A great beginning, but more research is needed.
While there are treatments for temporarily alleviating the symptoms of dementia, there is currently no cure available. The search is therefore on to identify lifestyle factors, such as diet, that can reduce individuals’ risk of developing the condition.
Previous research into possible links between eating foods rich in flavonoids and reduced risk of cognitive decline later in life has been inconclusive, however.
Summary: An experimental small molecule helped restore the removal of mitochondria from dopamine-producing neurons in the brain. The findings may help in the development of new therapies for Parkinson’s disease.
Source: Life.
Treating mice that have a Parkinson’s disease-causing mutation with a small molecule compound restores the removal of damaged mitochondria from their brain cells, shows a study published today in eLife.
Summary: A new hydrogel that acts as a gateway to transfer stem cells into the brain and facilitate repair to damaged tissue may effectively treat neurological conditions like Parkinson’s disease and stroke.
Source: Australian National University
Researchers from The Australian National University (ANU), in collaboration with The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, have developed a new type of hydrogel that could radically transform how we treat Parkinson’s disease.
The gel also offers hope for patients who have suffered from other neurological conditions such as strokes.
Summary: Learning a new language can affect musical processing in children, researchers report. Findings support the theory that musical and linguistic functions are closely linked in the developing brain.
Source: University of Helsinki.
Research has shown that a music-related hobby boosts language skills and affects the processing of speech in the brain. According to a new study, the reverse also happens—learning foreign languages can affect the processing of music in the brain.
“We patronize [the animals] for their incompleteness, for their tragic fate of having taken form so far below ourselves. And therein we err, and greatly err.” Animals diverge from us in wonderfully creative ways. Did you know dogs have magnetotactic abilities and prefer to relieve themselves along a north-south axis? And dolphins echolocation allows them to see X-ray-like images & “tell” other dolphins what they’ve seen without our clumsy, 1-word-at-a-time process. Instead, they create a visual picture of what they saw in the minds of other dolphins, perhaps even “bolding” aspects they want to emphasize.
https://www.robertlanza.com/the-Most-Amazing-Things-About-Animal-Consciousness/
To promote an ethical approach in human-machine interaction.
The theory of mind is about recognizing other minds, comprehend emotions, understand intentions, and predict behaviors that are essential for intelligent social interaction. The capability to detect others’ minds is critical to human cognition and social interaction. It allows us to build relationships and work cooperatively to achieve common goals.
Research has shown that having a sophisticated theory of mind may be a large part of why humans have cognitive skills. This ability is so important that when it is disrupted, as we see in some cases of autism, vital cerebral functions like language learning and imagination become impaired.
So, understanding the theory of mind helps us to anticipate how others might behave in a particular condition. Completely understanding the theory of mind is a complex task indeed.
Summary: Researchers have compiled a new, highly detailed 3D brain map that captures the shapes and activity of neurons in the visual neocortex of mice. The map is freely available for neuroscience researchers and artificial intelligence specialists to utilize.
Source: Allen Institute
Researchers from the University of Reading, in the UK, are using drones to give clouds an electrical charge, which could help increase rainfall in water-stressed regions.
Psoriasis is a lifelong, autoimmune inflammatory disease. It often appears as a skin condition, but it is a systemic condition that can affect many parts of the body.
Psoriasis often causes skin lesions, but also a higher risk of other conditions, such as celiac, inflammatory bowel disease, and mental health issues. Find out more.
This study builds on an earlier paper by the Rothstein lab that looked at the most common genetic cause of ALS, a mutation in the C9orf72 gene (also referred to as the “C9 mutation”). There, they showed that the C9 mutation produced defects in a structure called the nuclear pore that is responsible for moving proteins and other molecules in and out of the nucleus of cells.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rapidly progressive and fatal degenerative disease affecting the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord responsible for controlling voluntary muscle movement. “Sporadic” or non-inherited ALS, accounts for roughly 90% percent of cases, and 10% of cases are due to known genetic mutations. By studying lab-grown neurons derived from skin or blood cells from 10 normal controls, eight with an ALS causing mutation, and 17 with non-inherited ALS, researchers have found a possible starting point for the dysfunction that causes the disease. The study, which was published in Science Translational Medicine, was funded in part by the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health.
Using a library of ALS patient-derived cells, the research team led by Jeffrey Rothstein, M.D., Ph.D., at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, developed induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neurons from the patients’ cultured cells to discover a common defect regardless of whether the cell came from persons with inherited or non-inherited ALS. They report that in ALS nerve cells, there is an accumulation of a protein called CHMP7 in the nucleus of cultured nerve cells as well as in ALS samples from the brain region that controls movement. Treatments that decrease the amount of CHMP7 in the cultured cells prevented a series of abnormalities that are characteristic of ALS.
“There is considerable interest in identifying new therapeutic targets for ALS, particularly for the sporadic form of the disorder,” said Amelie Gubitz, Ph.D., program director, NINDS. “Gene-targeting strategies like the one shown here now allow us to move from biological discovery straight to therapy development.”