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Alzheimer’s gene map expands to 91 loci, revealing 16 previously unknown risk regions

An international collaboration of genetic researchers has identified more than 90 genetic regions associated with the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The large-scale meta-analysis reveals new biological insights into the disease, highlighting the important roles of immune processes, beta-amyloid and tau biology, and lipid metabolism.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia worldwide, and its development is influenced by a complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors. Understanding the genetic architecture of the disease is essential for improving diagnosis, risk prediction, and the development of targeted therapies.

In this study, researchers combined genome-wide association data from nearly a million individuals of European ancestry, including over 128,000 Alzheimer’s disease cases and nearly 850,000 controls.

Brain circuit that times a state of low metabolism could have implications for space travel

You have gone without food for days, and the temperature drops to near freezing. What do you do? For some animals, the answer is influenced by the brain’s circadian clock. Hummingbirds, bats, and mice are among the animals that can enter torpor, which reduces body temperature and metabolism. Scientists suspected that the brain’s circadian clock controls the timing of torpor, but until now the exact mechanism was not known.

Researchers at Nagoya University in Japan have identified the specific neural circuit responsible for this survival strategy. They have shown that the brain’s circadian clock, a small cluster of neurons located in the hypothalamus at the base of the brain, sends silencing signals through this circuit to a nearby temperature-regulating region, suppressing torpor during the day. The findings were published in Nature Communications.

Autism risk framework tracks genes, maternal factors and environment across 18,000 families

A new statistical framework developed by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Kaiser Permanente Northern California offers improved understanding of how genetics and environment contribute to autism risk.

Large-scale genetic studies have led to the development of genetic risk scores that estimate a person’s predisposition to diseases and health conditions based on their DNA profiles. The new framework allows researchers and clinicians to analyze these scores using family data and characterize the risk of conditions such as autism and other developmental conditions in children based on their own DNA, parental factors, and environmental influences such as maternal diet and lifestyle.

For their study published in Nature Genetics, the researchers analyzed more than 18,000 case-parent trios —autistic children and their parents—across diverse ancestral populations in the Simons Foundation Powering Autism Research for Knowledge consortium and the Genes and Environment Autism Research Study.

Biohybrid microrobots repair spinal cord by combining stem cells with magnetoelectric nanoparticles

Spinal cord injuries can have devastating consequences for those affected. Nerve cells in the spinal cord rarely regenerate naturally, while scarring often prevents the regrowth of nerve fibers. Modern therapies attempt to influence implanted stem cells using electrical stimulation to promote the growth of new nerve cells. This approach has several drawbacks: it requires implanted electrodes, and the transplanted cells do not always survive or integrate properly into the existing tissue.

Researchers in Zurich are pursuing a new approach, which they have published in the journal Nature Materials. This involves combining therapeutic stem cells with magnetoelectric nanoparticles in such a way that the cells can be guided magnetically to the precise site of an injury and stimulate the stem cells to accelerate repair.

To achieve this, the researchers created a biohybrid microrobot, which combines living neural progenitor cells (NPCs) with a technical component in the form of specially engineered nanoparticles.

Experimental Brain ‘Pacemakers’ May Rewire Circuits Linked to Depression

Every year, more than 2 million people in the United States are diagnosed with treatment-resistant depression.

Desperate for solutions, some brave patients are now volunteering to undergo surgery to place experimental ‘pacemakers’ into their brains.

These implanted electrodes are part of a treatment known as deep brain stimulation, which is currently used to address some cases of Parkinson’s disease and epilepsy.

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