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Category: neuroscience – Page 533

Newly discovered anatomy shields and monitors brain

From the complexity of neural networks to basic biological functions and structures, the human brain only reluctantly reveals its secrets. Advances in neuro-imaging and molecular biology have only recently enabled scientists to study the living brain at level of detail not previously achievable, unlocking many of its mysteries. The latest discovery, described today in the journal Science, is a previously unknown component of brain anatomy that acts as both a protective barrier and platform from which immune cells monitor the brain for infection and inflammation.

The new study comes from the labs of Maiken Nedergaard, co-director of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine at University of Rochester and the University of Copenhagen and Kjeld Møllgård, M.D., a professor of neuroanatomy at the University of Copenhagen. Nedergaard and her colleagues have transformed our understanding of the fundamental mechanics of the human brain and made significant findings to the field of neuroscience, including detailing the many critical functions of previously overlooked cells in the brain called glia and the brain’s unique process of waste removal, which the lab named the glymphatic system.

“The discovery of a new anatomic structure that segregates and helps control the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in and around the brain now provides us much greater appreciation of the sophisticated role that CSF plays not only in transporting and removing waste from the brain, but also in supporting its immune defenses,” said Nedergaard.

Fruit flies help researchers decode genetic link to Alzheimer’s disease

Researchers have used fruit flies to decipher an unexplained connection between Alzheimer’s disease and a genetic variation, revealing that it causes neurons to die.

The findings from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI)-led team uncover a possible cause of neurodegeneration in the early stages of Alzheimer’s and open the door for the future development of new treatments for cognitive diseases.

The study, “An increase in mitochondrial TOM activates apoptosis to drive retinal neurodegeneration,” with collaborators from Australian National University, is published in Scientific Reports.

A phase 2 trial of inhaled nitrous oxide for treatment-resistant major depression

About one-third of individuals suffering from depression are at risk for treatment resistance. Whereas inhaled 50% nitrous oxide has early antidepressant effects on individuals with treatment-resistant major depression (TRMD), adverse effects can occur at this concentration. In this phase 2 clinical trial, Nagele et al. studied the effects of a single 1-hour treatment with 25% nitrous oxide on depression symptoms in those with TRMD, finding that this lower concentration had comparable efficacy to 50% nitrous oxide over several weeks but was associated with significantly fewer adverse effects. These results highlight that lower concentrations of nitrous oxide may be a useful treatment for TRMD.

Twenty-five percent inhaled nitrous oxide improves symptoms of treatment-resistant major depression with fewer adverse effects than the 50% concentration.

Dr. Richard Burt MD — Pioneering Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplants (HSCT) For Autoimmune Disorders

Pioneering Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplants (HSCT) For Autoimmune Disorders — Dr. Richard K. Burt

Dr. Richard K. Burt MD (https://astemcelljourney.com/about/drrichardburt/) is a Fulbright Scholar, Professor of Medicine at Scripps Health Care, tenured retired Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University where he served as Chief of Immunotherapy and Autoimmune Diseases, and CEO of Genani Biotechnology.

Dr. Burt endeavored for thirty-five years, first with animal models and then with some of the world’s first clinical trials, to bring the field of stem cell and cellular therapy to the patient’s bedside.

Dr. Burt has published more than 145 mostly first author articles and is the Editor of four medical textbooks. He was the first Autoimmune Committee Chairperson for the International Bone Marrow Transplant Registry (IBMTR) and was the principal investigator of a National Institute of Health (NIH) $10,000,000 multi-center contract to develop stem cell clinical trials for autoimmune diseases.

Dr. Burt performed America’s first hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) for multiple sclerosis (MS), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Crohn’s disease (CD), stiff person syndrome (SPS), and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and published the world’s first randomized clinical stem cell transplantation trials for systemic sclerosis and multiple sclerosis.

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The Universe in 90 minutes: Time, free will, God, & more | Sean Carroll

Everything you ever wanted to know about parallel universes, time, entropy, free will and more, explained by physicist Sean Carroll.

Up next, Michio Kaku: The Universe in a nutshell (Full Presentation) ► https://youtu.be/0NbBjNiw4tk.

Do you have free will? Is our Universe the only one, or do we live in one of many? And what does Einstein’s theory of relativity really say about the nature of reality?

These are some of the big questions that theoretical physicist Sean Carroll tackles in this Big Think video.

In 2022, Carroll published The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: Space, Time, and Motion, a book that achieves that rare feat of detailing the inner workings of scientific concepts in a way that’s accessible but not overly simplistic.

THE MULTIVERSE

Continue reading “The Universe in 90 minutes: Time, free will, God, & more | Sean Carroll” | >

Brain Dead Vs. Coma Vs. Vegetative State: What’s The Difference?

In light of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina being found unconscious, there have been many headlines that said she in “a coma” or a “vegetative state” or even “brain dead”. First things first, patients who suffer brain death are not in coma. And patients who are in coma may or may not progress to brain death.

The brain has a number of vast jobs to complete every second and is a very complex organ. The brain controls not only an individual’s thought process and voluntary movements, but it controls involuntary movements and other vital body functions. These functions include auditory, olfactory, visual and tactile senses, regulation of body temperature, blood pressure, respiration, and heart rate (although the heart can continue to beat without the brain in “autotonic response”). The brain also produces hormones to control individual organ function. A good example is the brain’s production of anti-diuretic hormone (ADH). This hormone is produced to concentrate the urine in the kidneys, thus protecting against life-threatening dehydration.

MUST READ: “Brain Dead” Child Showing Signs Of Life