Deco et al. used neurotransmission-modulated (NEMO) whole-brain modeling to flexibly compute a broad repertoire of empirical tasks and associated neuroimaging data from 971 healthy participants. NEMO can sculpt the different brain dynamics in a fixed brain architecture to compute the rich repertoire of tasks required for surviving and thriving.
Aging is characterized by a decline in the ability of tissue repair and regeneration after injury. In skeletal muscle, this decline is largely driven by impaired function of muscle stem cells (MuSCs) to efficiently contribute to muscle regeneration. We uncovered a cause of this aging-associated dysfunction: a cellular survivorship bias that prioritizes stem cell persistence at the expense of functionality. With age, MuSCs increased expression of a tumor suppressor, N-myc down-regulated gene 1 (NDRG1), which, by suppressing the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, increased their long-term survival potential but at the cost of their ability to promptly activate and contribute to muscle regeneration. This delayed muscle regeneration with age may result from a trade-off that favors long-term stem cell survival over immediate regenerative capacity.
Next, the study’s authors will examine whether more ZEVs are associated with fewer asthma-related hospitalizations and emergency room visits.
Their work adds to the extensive research on whether EVs are better for the planet long-term than their gas-powered counterparts. Despite imperfections such as mining, the findings are clear on that front. The USC team is showing that when it comes to the air we breathe and public health, the benefits of EVs are undeniable.
“These findings show that cleaner air isn’t just a theory—it’s already happening in communities across California,” declared Sandrah Eckel, the study’s lead author.
Signs of Sir Terry Pratchett’s dementia may have been present in his writing a decade before his official diagnosis, new research has found. Researchers have examined the lexical diversity—a measure of how varied an author’s word choices are—of 33 books from Pratchett’s Discworld series, focusing specifically on his use of nouns and adjectives.
The study found that Pratchett’s language in “The Lost Continent,” written almost 10 years before his diagnosis of posterior cortical atrophy (PCA), a rare form of Alzheimer’s, showed a significant decline in the complexity of the language used compared to his previous works.
The research team hopes that the study may aid in the early detection of dementia, for which there is currently no cure. The work is published in the journal Brain Sciences.
This two-hour special takes viewers inside the new world of futuristic conventional warfare. It’s an explosive, escalating journey through the modern develop…
The study, published in Genomic Psychiatry, identified how stress hormones activate specific RNA molecules called long noncoding RNAs, or IncRNAs, that interact with the gene-silencing complex PRC2, turning off genes that are vital to communication between neurons. In essence, these IncRNAs act like “switches,” turning off functionality for more than 3,000 genes, many of which support neurotransmitter signaling and other processes that are essential for healthy brain functioning. The study specifically discovered 79 IncRNAs that were significantly altered under stress conditions.
While scientists have long understood that stress hormones send signals to the brain that affect gene functionality, it was previously unknown as to exactly how these signals create long-lasting changes inside cells. The study, led by Yogesh Dwivedi, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor and Elesabeth Ridgely Shook Endowed Chair in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, and co-director of UAB Depression and Suicide Center, uncovers how lncRNAs associate with a molecule called polycomb repressive complex 2, or PRC2, to modify chromatin following activation of the glucocorticoid receptor, or GR — the cell’s master regulator of stress response. Chromatin is important in relaying messages from the external environment, including stressful conditions, to alter the genetic composition, a process known as epigenetics.
“As chronic stress is a major risk factor for conditions like major depressive disorder, this newly uncovered link between stress hormones and IncRNA gene silencing could potentially lead to more targeted mental health treatments,” Dwivedi said. “In fact, stress-induced changes in chromatin structure have been implicated in a range of psychiatric and neurodegenerative conditions.”
IncRNAs act like “switches,” turning off functionality for more than 3,000 genes that are essential for healthy brain functioning. A recent groundbreaking study from researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham highlights the discovery of a molecular link between stress hormones and changes in brain cell communication, which could open the door for new treatments to address depression and other psychiatric conditions.