Neurologists at the biggest Alzheimer’s research meeting in the US experienced something this week they hadn’t in years: optimism.
Category: neuroscience – Page 527
Crack vaccine research on rats could help babies of mothers who use cocaine—and reduce addiction
UFMG-V4N2 proved effective in producing antibodies and making them block the passage of cocaine into the brain, which means that the vaccinated animals have a reduced perception of the drug’s effect: a very important advantage in a treatment.
This blockage occurs in the following way: we have a “protective shield” called the blood-brain barrier, which prevents toxic elements, viruses or bacteria from entering the brain, but because the cocaine molecule is very small, it manages to pass through this barrier.
The vaccine stimulates the production of antibodies, which bind to the drug molecules, increasing their weight and size and thus preventing them from getting past the protective shield. The cocaine is retained in the blood, but as it is bound to the antibody, it doesn’t act on the heart or arteries either, which means the risk of overdoses is reduced.
The most recent statistics put the number of regular cocaine or crack cocaine users in the world at 20 million. Of these, one in four will become addicted or develop use disorders.
Adapting Ritalin to tackle cocaine abuse
Cocaine use continues to be a public health problem, yet despite concerted efforts, no drugs have been approved to resolve cocaine addiction. Research suggests that the attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder drug methylphenidate (MPH; Ritalin) could serve as a cocaine-replacement therapy, but clinical results have been mixed. Although several labs have produced MPH derivatives for testing, parts of the molecule remained chemically inaccessible. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Central Science have cleared that hurdle.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 5 million Americans reported actively using cocaine in 2020, and almost 25,000 Americans died of a cocaine-related overdose in 2021. Although small-molecule drugs have proven effective in treating other drug addictions—for example, methadone as a therapy for heroin abuse—no such medication exists for cocaine abuse.
MPH has been considered a potential treatment because it behaves similarly to the illicit drug, increasing dopamine levels in the brain by blocking dopamine reuptake. Additionally, clinical studies have shown that MPH has a lower risk of abuse than cocaine.
Link between fruits, veggies & microbiome confirmed for the first time
Bacterial diversity in the gut plays an important role in health. The human microbiome has featured prominently in research, with links being made between it and cancer, personality, memory, and diseases such as diabetes and multiple sclerosis.
While it’s understood that a mother’s microbiome is transferred to their baby at birth and boosted by breastfeeding, what other sources of gut bacteria are there? A new study by researchers at the Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) in Austria has confirmed, for the first time, that one source is fruits and vegetables.
Brain-computer interface restores control of home devices for patient with ALS
It’s the day after the Baltimore Orioles clinched the American League East Championship with their 100th win of the season, and lifelong fan Tim Evans is showing his pride on his sleeve.
“It’s so great,” Evans, 62, says with a huge smile, wearing his orange O’s jersey.
The last time the Orioles won the AL East was in 2014, the same year Evans was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a progressive nervous system disease that causes muscle weakness and loss of motor and speech functions. Evans currently has severe speech and swallowing problems. He can talk slowly, but it’s hard for most people to understand him.
Your brain hallucinates your conscious reality
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Right now, billions of neurons in your brain are working together to generate a conscious experience — and not just any conscious experience, your experience of the world around you and of yourself within it. How does this happen? According to neuroscientist Anil Seth, we’re all hallucinating all the time; when we agree about our hallucinations, we call it “reality.” Join Seth for a delightfully disorienting talk that may leave you questioning the very nature of your existence.
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. You’re welcome to link to or embed these videos, forward them to others and share these ideas with people you know.
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Groundbreaking Discoveries About Human Brain and Neuronal Complexity
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Hello and welcome! My name is Anton and in this video, we will talk about recent discoveries about human brain and various types of neuronal cells.
Links:
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03192-2
https://nemoarchive.org/
https://www.science.org/collections/brain-cell-census.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adc8810
https://news.rub.de/english/press-releases/2022-06-0…ir-neurons.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-022-01933-6
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06502-w.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-023-01284-w.
https://elifesciences.org/articles/76143
Previous video on major discoveries: https://youtu.be/iGdFh3ENjzc.
More about Neanderthals: https://youtu.be/BvrBl9-TbBs.
#brain #neuron #neuroscience.
0:00 Recent papers on the human brain.
1:00 Human brain atlas and 3,000 new types of cells.
2:00 What was this collaboration for?
2:40 Unexpected complexity of cells in certain brain parts.
4:00 Are there a lot of individual differences? Yes!
4:40 Physical structure appears same across species.
5:10 Genetic activity is very different though.
5:35 Human disorders are unique to humans.
6:30 Unusual layers protecting the brain — SLYM
7:38 Axons turned out to be more unusual, especially in other species.
9:35 Shape of the brain suggests apes and humans are similar only until adolescence.
12:15 Hippocampus in humans is unique focusing on vision…explaining art?
13:48 New memory cell discovered.
15:45 Limitations.
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Anti-anxiety drug may improve brain cancer survival chances
A new study shows that cerebrospinal fluid reduces current treatment efficacy in brain cancer and identifies new therapeutic opportunities.
Cerebrospinal fluid, the clear colorless liquid that protects the brain, also may be a factor that makes brain cancers resistant to treatment, Australian researchers led by Associate Professor Cedric Bardy at the South Austraila Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and Flinders University reveal in the journal Science Advances.
Reporting how this occurs, the study, titled “Human cerebrospinal fluid affects chemoradiotherapy sensitivities in tumor cells from patients with glioblastoma,” in Science Advances shows that a decades-old anti-anxiety drug can improve the effectiveness of chemo-radiotherapy towards glioblastoma, or GBM, the most common and lethal brain cancer.
How ultra-processed food affects mental health
Ultra-processed foods can have a negative effect on mental health, and this is especially true for younger people, who consume more of these foods than older people.
Over time, there has been increasing evidence that those whose diet includes large quantities of ultra-processed foods are more likely to develop physical health issues.
These issues can include obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even more rapid aging. This is supported by wide research, including a paper by the IRCCS Neuromed Mediterranean Neurological Institute in Italy, involving about 23,000 citizens from the Molise region.
The researchers found that individuals whose consumption of ultra-processed foods is as high as 14.6% of their overall food intake have a 26% increased mortality risk over those who eat fewer UPFs. It further goes on to say that the same group of people faces a 58% greater chance of dying from cardiovascular diseases.
