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Category: neuroscience – Page 341

12,000-Year-Old Preserved Human Brains Defy Soft Tissue Decay Assumptions

The human brain, it turns out, can be surprisingly resistant to the ravages of time.

A new study has cataloged human brains that have been found on the archaeological record around the world and discovered that this remarkable organ resists decomposition far more than we thought – even when the rest of the body’s soft tissues have completely melted away.

Led by molecular taphonomist Alexandra Morton-Hayward of the University of Oxford, a team of scientists has identified more than 4,400 preserved human brains, dating back as far as 12,000 years ago. The results contradict previous evidence that the human brain is among the first organs to decay after death.

Your Blood Could Be Aging Your Brain, Increasing Risk of Dementia

Our brains change more rapidly at various times of our lives, as though life’s clock was ticking faster than usual. Childhood, adolescence and very old age are good examples of this.

Yet for much of adulthood, the same clock seems to tick fairly regularly. One lap around the Sun; one year older.

However, there may be a stage of life when the brain’s clock starts speeding up. The brain starts changing without you necessarily noticing it. It may even be caused (partly) by what’s in your blood.

Astrocytes Remember: A New Layer of Immune Memory Uncovered

Researchers have made a pioneering discovery that astrocytes, cells within the central nervous system traditionally not associated with immune functions, are capable of developing what’s being called an “immune memory.” This capability…

Summary: Astrocytes, traditionally non-immune cells within the central nervous system, possess the ability to develop an immune memory, responding more vigorously to subsequent immune challenges. This groundbreaking study reveals that through an epigenetic mechanism involving the enzymes p300 and ATP-citrate lyase (ACLY), astrocytes enhance their pro-inflammatory responses, a trait similar to the immune memory seen in adaptive immunity.

The findings, which have been observed in both mouse models of multiple sclerosis (MS) and human cell samples, suggest that astrocyte immune memory may play a significant role in chronic neurological disorders, offering new insights into disease pathology and potential therapeutic targets to mitigate CNS inflammation.

Study highlights causal associations between gut microbes and hypothyroidism

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20240320/Study-highlights-…idism.aspx Frontiers

In a recent study published in Frontiers in Nutrition, researchers explored the association between the microbial community of the gut and hypothyroidism.

Study: Cross-talk between the gut microbiota and hypothyroidism: a bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization study. Image Credit: sdecoret/Shutterstock.com.

Background

Hypothyroidism is a hormonal imbalance characterized by diminished thyroid gland activity and insufficient thyroid hormone synthesis, which can lead to heart disease, infertility, and poor brain development in children.

Scientists Concerned About Devices That Literally Read Your Mind

As the world inches ever closer to mind-reading technology, some scientists are calling to legally enshrine the right to keep our thoughts to ourselves.

In interviews with Undark, neuroscientists — including those who are working to make these so-called brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) happen — revealed their concerns about the devices.

In one particularly telling exchange, a pair of researchers from the University of Texas at Austin who’ve successfully created a BCI that can rudimentarily translate brain waves into text described how it felt to realize their device was actually reading their thoughts.

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