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New brain imaging technique can detect early frontotemporal dementia

A new international study led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet demonstrates that it is possible to detect subtle changes in the brain and identify early signs of hereditary frontotemporal dementia using advanced brain imaging techniques. The study is published in Molecular Psychiatry.

Frontotemporal dementia, or FTD, is a neurodegenerative disease that often affects people in middle age and is a common cause of dementia before the age of 65. The disease is particularly difficult to diagnose in its early stages, as the earliest symptoms are behavioral changes and may resemble primary psychiatric disease and symptoms later on can resemble conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. In about a third of cases, is hereditary, making families with known mutations an important resource for research.

Toxic Salton Sea dust triggers changes in lung microbiome after just one week

Dust from California’s drying Salton Sea doesn’t just smell bad. Scientists from UC Riverside found that breathing the dust can quickly re-shape the microscopic world inside the lungs.

Genetic or have previously been shown to have an effect on lung microbes. However, this discovery marks the first time scientists have observed such changes from environmental exposure rather than a disease.

Published in the journal mSphere, the study shows that inhalation of airborne dust collected close to the shallow, landlocked lake alters both the microbial landscape and immune responses in mice that were otherwise healthy.

Ectopic expression of a mechanosensitive channel confers spatiotemporal resolution to ultrasound stimulations of neurons for visual restoration

Cadoni et al. show that expression of the bacterial sonogenetic ion channel MscL(G22S) allows focused ultrasound (FUS) neuromodulation of the mouse visual cortex. They even provide evidence for possible induction of a visual percept in mice via this approach, though much more work is needed to make this into a useful visual restoration method. It should be noted that some of the FUS frequencies used in Cadoni et al.’s experiments were quite high (15 MHz), so a surgically implanted cranial window was needed. I personally think that it would be better to focus on frequencies that can be employed in a transcranial fashion to minimize invasiveness. That said, there is still merit to moderately invasive methods as seen here. #sonogenetics [ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-023-01359-6](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-023-01359-6)

Sonogenetics provides neuron-specific activation at high spatiotemporal resolution ex vivo in retina and in vivo deep in the visual cortex using the AAV gene delivery of a mechanosensitive ion channel and low-intensity ultrasound stimulations.

Optical device distinguishes blood flow signals from the brain and scalp

Measuring blood flow in the brain is critical for responding to a range of neurological problems, including stroke, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and vascular dementia. But existing techniques, including magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography, are expensive and therefore not widely available.

Researchers from the USC Neurorestoration Center and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have built a simple, noninvasive alternative. The device takes a technique currently used in animal studies known as speckle contrast (SCOS) and adapts it for potential clinical use in humans. It works by capturing images of scattered with an affordable, high-resolution camera.

“It’s really that simple. Tiny blood cells pass through a laser beam, and the way the light scatters allows us to measure and volume in the brain,” said Charles Liu, MD, Ph.D., professor of clinical neurological surgery, urology and surgery at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, director of the USC Neurorestoration Center and co-senior author of the new research.

Next-gen coil interface for non-contact peripheral nerve stimulation could improve treatment for chronic pain

A research team has successfully developed a next-generation coil interface capable of efficiently and safely stimulating peripheral nerves. This breakthrough is significant in that it greatly enhances the efficiency and feasibility of non-contact nerve stimulation technology, enabling stimulation through magnetic fields without the need for direct contact between electrodes and nerves.

The findings are published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering. The team was led by Professor Sanghoon Lee from the Department of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering at DGIST.

In recent years, there has been a growing demand for non-invasive (non-surgical, non-contact) approaches to treat peripheral nerve dysfunctions such as chronic pain, , , and facial nerve paralysis.

New report warns that China could overtake the US as top nation in space — and it could happen ‘in 5–10 years,’ expert claims

A new report from the Commercial Space Federation warns that China could soon overtake the U.S. in the “new space race.” The country’s rapid progression starkly contrasts the limitations imposed on NASA by record-breaking budget cuts.

Decoding the T cell burst: Signature genes predict T cell expansion in cancer immunotherapy

The ability of immune cells—particularly CD8+ T cells—to launch a rapid burst of proliferation inside tumors is key to the success of modern day cancer immunotherapies. However, the factors and mechanisms that drive this burst in proliferation remain poorly understood, making it difficult to predict which patients will benefit from treatment. A deeper understanding of this T cell burst could also guide the development of new therapies that enhance T cell proliferation and improve treatment outcomes.

To tackle this challenge, an international team of researchers led by Associate Professor Satoshi Ueha and Professor Kouji Matsushima from the Research Institute for Biomedical Sciences, Tokyo University of Science (TUS), Japan, developed a novel approach to monitor CD8⁺ T cell activity over time. Their findings, published in the journal Nature Communications on October 20, 2025, sheds new light on how T cells expand in the tumor—and how their expansion can be predicted, and ultimately, therapeutically reactivated.

“The development of immunotherapies has been hindered by our inability to comprehensively monitor their effects on —particularly cancer-fighting T cells—over time,” explains Dr. Ueha. “Building on our previous work, we developed a method to track these cells longitudinally in the tumor, allowing us to gain deeper insights into the burst of that drives effective anti-tumor responses.”

Macrophages can fuel liver cancer spread by supplying acetate to tumor cells

Chinese researchers have revealed a mechanism that triggers metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)—the most common type of primary liver cancer—through the production of acetate by tumor-associated macrophages.

Acetate is important to cancer metastasis because it promotes the synthesis of acetyl-coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA), which is a pivotal metabolic intermediate in the catabolism of glucose, lipids, and , as well as the biosynthesis of lipids and the TCA cycle. Acetyl-CoA also functions as a signaling molecule due to its role in lysine acetylation. Increased acetyl-CoA production is characteristic of metastatic cancers.

Researchers have known that acetate levels in the blood are significantly lower than in cancer tissues, suggesting the presence of acetate-producing cells within the cancer microenvironment. However, the exact source of acetate in the cancer microenvironment was previously unclear.

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