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Category: neuroscience – Page 86

SRS Lessens Rate of Neurologic Death vs WBRT in SCLC and Brain Metastases

In all patients, the median overall survival (OS) was 10.2 months (95% CI, 8.5−12.2); there was a total of 20 neurologic deaths compared with 64 non-neurologic deaths. Between the 2 reviewers, agreement was 98% regarding neurologic death and non-neurologic death, with disagreement requiring a tie occurring in 2%.

The 1-year and 2-year neurologic death incidence was 11.0% (95% CI, 5.8%-18.1%) and 20.3% (95% CI, 12.7%-29.1%), respectively. The trial investigators noted that the historical incidence of neurologic death with WBRT was 17.5% at 1 year and 35.2% at 2 years. The 1-year and 2-year incidence of non-neurologic death was 48.0% (95% CI, 37.9%-57.4%) and 61.7% (95% CI, 50.8%-70.8%).

Via the Fine and Gray regression analysis, age, number of brain metastases, size of largest brain metastases, presence of neurologic symptoms, presence of distant extracranial metastases, and employment of neurological resection before enrollment were not associated with neurological death (P .05 in all cases).

New brain metastases were developed by 61.0% of patients, with a 1-year estimate of 59.0% (95% CI, 48.6%-68.0%); at least 1 course of salvage stereotactic radiation was received by 39.0% of patients, with a 1-year estimate of 37.0% (95% CI, 27.5%-46.5%); WBRT was received by 22.0%, with a 1-year estimate of 21.0% (95% CI, 13.6%-29.5%); and leptomeningeal disease was observed in 9.0%, with a 1-year estimate of 7.0% (95% CI, 3.1%-13.1%).

Overall, systemic disease progression occurred in 65.0% of patients, with a 1-year estimate of 58% (95% CI, 47.6%-67.0%).

Additionally, in aggregate, at least 1 local recurrence in a metastasis treated in the study was experienced by 13.0%, with a 1-year estimate of 15.0% (95% CI, 8.8%-22.7%); the respective per-patient rates of radiographic and symptomatic necrosis were 9.0% and 5.0% in total, with 1-year estimates of 6.0% (95% CI, 2.4%-11.9%) and 3.0% (95% CI, 0.8%-7.9%), respectively.

“Despite being the historical standard, whole brain radiation might not be necessary for all patients,” stated first study author Ayal Aizer, MD, MHS, director of Central Nervous System Radiation Oncology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, in a press release on the study.2 “Our findings demonstrate that targeted, brain-directed radiation may be a viable treatment for patients with limited brain metastases from SCLC and potentially spare them from the [adverse] effects of whole brain radiation.”

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Michael Graziano: Rethinking Consciousness? Attention Schema Theory & the Science of Subjectivity

Michael Graziano is a scientist and novelist who is currently a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Princeton University. He’s a best-selling author and has written several books including “Consciousness and the Social Brain”, “Re-thinking Consciousness”, “The Spaces Between Us”, and much more. His scientific research at Graziano Lab focuses on the brain basis of awareness. He has proposed the “attention schema theory” (AST), an explanation of how, and for what adaptive advantage, brains attribute the property of awareness to themselves.

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 — Introduction.
2:12 — Meet Dr Michael Graziano: The Consciousness Theorist.
6:44 — What Is Consciousness? A Deep Dive.
11:35 — The Illusion of Consciousness.
15:20 — Attention Schema Theory.
20:05 — Mystery of Self-Awareness and the ‘I’
25:10 — The Hard Problem vs. the Meta Problem of Consciousness.
30:55 — Social Awareness & Dehumanization.
34:20 — Effect of Social Media on Human Interaction.
38:05 — Role of Attention in Machine Consciousness.
41:55 — Creating an AI Mind: Step by Step Guide.
47:30 — Exploring the Building Blocks of Artificial Consciousness.
51:15 — AI Self-Perception: Can Machines Be Conscious?
56:10 — Challenging the Magical vs. Scientific View of Consciousness.
1:00:40 — Consciousness: A Choice Between Magic and Science?
1:05:12 — Attention in Machine Learning: A Closer Look.
1:10:55 — The Psychology of Human Perception.
1:14:20 — Social Awareness and the Digital Revolution.
1:18:35 — Conclusion.

EPISODE LINKS:
Michael’s Website: https://grazianolab.princeton.edu/
Michael’s Books: https://tinyurl.com/2eufd62r.
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SARS-CoV-2 can cause buildup of Alzheimer’s-related peptides in retina

A new Yale study has found a promising target for treating the brain fog that can follow COVID-19 and offers new insight into a hypothesis about the origin of Alzheimer’s disease.

One of the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease is the presence of plaque formed by the buildup of amyloid beta peptides (short chains of amino acids) in and around . Some researchers suspect that amyloid beta, which is structurally similar to , protects the brain against bacteria, viruses, parasites, and . Because the tends to lose its integrity in Alzheimer’s disease patients, the accumulation of amyloid beta might be a signal that pathogens are infiltrating the brain.

In a new study published in Science Advances, Yale researchers investigated whether infection by SARS-CoV-2—the virus that causes COVID-19—can trigger Alzheimer’s disease-like amyloid beta buildup, leading to neurological impairments like .

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