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Category: neuroscience – Page 496

Alzheimer’s May Not Actually Be a Brain Disease, Expert Says

The pursuit of a cure for Alzheimer’s disease is becoming an increasingly competitive and contentious quest with recent years witnessing several important controversies.

In July 2022, Science magazine reported that a key 2006 research paper, published in the prestigious journal Nature, which identified a subtype of brain protein called beta-amyloid as the cause of Alzheimer’s, may have been based on fabricated data.

One year earlier, in June 2021, the US Food and Drug Administration had approved aducanumab, an antibody-targeting beta-amyloid, as a treatment for Alzheimer’s, even though the data supporting its use were incomplete and contradictory.

Fluid flow in the brain can be manipulated

Researchers at Boston University, U.S. report that the flow of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain is linked to waking brain activity. Led by Stephanie Williams, and publishing in the open access journal PLOS Biology on March 30, the study demonstrates that manipulating blood flow in the brain with visual stimulation induces complementary fluid flow. The findings could impact treatment for conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, which have been associated with declines in cerebrospinal fluid flow.

Just as our kidneys help remove from our bodies, cerebrospinal fluid helps remove toxins from the brain, particularly while we sleep. Reduced flow of cerebrospinal fluid is known to be related to declines in brain health, such as occur in Alzheimer’s disease. Based on evidence from , the researchers hypothesized that while awake could also affect the flow of cerebrospinal fluid. They tested this hypothesis by simultaneously recording human brain activity via fMRI and the speed of cerebrospinal fluid flow while people were shown a checkered pattern that turned on and off.

Researchers first confirmed that the checkered pattern induced brain activity; blood oxygenation recorded by fMRI increased when the pattern was visible and decreased when it was turned off. Next, they found that the flow of cerebrospinal fluid negatively mirrored the blood signal, increasing when the checkered pattern was off. Further tests showed that changing how long the pattern was visible affected blood and fluid in a predictable way, and that the blood-cerebrospinal fluid link could not be accounted for by only breathing or heart rate rhythms.

How Your Brain Organizes Information

To try everything Brilliant has to offer—free—for a full 30 days, visit http://brilliant.org/ArtemKirsanov/
The first 200 of you will get 20% off Brilliant’s annual premium subscription.

My name is Artem, I’m a computational neuroscience student and researcher. In this video we talk about cognitive maps – internal models of outside world that the brain to generate flexible behavior that is generalized across contexts.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/artemkirsanov.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArtemKRSV

OUTLINE:
00:00 — Introduction.
02:08 — Edward Tolman.
03:48 — Zoo of neurons in hippocampal formation.
06:40 — Non spatial mapping.
08:21 — Graph formalism.
12:21 — Latent spaces.
17:22 — Factorized representations.
21:51 — Summary.
24:47 — Brilliant.
26:19 — Outro.

REFERENCES (in no particular order):
1. Behrens, T. E. J. et al. What Is a Cognitive Map? Organizing Knowledge for Flexible Behavior. Neuron 100490–509 (2018).
2. Constantinescu, A. O., O’Reilly, J. X. & Behrens, T. E. J. Organizing conceptual knowledge in humans with a gridlike code. Science 352, 1464–1468 (2016).
3. Aronov, D., Nevers, R. & Tank, D. W. Mapping of a non-spatial dimension by the hippocampal–entorhinal circuit. Nature 543719–722 (2017).
4. Whittington, J. C. R., McCaffary, D., Bakermans, J. J. W. & Behrens, T. E. J. How to build a cognitive map. Nat Neurosci 25, 1257–1272 (2022).
5. Whittington, J., Muller, T., Mark, S., Barry, C. & Behrens, T. Generalisation of structural knowledge in the hippocampal-entorhinal system.

CREDITS:

Continue reading “How Your Brain Organizes Information” | >

Transplantation of clinical-grade human neural stem cells reduces neuroinflammation, prolongs survival and delays disease progression in the SOD1 rats

The hNSCs used in the study have been produced and characterised in the Cell Factory and Biobank of Santa Maria Hospital (Terni, Italy), authorised by the Italian Medicine Agency (AIFA) for the production of hNSCs to be used for clinical trials (aM 54/2018). The methodology applied to isolate, expand, characterise and cryopreserve the lines is based on the Neurosphere Assay26,41,54, and has been used for the production of the cells utilised in phase I trials for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis patients (NCT0164006723) and for Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis patients (NCT03282760, ongoing).

The entire production process, starting from tissue procurement to cryopreservation is compliant to cGMP guidelines and approved by AIFA. The hNSCs are obtained from foetal brain tissue derived from fetuses that underwent miscarriage or natural in utero death upon receiving the signed informed consent from the mother. Forty-eight hours prior to implantation, hNSCs were plated in the growth medium at a concentration of 10,000 cells/cm2. On the day of surgery, hNSCs were collected by centrifugation, viable cells were counted by Trypan blue exclusion criteria, and the correct number of cells were re-suspended in HBSS for the transplant.

