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Debate was halted amid an attempt by Sen. Bill Eigel, R-Weldon Spring, to add an amendment to reduce personal property tax rates on cars older than five years.

Sen. Mike Cunningham, R-Rogersville, acknowledged lawmakers were operating in “crazy times.”

A coalition of diverse government watchdog groups also panned the creation of the so-called “Christmas tree” bills in an attempt to move legislation to Gov. Mike Parson’s desk before the scheduled May 15 adjournment.

Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR) in Japan have identified changes in the aging brain related to blood circulation. Published in the scientific journal Brain, the study found that natural age-related enlargement of the ventricles—a condition called ventriculomegaly—was associated with a lag in blood drainage from a specific deep region of the brain. The lag can be detected easily with MRI, making it a potential biomarker for predicting ventriculomegaly and the aging brain, which can then be treated quickly.

Ventriculomegaly is an abnormal condition in which fluid accumulates in the ventricles of the without properly draining, making them enlarged. Although ventricular enlargement within normal range is not itself considered a disease, when left unchecked it can lead to ventriculomegaly and dementia resulting from normal pressure hydrocephalus. In their study, the team found that ventriculomegaly was associated with changes in circulation of the brain. “We found an age-related perfusion timing shift in the brain’s venous systems whose lifespan profile was very similar to, but slightly preceded that of ventricular enlargement,” explains first author Toshihiko Aso.

After blood circulates through the brain providing necessary oxygen, the deoxygenated blood must return to the heart though our veins. This happens through two pathways, one draining blood from regions close to the surface of the brain, and the other from areas deep in the brain. By using MRI to measure changes in , the team at BDR recently found that as we age, the time it takes for blood to drain through these two pathways becomes out of sync. The result is a time lag between the deep drainage and the surface pathway, which increases with age.