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Category: neuroscience – Page 85

Microgravity is known to affect muscles, bones, the immune system, and cognition, but its specific effects on the brain remain largely unexplored. To investigate this, scientists from Scripps Research partnered with the New York Stem Cell Foundation to send tiny clusters of brain cells, known as “organoids,” to the International Space Station (ISS). These organoids were derived from stem cells and designed to mimic certain aspects of brain development.

Remarkably, the organoids returned from their month-long stay in orbit still healthy. However, they exhibited accelerated maturation compared to identical organoids grown on Earth. The space-exposed cells progressed closer to becoming fully developed neurons and showed early signs of specialization. These findings, recently published in Stem Cells Translational Medicine, offer new insights into how space travel might influence neurological development and brain function.

“The fact that these cells survived in space was a big surprise,” says co-senior author Jeanne Loring, PhD, professor emeritus in the Department of Molecular Medicine and founding director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Scripps Research. “This lays the groundwork for future experiments in space, in which we can include other parts of the brain that are affected by neurodegenerative disease.”

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For this experiment, the researchers analyzed data from 172 individuals, including 96 with schizophrenia spectrum disorders and 76 healthy controls. Participants underwent resting-state fMRI scans, which measure spontaneous brain activity, and completed standardized neuropsychological assessments. These assessments evaluated various cognitive abilities, such as working memory, attention, and processing speed. The researchers specifically examined the connectivity between the mediodorsal thalamus and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and analyzed how these patterns correlated with participants’ cognitive performance.

The results confirmed the findings of Experiment 1. Weaker connectivity between the mediodorsal thalamus and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was associated with poorer performance on tasks requiring executive function, particularly in individuals with schizophrenia.

Importantly, the researchers observed that this neural connectivity was specifically predictive of working memory performance when the task involved conflicting information. This correlation was not observed in tasks without conflict, suggesting that the mediodorsal thalamus–dorsolateral prefrontal cortex network plays a critical role in managing cognitive interference. These findings reinforced the potential of this neural connectivity as a biomarker for executive dysfunction in schizophrenia.

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Have you ever wondered how fast our brains work? Well, scientists have recently quantified the brain’s speed limit. They revealed that from sensory organs, the brain processes signals at only about 10 bits per second.

This speed is millions of times slower than the input rate, as the human body’s sensory systems gather data about the surrounding environment at a rate of a billion bits per second.

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The secret to cellular youth may lie in maintaining a small nucleolus—a dense structure within the cell nucleus—according to investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine. These findings were uncovered in yeast, a model organism renowned for its role in making bread and beer, yet surprisingly similar to humans at the cellular level.

The study, published Nov. 25 in Nature Aging, may lead to new longevity treatments that could extend human lifespan. It also establishes a mortality timer that reveals how long a cell has left before it dies.

As people get older, they are more likely to develop health conditions, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative diseases.

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Sir Roger Penrose, a name synonymous with genius, has tirelessly pursued the secrets of the universe with the fervour of a true renaissance seer. His intellectual contributions span a breathtaking range, from the intricate beauty of Penrose tilings to the vast expanse of cosmology, and even the enigmatic depths of human consciousness.

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Surprisingly, the organoids were still healthy when they returned from orbit a month later, but the cells had matured faster compared to identical organoids grown on Earth—they were closer to becoming adult neurons and were beginning to show signs of specialization. The results, which could shed light on potential neurological effects of space travel, were published on October 23, 2024, in Stem Cells Translational Medicine.

“The fact that these cells survived in space was a big surprise,” says co-senior author Jeanne Loring, PhD, professor emeritus in the Department of Molecular Medicine and founding director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at Scripps Research. “This lays the groundwork for future experiments in space, in which we can include other parts of the brain that are affected by neurodegenerative disease.”

On Earth, the team used stem cells to create organoids consisting of either cortical or dopaminergic neurons, which are the neuronal populations impacted in multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease—diseases that Loring has studied for decades. Some organoids also included microglia, a type of immune cell that is resident within the brain, to examine the impact of microgravity on inflammation.

