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Category: biotech/medical – Page 47

How Neuroscience Backs Baars’ Global Workspace Theory

Exploring the Global Workspace Theory: Consciousness Unveiled. Join us as we unravel Bernard Baars’ groundbreaking Global Workspace Theory (GWT) and discover how our brain functions like a theater, spotlighting conscious experiences.

00:00:00 Introduction to Global Workspace Theory.
00:00:34 Global Broadcasting.
00:01:08 Evidence from Brain Imaging and EEG Studies.
00:01:35 Common Mechanism for Conscious Access.
00:02:21 Intracranial EEG Study by Gaillard and Colleagues.
00:02:56 Brain Activity Overdrive.
00:03:56 Neuronal Synchrony and Binocular Rivalry.
00:04:13 Rhythm of Awareness.
00:05:03 Dynamic Synchrony and Global Accessibility.
00:05:19 On-Air Sign for the Brain.
00:05:35 Long-Distance Coordination and Global Coherence.
00:06:04 The Brain Orchestra.
00:06:20 Global Workspace and Clinical Neurology.
00:06:49 Disrupting Global Connectivity.
00:07:22 Frontal Lobe Lesions and Blindsight.
00:08:01 Widespread Disconnection and Fading of Consciousness.
00:08:57 Recovery from Disorders of Consciousness.
00:09:16 Temporary Inactivation with TMS
00:10:12 Interrupting Broadcasting Hubs.
00:10:35 Restoring Connectivity and Consciousness.
00:11:26 Jump-Starting Thalamo-Cortical Circuits.
00:11:43 Re-Engaging the Global Workspace.
00:11:58 The Brain’s Internal News Feed.
00:12:31 Broadcasting and Subjective Experience.

Brain Volumes After Hypertensive Pregnancy and Postpartum Blood Pressure Management: A POP-HT Randomized Clinical Trial Imaging Substudy

In a randomized clinical trial of women with prior HypertensivePregnancy, physician-optimized postpartum blood pressure self-management was associated with larger white matter brain volumes at 9 months compared with usual care.

Women with a history of preeclampsia receiving usual care had smaller volumes in subcortical regions (putamen, accumbens, pallidum) than those with gestational hypertension, differences that were not observed in the intervention group.

This randomized clinical trial indicates that a postpartum blood pressure management intervention after hypertensive disorders of pregnancy may be associated with favorable brain structure during the first year post partum. The intervention was linked to larger white matter volumes across women with hypertensive pregnancy (gestational hypertension and preeclampsia). In addition, women with a history of preeclampsia in the usual care arm showed smaller subcortical brain volumes at 6 to 9 months post partum than those with gestational hypertension; these differences were not evident among women in the intervention arm.

Both women with preeclampsia and gestational hypertension experience high blood pressure during pregnancy that frequently persists post partum.28 Lower white matter integrity has been reported from the peripartum period into later life.3,12,29 Hypertension-related white matter injury30,31 is associated with slower processing speed, executive dysfunction, and memory impairment.31 Although cognitive impact may not be obvious in the early postpartum period, white matter changes predict later cognitive decline and dementia,32 and converging longitudinal evidence suggests that reductions in white matter volume and integrity track cognitive decline, supporting the interpretation that better-preserved white matter is beneficial.33

Whether postpartum white matter changes are preventable or reversible had not been investigated. In this randomized clinical trial, a short-term blood pressure control intervention was associated with larger brain volumes several months later, when most participants were no longer taking antihypertensive medication. This is consistent with the postpartum period as a critical window for pregnancy-associated brain volume and blood pressure changes. Because baseline brain MRIs were not acquired, we cannot distinguish recovery of pregnancy-related changes from a slower postpregnancy decline relative to usual care.

A common biomarker of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder revealed

For decades, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (BD) were treated as distinct and unrelated psychiatric disorders. Schizophrenia is a psychiatric disorder characterized by altered thinking and emotional patterns, hallucinations, false or irrational beliefs (i.e., delusions), cognitive deficits, and disorganized speech. BD, on the other hand, is marked by extreme mood swings, ranging between periods of high-energy (i.e., mania or hypomania) and depressive episodes.

While the symptoms of schizophrenia and BD are markedly different, many patients diagnosed with either of these conditions experience psychosis at least once in their lifetime. Psychosis is a mental state that causes people to lose touch with reality, experiencing hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech, and irrational thinking patterns.

More recently, studies found that patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and BD sometimes share other overlapping symptoms, as well as common patterns in their genes and brain organization. This inspired the idea that these disorders are part of a shared psychosis spectrum, which would explain their common features and characteristics.

The ageing immune system as a driver of systemic ageing

Ageing of the immune system is now realized to drive systemic ageing, and there is interest in targeting immune ageing in order to promote healthy ageing. Here, the authors detail how ageing affects different immune cell populations and discuss strategies to rejuvenate the immune system in order to extend healthspan.

New sound-based 3D-printing method enables finer, faster microdevices

Concordia researchers have developed a new 3D-printing technique that uses sound waves to directly print tiny structures onto soft polymers like silicone with far greater precision than before. The approach, called proximal sound printing, opens new possibilities for manufacturing microscale devices used in health care, environmental monitoring and advanced sensors. It is described in the journal Microsystems & Nanoengineering.

The technique relies on focused ultrasound to trigger chemical reactions that solidify liquid polymers exactly where printing is needed. Unlike conventional methods that rely on heat or light, sound-based 3D-printing works with key materials used in microfluidic devices, lab-on-a-chip systems and soft electronics that are hard to print at small scales.

This work builds on the research team’s earlier breakthrough in direct sound printing, which first showed that ultrasound could be used to cure polymers on demand. While that earlier method demonstrated the concept, it struggled with limited resolution and consistency. The new proximal approach places the sound source much closer to the printing surface, allowing far tighter control.

Why Mucus and Phlegm Matter in Health and Disease

It’s mucus season—the time of year this sticky goo makes an appearance in the form of runny noses and phlegmy coughs. While most people are only aware of mucus when they are sick, their organs are blanketed with the stuff year-round. And, when it comes to the microbes living in our bodies, mucus is incredibly important. It provides a spatial and nutritional niche for diverse organisms to thrive, while also preventing them from getting too close to host tissues. Mucus also regulates microbial growth, metabolism and virulence, ultimately controlling the composition of microbial communities throughout the body. As such, scientists are looking at how to exploit mucus-microbe interactions to foster human health.

Mucus is found in creatures spanning the tree of life, from corals to people. In humans and other mammals, the slick goop coats epithelial tissues, including those in the mouth, lungs, gut and urogenital tract. In these regions, mucus protects cells from physical and enzymatic stress, heals wounds and selectively filters particles that can pass through to underlying tissues.

Dimerization-dependent gel-like condensation with dsDNA underpins the activation of human cGAS

CGAS forms condensates on cytosolic double-stranded (ds)DNA and initiates inflammatory responses. Lueck et al. find that, although cGAS forms condensates on various nucleic acids, it enters a hydrogel-like state only with dsDNA via dimerization. The gel-like cGAS condensate not only protects bound dsDNA from exonucleases but also facilitates catalysis.

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