Archive for the ‘neuroscience’ category: Page 452
Mar 8, 2022
Bio-FlatScope dives deep for useful data
Posted by Saúl Morales Rodriguéz in categories: computing, neuroscience
Want to monitor the brain of a running tiger?
First, catch the tiger.
Then attach Bio-FlatScope, the latest iteration of lensless microscopy being developed at Rice University.
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Mar 7, 2022
Researchers Discover How the Human Brain Separates, Stores, and Retrieves Memories
Posted by Jose Ruben Rodriguez Fuentes in categories: biotech/medical, health, neuroscience
NIH-funded study identifies brain cells that form boundaries between discrete events.
Researchers have identified two types of cells in our brains that are involved in organizing discrete memories based on when they occurred. This finding improves our understanding of how the human brain forms memories and could have implications in memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health’s Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative and published in Nature Neuroscience.
“This work is transformative in how the researchers studied the way the human brain thinks,” said Jim Gnadt, Ph.D., program director at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the NIH BRAIN Initiative. “It brings to human neuroscience an approach used previously in non-human primates and rodents by recording directly from neurons that are generating thoughts.”
Mar 7, 2022
Anti-aging molecules safely reset mouse cells to youthful states
Posted by Dan Kummer in categories: biotech/medical, chemistry, genetics, life extension, neuroscience
One of the especially promising therapies to appear in the realm of anti-aging research involves a set of molecules known as Yamanaka factors, which scientists have deployed to rejuvenate aging cells, trigger muscle regeneration and tackle glaucoma. New research at the Salk Institute has sought to build on these short-term and specific use cases by demonstrating how these molecules can reverse signs of aging in middle-aged and elderly mice, with no evidence of health problems following the extended treatment.
The Yamanaka factors at the center of this study are a set of four reprogramming molecules that can reset the molecular clock found in the cells of the body. They do so by returning unique patterns of chemicals known as epigenetic markers, which evolve through aging, to their original states.
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Mar 7, 2022
Newly discovered brain cells may be a memory filing system, study suggests
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: biotech/medical, computing, neuroscience
A scientist opens a laptop in front of a patient. On screen, a boy, tied to a fleet of balloons, fades in. As he rises into the air, the scene cuts abruptly to an office, where a man sits in front of his boss. A question then appears: “Was anyone in the video wearing a tie?”
Jie Zheng, a postdoctoral fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital, had flown to Los Angeles to show the video to this patient, who has a severe seizure disorder. Like with the 18 other patients who were part of the study, neurosurgeons had placed electrodes in the patient’s brain to pinpoint what had been causing their seizures. Zheng and a group of scientists in a federally funded BRAIN Initiative consortium used this opportune moment to find neurons involved in the creation of memories. While subjects watched clips from movies and answered questions that tested their memory of the videos, the electrical activity of their brains was monitored.
Over three years, the work — a collaboration between researchers at Cedars-Sinai in L.A., Boston Children’s, and the University of Toronto — led to the discovery of two new groups of brain cells: boundary and event cells. The researchers theorized that these neurons are involved in cleaving experiences into distinct events that humans can better remember. The study, published in Nature Neuroscience, may pave the way for new treatments for memory disorders, the authors said.
Mar 7, 2022
Cellular rejuvenation therapy safely reverses signs of aging in mice
Posted by Montie Adkins in categories: biotech/medical, life extension, neuroscience
One group of mice received regular doses of the Yamanaka factors from the time they were 15 months old until 22 months, approximately equivalent to age 50 through 70 in humans. Another group was treated from 12 through 22 months, approximately age 35 to 70 in humans. And a third group was treated for just one month at age 25 months, similar to age 80 in humans.
LA JOLLA—(March 7, 2022) Age may be just a number, but it’s a number that often carries unwanted side effects, from brittle bones and weaker muscles to increased risks of cardiovascular disease and cancer. Now, scientists at the Salk Institute, in collaboration with Genentech, a member of the Roche group, have shown that they can safely and effectively reverse the aging process in middle-aged and elderly mice by partially resetting their cells to more youthful states.
“We are elated that we can use this approach across the life span to slow down aging in normal animals. The technique is both safe and effective in mice,” says Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, co-corresponding author and a professor in Salk’s Gene Expression Laboratory. “In addition to tackling age-related diseases, this approach may provide the biomedical community with a new tool to restore tissue and organismal health by improving cell function and resilience in different disease situations, such as neurodegenerative diseases.”
Mar 6, 2022
Social working memory abnormalities may be a neurocognitive mechanism underlying poorer social connection in PTSD
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: neuroscience
Research published in the journal Depression & Anxiety provides evidence that neurocognitive abnormalities are related to difficulties in social connection among people with posttraumatic stress disorder. The findings suggest that those with PTSD are more likely to struggle with managing multiple pieces of social information.
Approximately 7% of the population will have PTSD at some point in their lives, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. The disorder is characterized by persistent and intrusive memories of traumatic events, disrupted sleep, and other symptoms. PTSD has also been tied to social isolation and feelings of loneliness.
The researchers behind the new study sought to better understand whether the link between PTSD and isolation was related to specific impairments in neurocognitive mechanisms that support social cognition. They were particularly interested in social working memory, which describes the ability to maintain and manipulate information about people’s mental states, personalities, and relationships.
Mar 5, 2022
Human brain mapped in unprecedented detail
Posted by Quinn Sena in category: neuroscience
Circa 2016
Nearly 100 previously unidentified brain areas revealed by examination of the cerebral cortex.
Mar 5, 2022
Drug Candidate Reduced Brain Inflammation and Protected Against Cognitive Decline in Alzheimer’s Mouse Model
Posted by Quinn Sena in categories: biotech/medical, life extension, neuroscience
Summary: 3,6’-dithiopomalidomide (DP), an anti-inflammatory drug candidate, protected mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease against cognitive decline by reducing neuroinflammation.
Source: NIH
An anti-inflammatory drug candidate, known as 3,6’-dithiopomalidomide (DP), designed by researchers at the National Institute on Aging (NIA), protected lab mice against cognitive decline by reducing brain inflammation.