SOD1 transgenic male rats were randomly divided into three experimental groups: (i) transplanted with hNSCs (hNSC rats, n = 15); (ii) treated with HBSS (HBSS rats, n = 15) and (iii) untreated (CTRL rats, n = 22). An additional group of non-transgenic littermates (wild-type, WT, n = 9) were used as controls for symptomatic evaluation of the colony. Tacrolimus (FK506) and cyclosporine (cyclosporin A) are the principal immunosuppressive drugs that have been applied for solid organ transplantation55,56 and have been translated to stem cell treatments for PD57 and ALS22. In animal models, despite differences in potency, both drugs showed excellent survival rates for grafts across many comparative studies58,59. Our previous results44,45 showed that hNSCs can survive—without signs of rejection—in the rat brain up to 6 months under transient immunosuppression treatment, with cyclosporin A. On the bases of these results, we applied the same immunosuppressive treatment with administration of cyclosporine A (15 mg/kg/day subcutaneous; Sandimmne, Novartis) that was initiated on the day of transplantation and continued for 15 days after surgery (for all animal groups).

Proteomic Analysis of Huntington’s Disease Medium Spiny Neurons Identifies Alterations in Lipid Droplets

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a neurodegenerative disease caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the Huntingtin (HTT) gene. The resulting polyglutamine (polyQ) tract alters the function of the HTT protein. Although HTT is expressed in different tissues, the medium spiny projection neurons (MSNs) in the striatum are particularly vulnerable in HD. Thus, we sought to define the proteome of human HD patient–derived MSNs. We differentiated HD72 induced pluripotent stem cells and isogenic controls into MSNs and carried out quantitative proteomic analysis. Using data-dependent acquisitions with FAIMS for label-free quantification on the Orbitrap Lumos mass spectrometer, we identified 6,323 proteins with at least two unique peptides. Of these, 901 proteins were altered significantly more in the HD72-MSNs than in isogenic controls. Functional enrichment analysis of upregulated proteins demonstrated extracellular matrix and DNA signaling (DNA replication pathway, double-strand break repair, G1/S transition) with the highest significance. Conversely, processes associated with the downregulated proteins included neurogenesis-axogenesis, the brain-derived neurotrophic factor-signaling pathway, Ephrin-A: EphA pathway, regulation of synaptic plasticity, triglyceride homeostasis cholesterol, plasmid lipoprotein particle immune response, interferon-γ signaling, immune system major histocompatibility complex, lipid metabolism and cellular response to stimulus. Moreover, proteins involved in the formation and maintenance of axons, dendrites, and synapses (e.g., Septin protein members) were dysregulated in HD72-MSNs. Importantly, lipid metabolism pathways were altered, and using quantitative image, we found analysis that lipid droplets accumulated in the HD72-MSN, suggesting a deficit in the turnover of lipids possibly through lipophagy. Our proteomics analysis of HD72-MSNs identified relevant pathways that are altered in MSNs and confirm current and new therapeutic targets for HD.

Synthetic Telepathy: The Revolutionary Technology Redefining Communication

In my latest interview, I answer some questions on the fascinating topic of synthetic telepathy. Recently, the concept of synthetic telepathy has gained increasing attention from both the scientific community and the general public. The ability to communicate with others using only our thoughts may sound like something straight out of science fiction, but recent advancements in neuroscience and technology have brought us closer to making this a reality.

#SyntheticTelepathy #neurotechnology #braincomputerinterface #BCI #cybernetics #brainhacking #mindcontrol #nanocybernetics

In recent years, the concept of synthetic telepathy has gained increasing attention from both the scientific community and the general public. The ability to communicate with others using only our thoughts may sound like something straight out of science fiction, but recent advancements in neuroscience and technology have brought us closer to making this a reality. Join us for an exclusive interview with futurist and evolutionary cyberneticist Alex M. Vikoulov, as he shares his expertise on the fascinating topic of synthetic telepathy. Speaking with news reporter Blanca Elena Reyes, Vikoulov will delve into the workings of this cutting-edge technology and discuss its potential applications for the future.

Blanca Elena Reyes: Are you familiar with synthetic telepathy? If you do, how does it work?

Alex Vikoulov: Synthetic telepathy, also referred to as neurotechnology, brain-computer interface (BCI), and more broadly, cybernetics, is a form of technology that enables direct communication between the brain and an external device without the need for physical intervention. This technology allows individuals to transmit their thoughts, feelings, and sensations wirelessly to another person or a machine, allowing for real-time communication and control of technology.

Immortality is attainable by 2030: Google scientist

Do you really want to live forever? Futurist Ray Kurzweil has predicted that humans will achieve immortality in just seven years. Genetic engineering company touts ‘Jurassic Park’-like plan to ‘de-extinct’ dodo bird Elon Musk ‘comfortable’ putting Neuralink chip into one of his kids.

Read more ❯.