Abstract. Research conducted on the International Space Station (ISS) in low-Earth orbit (LEO) has shown the effects of microgravity on multiple organs. To investigate the effects of microgravity on the central nervous system, we developed a unique organoid strategy for modeling specific regions of the brain that are affected by neurodegenerative diseases. We generated 3-dimensional human neural organoids from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from individuals affected by primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) or Parkinson’s disease (PD) and non-symptomatic controls, by differentiating them toward cortical and dopaminergic fates, respectively, and combined them with isogenic microglia. The organoids were cultured for a month using a novel sealed cryovial culture method on the International Space Station (ISS) and a parallel set that remained on Earth. Live samples were returned to Earth for analysis by RNA expression and histology and were attached to culture dishes to enable neurite outgrowth. Our results show that both cortical and dopaminergic organoids cultured in LEO had lower levels of genes associated with cell proliferation and higher levels of maturation-associated genes, suggesting that the cells matured more quickly in LEO. This study is continuing with several more missions in order to understand the mechanisms underlying accelerated maturation and to investigate other neurological diseases. Our goal is to make use of the opportunity to study neural cells in LEO to better understand and treat neurodegenerative disease on Earth and to help ameliorate potentially adverse neurological effects of space travel.

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Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have been awarded a $21 million grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to further advance understanding of an aging-related hormone known as follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), including its potential role in obesity, osteoporosis, and Alzheimer’s disease. The work could lead to the development of new treatments for these and other conditions involving aging.

This is a collaborative effort with the NIA, led by Mone Zaidi, MD, PhD, Director of the Center for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology at Icahn Mount Sinai, and Clifford J. Rosen, MD, at the MaineHealth Institute for Research in Scarborough, Maine. Dr. Zaidi and Dr. Rosen are Program Directors, and principal investigators of individual projects are Anne Schafer, MD, at the University of California in San Francisco, as well as scientists at Icahn Mount Sinai, including Tony Yuen, PhD, Associate Professor and Research Director of the Center for Translational Medicine and Pharmacology, and Daria Lizneva, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacological Sciences. Together, the investigators will work toward translating their findings into viable treatments for patients.

“We are delighted that the NIH has recognized the potential of our work by awarding this generous grant,” says Dr. Zaidi, the Mount Sinai Professor of Clinical Medicine at Icahn Mount Sinai. “Our focus for more than 25 years has been on identifying actionable targets for major public health diseases. This research offers the potential for a new drug for menopause and could also possibly help advance treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, obesity, and osteoporosis, affecting millions of people worldwide.”

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Summary: A new study reveals that humans think at a rate of 10 bits per second, while sensory systems process a billion bits per second—100 million times faster. This highlights a paradox: why does the brain process thoughts so slowly when sensory input is so vast?

Researchers propose that the brain’s evolution prioritized focusing on single “paths” of thought, akin to navigating abstract concept spaces. These findings challenge notions of brain-computer interfaces enabling faster communication, as the brain’s inherent speed limit persists.

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You can trigger a dizzy spell by standing up too fast, skipping lunch, spinning in a circle, or drinking too much alcohol. Dizziness can be linked to one’s ears, brain, heart, or metabolic system. The treatments, likewise, are heterogeneous. In benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, crystals in the inner ear canals become loose; physical repositioning, known as maneuvers, can usually treat it. For conditions of chronic dizziness called persistent postural perceptual dizziness (P.P.P.D.), vestibular rehabilitation and S.S.R.I.s, which normally treat depression and anxiety, seem to work better. Vestibular migraine is treated through the use of migraine-specific supplements or medications—which wouldn’t be advised for someone with the buildup of inner-ear fluid known as Ménière’s disease.

The sensation we call dizziness is a sort of general alarm system for the body—but just as a fire alarm can’t tell you where a fire is burning (or whether someone walked through the emergency exit by mistake), it doesn’t necessarily tell you what’s wrong. Dasgupta argued that diagnosing the causes of dizziness requires a lost clinical art known as anamnesis, or a holistic interview about the patient’s symptoms and their surrounding context. “This is like detective work,” he said. Diego Kaski, who treats vestibular patients as a consulting neurologist at the U.K.’s National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, tries to understand his patient’s symptoms by imagining that they are happening to him. He often relies on gestures: if people have vertigo, which includes the illusion of movement, “they might spin their finger or their hand around,” Kaski told me. Others will hold onto their heads or rock their upper bodies from side to side. Patient accounts tend to be psychological as well as physical. “You lose control of what your body is doing, and that can be quite a fearful experience,” Kaski said. Many dizzy people wonder whether they are dying.

While visiting doctor after doctor, I learned from a Google search about what sounded like a dizziness utopia: the German Center for Vertigo and Balance Disorders, or D.S.G.Z., in Munich. It was originally funded by the German federal government and, since 2019, has operated as an interdisciplinary center of the University Hospital of Munich.

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