart to gain insight into levels of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine. They found that the scans could distinguish individuals who would later be diagnosed with Parkinson’s or Lewy body dementia—both are brain diseases caused by abnormal deposits of the protein alpha-synuclein that form clumps known as Lewy bodies. The research was conducted at the NIH Clinical Center, currently the only location for ¹⁸ F-dopamine PET scanning.

Stem cell biologist Helen Blau of Stanford University School of Medicine and colleagues previously found that blocking 15-PGDH in old mice restored their withered muscles and improved their strength after a month of treatment. On the flip side, young mice lost muscle and became weaker after their levels of this enzyme were increased for a month.

Blau’s team has now found that 15-PGDH accumulates in the muscles of old mice as the connections that allow communication between muscles and nerves are lost, another consequence of aging. Treating old mice for one month with a drug that inhibits 15-PGDH restored these connections, called synapses, between muscle fibers and motor nerve cells, and boosted the animals’ strength, the team reports in the Oct. 11 Science Translational Medicine. Those synapses are how the brain directs muscles to move.

The findings suggest that blocking the gerozyme 15-PGDH may be a way to help recover strength that has diminished due to nerve injuries, motor nerve cell diseases or aging.

Researchers led by Mroj Alassaf at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in the United States have discovered a link between obesity and neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer’s disease.

Using the common fruit fly, the research shows that a high-sugar diet—a hallmark of obesity—causes insulin resistance in the brain, which in turn reduces the ability to remove neuronal debris, thus increasing the risk of neurodegeneration.

Publishing November 7 in the open access journal PLOS Biology, the research will impact therapies designed to reduce the risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases.

Link :- https://interestingengineering.com/science/finger-prick-test…tent=Nov07

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The significance of such a test lies in its non-invasive nature and the potential to detect brain tumors at an earlier stage, which can be critical for timely treatment and improved patient outcomes.

Link :- People are diagnosed earlier than in the past: https://www.freethink.com/health/depression-age-of-onset

People are being diagnosed with depression earlier than in the past because of a decrease in stigma and better diagnostic guidelines.

Researchers have discovered that patterns of activity in our neurons are more influenced by the shape of the brain – its grooves, contours, and folds – than by its complex interconnections. ⁠

“The conventional view is that specific thoughts or sensations elicit activity in specific parts of the brain. However, our study reveals structured patterns of activity across nearly the entire brain, relating to thoughts and sensations in much the same way that a musical note arises from vibrations occurring along the entire length of a violin string, not just an isolated segment.”⁠

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Continue reading “Have we got the brain all wrong? Study shows its shape is more important than its wiring” »

The study, led by Jimo Borjigin, associate professor of molecular and integrative physiology and neurology at Michigan, was very small, featuring only four patients. But the findings echo animal model studies, where the presence of gamma waves in dying brains has also been observed, including in a previous study in rats that Borjigin and colleagues ran a decade earlier.

“These data demonstrate that the surge of gamma power and connectivity observed in animal models of cardiac arrest can be observed in select patients during the process of dying,” the researchers wrote in their paper, published in PNAS.

What are gamma waves? Gamma waves are high-frequency brain waves researchers believe represent multiple areas of the brain working together in complex thoughts. Take, for example, combining the sight, sound, and smell of a car to get a full picture of the vehicle, Ajmal Zemmar, a neurosurgeon at the University of Louisville uninvolved with the study, told Science.

Continue reading “Complex brain activity detected in dying patients” »