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Category: neuroscience – Page 440

Exercise’s Dopamine-Driven Cognitive Boost

An exciting study reveals how exercise boosts brain power.

Summary: Recent research has revealed a significant link between exercise and improved cognitive performance, attributing this enhancement to increased dopamine levels. This discovery, involving sophisticated PET scans to monitor dopamine release in the brain during exercise, indicates that dopamine plays a vital role in boosting reaction times and overall brain function.

The study’s implications are far-reaching, suggesting potential therapeutic applications for conditions influenced by dopamine, like Parkinson’s disease and ADHD. The research underscores the importance of voluntary exercise for cognitive health, differentiating it from involuntary muscle stimulation.

New simulation tool advances molecular modeling of biomolecular condensates

A University of Massachusetts Amherst team has made a major advance toward modeling and understanding how intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) undergo spontaneous phase separation, an important mechanism of subcellular organization that underlies numerous biological functions and human diseases.

IDPs play crucial roles in cancer, neurodegenerative disorders and infectious diseases. They make up about one-third of proteins that human bodies produce, and two-thirds of cancer-associated proteins contain large, disordered segments or domains. Identifying the hidden features crucial to the functioning and self-assembly of IDPs will help researchers understand what goes awry with these features when diseases occur.

In a paper published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, senior author Jianhan Chen, professor of chemistry, describes a novel way to simulate separations mediated by IDPs, an important process that has been difficult to study and describe.

Chinese Lab Created New Coronavirus, 100% Mortality Rate in Human Transgenetic Mice

According to a paper submitted for peer review on January 4th, 2024, Lethal Infection of Human ACE2-Transgenic Mice Caused by SARS-CoV-2-related Pangolin Coronavirus GX_P2V(short_3UTR), a new lab-created coronavirus has the potential to kill 100% of those infected with the virus within 8 days of infection.

The mice were genetically modified to express the human ACE2 receptor. This is the receptor responsible for allowing coronavirus to gain cellular entry. The lab infected mice with a coronavirus engineered from a strain found in pangolins. Pangolins are medium-sized animals growing to 12 — 30 inches in length and have the appearance of a scale-plated anteater.

Researchers monitored the mice for signs of infection by recording body weight, taking tissue samples, and monitoring for other symptoms. By the third day post-infection, tissue samples from the infected mice had a significant amount of viral RNA in the brain, eye, lung, and nasal tissue.

Retinal thinning linked to Parkinson’s disease progression and cognitive decline

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A recent study published in the journal Npj Parkinson’s Disease investigated whether increased thinning rate in the parafoveal ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (pfGCIPL) and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) indicates the progression of the Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Study: Association of retinal neurodegeneration with the progression of cognitive decline in Parkinson’s disease. Image Credit: BioFoto / Shutterstock

Background

Retinal changes are robustly associated with neurodegenerative diseases, such as PD. The changes in retinal layer thickness can be assessed using high-resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT). Among different retinal layers, the ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) can be used as a biomarker to determine cognitive decline and neurodegeneration.

Permutation City by Greg Egan [2/2] FULL AUDIOBOOK

“Permutation City” by Greg Egan explores the nature of reality, consciousness, and existence. Set in a future where people can upload their consciousness into virtual realities, known as “Autoverse.” A software engineer, René Barjavel, becomes embroiled in a complex and mind-bending exploration of identity and the nature of existence as he grapples with the implications of living in a world where reality itself may be a simulation.

Innovative silicon nanochip can reprogram biological tissue in living body

Year 2021 Biocomputing is the future for the biological singularity because we could control all inputs and outputs of our bodies even evolve them eventually.

A silicon device that can change skin tissue into blood vessels and nerve cells has advanced from prototype to standardized fabrication, meaning it can now be made in a consistent, reproducible way. As reported in Nature Protocols, this work, developed by researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine, takes the device one step closer to potential use as a treatment for people with a variety of health concerns.

The technology, called tissue nanotransfection, is a non-invasive nanochip device that can reprogram tissue function by applying a harmless electric spark to deliver specific genes in a fraction of a second. In laboratory studies, the device successfully converted into to repair a badly injured leg. The technology is currently being used to reprogram tissue for different kinds of therapies, such as repairing caused by stroke or preventing and reversing nerve damage caused by diabetes.

“This report on how to exactly produce these tissue nanotransfection chips will enable other researchers to participate in this new development in ,” said Chandan Sen, director of the Indiana Center for Regenerative Medicine and Engineering, associate vice president for research and Distinguished Professor at the IU School of Medicine.

Research suggests chronic pain is different for males and females

A University of Alberta research team has uncovered differences in the way male and female mice develop and resolve chronic pain, pointing to potential pathways for future targeted treatments for humans.

In recently published research in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, the team reports on its study of mice with chronic resulting from inflammation rather than direct injury. The researchers found that the were more sensitive to the effects of called macrophages. They also identified an X chromosome-linked receptor that is critical for resolving both acute and in both sexes.

“We’re always interested in understanding the triggers for pain, but in this study, we went up the next step to ask how pain resolves to determine how these immune cells are involved,” explains principal investigator Bradley Kerr, professor of anesthesiology and in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry.

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