Training the brain’s immune system to recognize and clear toxic material is rapidly emerging as an promising way to put the brakes on Alzheimer’s disease. Unfortunately researchers haven’t been clear on how this method of protection operates on a cellular level.
An international team of researchers analyzed brain samples taken from people who had died with Alzheimer’s, some of whom had also received approved Alzheimer’s immunotherapy treatments. The therapies encourage cleaning cells called microglia to attack the clumps of amyloid-beta proteins that are thought to be involved in neurodegeneration.
Microglia responses to amyloid beta can lead to inflammation, which in turn risks damage to brain tissues. The researchers wanted to know why immunotherapy turned microglia into ruthless cleaning machines in some cases but not others.
Hedonic eating is defined as food consumption driven by palatability without physiological need. However, neural control of palatable food intake is poorly understood. We discovered that hedonic eating is controlled by a neural pathway from the peri–locus ceruleus to the ventral tegmental area (VTA). Using photometry-calibrated optogenetics, we found that VTA dopamine (VTADA) neurons encode palatability to bidirectionally regulate hedonic food consumption. VTADA neuron responsiveness was suppressed during food consumption by semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide receptor 1 (GLP-1R) agonist used as an antiobesity drug. Mice recovered palatable food appetite and VTADA neuron activity during repeated semaglutide treatment, which was reversed by consumption-triggered VTADA neuron inhibition.
Memory, consciousness and the self aren’t what you think they are. Michael Levin joins Vasant Dhar in episode 91 of Brave New World to explain why the distinction between machines and organisms will soon fall apart. Useful resources 1. Michael Levin at Tufts, Wikipedia, Twitter, Google Scholar and The Levin Lab. 2. There’s Plenty of Room Right Here: Biological Systems as Evolved, Overloaded, Multi-scale Machines — Joshua Bondard and Michael Levin. 3. Self-Improvising Memory: A Perspective on Memories as Agential, Dynamically Reinterpreting Cognitive Glue — Michael Levin. 4. The Space Of Possible Minds — Michael Levin. 5. Endless forms most beautiful 2.0 — Wesley Clawson and Michael Levin. 6. My Octopus Teacher — Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed. 7. Pippa Ehrlich on the Mysteries of the Sea — Episode 77 of Brave New World. 8. Turing Patterns. 9. Mark Solms’ theory of consciousness — SelfAwarePatterns. 10. Mark Solms on Consciousness. Check out Vasant Dhar’s newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!
A new study published in Nature Medicine has revealed the presence of microplastics – tiny fragments of degraded plastic – in human brain tissue. While previous research has identified microplastics in organs such as the liver, kidneys, and placenta, this study suggests that the brain may be especially vulnerable to these tiny synthetic particles.
Scientists have made a disturbing discovery: human brains contain microplastics, and at higher concentrations than other organs. Worse, brain levels have jumped 50% in just eight years.
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Panpsychism is the theory that consciousness is irreducible and exists fundamentally at the foundations of reality. Panpsychism forms include ‘micropsychism,’ where fundamental particles or fields are in some sense conscious, and ‘Cosmopsychism,’ where the entire universe is in some sense conscious. What are the arguments for and against Panpsychism like the ‘combination problem’?
Closer To Truth is now on BlueSky! Follow us for updates, new videos, musings, and more: https://bsky.app/profile/closertotrut… Kastrup is a Brazilian-born Dutch philosopher and computer scientist best known for his work in the field of consciousness studies, particularly his development of analytic idealism, a form of metaphysical idealism grounded in the analytic philosophical tradition. Make a tax-deductible donation of any amount to help us continue exploring the world’s deepest questions: https://closertotruth.com/donate/ Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
Bernardo Kastrup is a Brazilian-born Dutch philosopher and computer scientist best known for his work in the field of consciousness studies, particularly his development of analytic idealism, a form of metaphysical idealism grounded in the analytic philosophical tradition.
Make a tax-deductible donation of any amount to help us continue exploring the world’s deepest questions: https://closertotruth.com/donate/
Closer To Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.
What if the key to the universe was discovered over a century ago—and then forgotten?
In the late 19th century, a young math prodigy named William Clifford proposed a radical idea: that reality itself is woven from the same fabric as the mind. Long before Einstein, long before quantum theory, Clifford envisioned a world where matter, consciousness, and geometry are one.
His ideas were largely overlooked, seen as too speculative for the science of his time. Today, they look like the missing blueprint for a true Theory of Everything.
Is Clifford’s path one that science is only now catching up to?
Based on the original research by idb.kniganews “Clifford’s Path”
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Thalamic regions drive conscious perception by syncing with the prefrontal cortex, acting as a gateway to awareness. Using direct intracranial brain recordings in humans, a new study has identified the thalamus, a small, deeply situated brain structure, as a key player in conscious perception. Th
Scientists used advanced cryo-EM imaging to reveal how glutamate activates brain receptors, paving the way for new neurological treatments. To better understand how brain cells communicate using chemical signals, scientists have used a highly specialized microscope to capture detailed images of h
