Lifeboat Foundation

Negative symptoms are complex psychopathology. Although evidence generally supported the NIMH five consensus domains, research seldom examined measurement invariance of this model, and domain-specific correspondence across multiple scales. This study aimed to examine the interrelationship between negative symptom domains captured by different rating scales, and to examine the domain-specific correspondence across multiple scales. We administered the Brief Negative Symptom Scale (BNSS), the Self-evaluation of Negative Symptoms (SNS), and the Scale for Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) to 204 individuals with schizophrenia. We used network analysis to examine the interrelationship between negative symptom domains.

Summary: Fentanyl exposure produces specific EEG signatures in the brain. The findings also revealed the drug impairs people’s breathing four minutes before noticeable changes in alertness.

Source: Mass General.

Fentanyl is used to supplement sedation and to relieve severe pain during and after surgery, but it’s also one of the deadliest drugs of the opioid epidemic.

Summary: A new study reveals a genetic link between Alzheimer’s disease and several gut-related disorders. Researchers report Alzheimer’s patients and those with intestinal disorders have specific genes in common. The findings add to the evidence the gut-brain axis may play a role in the development of neurodegenerative disorders.

Source: Edith Cowan University.

People with gut disorders may be at greater risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).

Summary: Study reveals a novel mechanism in locus coeruleus neurons caused by the loss of the GPT2 mitochondrial enzyme that is implicated in the development and progression of neurodegenerative diseases.

Source: Brown University.

The locus coeruleus is among the first brain regions to degenerate in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, physicians and scientists have known. But why this area is so vulnerable is less understood.

Summary: Researchers created a form of artificial vision for a blind woman with the aid of a brain implant position in the visual cortex. The results pave the way for the creation of visual brain prosthetics to help the blind to regain sight.

Source: KNAW

Newly published research details how a team of scientists from the University Miguel Hernández (Spain), the Netherlands Institute of Neuroscience (Netherlands) and the John A. Moran Eye Center at the University of Utah (USA) successfully created a form of artificial vision for a blind woman using a brain implant.

Summary: Those who are prone to motion sickness have a harder time adapting to cybersickness and different virtual reality environments. However, people can adapt to the effects of VR-associated cybersickness by playing the same game repeatedly.

Source: Iowa State University

While virtual reality has been around for decades, a combination of higher-resolution graphics, smoother tracking of the user’s movements and cheaper, sleeker headsets has propelled the immersive technology into arenas beyond gaming and military training.

Summary: Researchers have developed a cornea implant from the collagen protein of pig skin. The implant restored the vision of 20 people with diseased corneas. The new implant could be a viable alternative to human cornea transplantation.

Source: Linkoping University.

Researchers and entrepreneurs have developed an implant made of collagen protein from pig’s skin, which resembles the human cornea. In a pilot study, the implant restored vision to 20 people with diseased corneas, most of whom were blind prior to receiving the implant.

Summary: A 20-minute session of non-invasive brain stimulation over four days helps to improve both working and long-term memory in those aged 65 and older.

Source: Boston University.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association, an estimated 6.5 million Americans aged 65 and older are living with Alzheimer’s in 2022. That figure is predicted to nearly double by 2050.

Electrical activity in neurons is highly energy demanding and accompanied by rises in cytosolic Ca²⁺. Cytosolic Ca²⁺, in turn, secures energy supply by pushing mitochondrial metabolism either through augmented NADH transfer into mitochondria via the malate aspartate shuttle (MAS) or via direct activation of dehydrogenases of the TCA cycle after passing into the matrix through the mitochondrial Ca²⁺ uniporter (MCU). Another Ca²⁺-sensitive booster of mitochondrial ATP synthesis is the glycerol-3-phosphate shuttle (G3PS) whose role in neuronal energy supply has remained elusive. Essential components of G3PS are expressed in hippocampal neurons. Single neuron metabolic measurements in primary hippocampal cultures derived from rat pups of either sex reveal only moderate, if any, constitutive activity of G3PS. However, during electrical activity neurons fully rely on G3PS when MAS and MCU are unavailable. Under these conditions, G3PS is required for appropriate action potential firing. Accordingly, G3PS safeguards metabolic flexibility of neurons to cope with energy demands of electrical signaling.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT:

Ca²⁺ ions are known to provide a link between the energy-demanding electrical activity and an adequate ATP supply in neurons. To do so, Ca²⁺ acts both, from outside and inside of the mitochondrial inner membrane. Neuronal function critically depend on this regulation and its defects are often found in various neurological disorders. Although interest in neuronal metabolism increases, many aspects thereof have remained unresolved. In particular, a Ca²⁺-sensitive NADH shuttling system, the glycerol-3-phosphate shuttle, has been largely ignored with respect to its function in neurons. Our results demonstrate that this shuttle is functional in hippocampal neurons and safeguards ATP supply and appropriate action potential firing when malate aspartate shuttle and mitochondrial Ca²⁺ uniporter are unavailable, thereby ensuring neuronal metabolic flexibility.