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Category: neuroscience – Page 78

Puberty triggers brain rewiring in genetic condition tied to autism, mouse study suggests

Changes in brain connectivity before and after puberty may explain why some children with a rare genetic disorder have a higher risk of developing autism or schizophrenia, according to a UCLA Health study.

Developmental psychiatric disorders like autism and schizophrenia are associated with changes in brain . However, the complexity of these conditions make it difficult to understand the underlying biological causes. By studying genetically defined , researchers at UCLA Health and collaborators have shed light on possible mechanisms.

The UCLA study examined a particular genetic condition called chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome—caused by missing DNA on chromosome 22—which is associated with a higher risk of developing neuropsychiatric conditions such as autism and schizophrenia. But the underlying biological basis of this association has not been well understood.

The Immune Molecule That Rewires Your Brain — From Anxiety to Sociability

A surprising link between the immune system and brain behavior is emerging, as new research reveals how a single immune molecule can affect both anxiety and sociability depending on which brain region it acts upon.

Scientists found that IL-17 behaves almost like a brain chemical, influencing neuron activity in ways that alter mood and behavior during illness. These findings suggest the immune system plays a much deeper role in shaping our mental states than previously thought, opening new doors for treating conditions like autism and anxiety through immune-based therapies.

Immune Molecules and Brain Behavior.

Diagnosis and Management of Children With Atypical Neuroinflammation

Pediatric neuroimmune disorders comprise a heterogeneous group of immune-mediated CNS inflammatory conditions. Some, such as multiple sclerosis, are well defined by validated diagnostic criteria. Others, such as anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis, can be diagnosed with detection of specific autoantibodies. This review addresses neuroimmune disorders that neither feature a diagnosis-defining autoantibody nor meet criteria for a distinct clinicopathologic entity. A broad differential in these cases should include CNS infection, noninflammatory genetic disorders, toxic exposures, metabolic disturbances, and primary psychiatric disorders. Neuroimmune considerations addressed in this review include seronegative autoimmune encephalitis, seronegative demyelinating disorders such as neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, and genetic disorders of immune dysregulation or secondary neuroinflammation.

Factors that affect the resilience of young adults to depression: a systematic review

Depression among young people (aged 18–29 years) transitioning to adulthood is becoming more widespread. Knowing which factors in which systems co-enable resilience to depression is crucial, but there is no comprehensive synthesis of the physiological, psychological, social, economic, institutional, cultural, and environmental system factors associated with no or minimal emerging adult depression, or combinations of these factors. We have therefore conducted a preregistered systematic review (Prospero, CRD42023440153).

Small Extracellular Vesicles From Hypoxia-Neuron Maintain Blood-Brain Barrier Integrity

STROKE: Hypoxia induces neuronal release of CircOGDH in small extracellular vesicles to interact with endothelial cells for enhancing blood-brain barrier repair during acute ischemic stroke.

BACKGROUND: Acute ischemic stroke disrupts communication between neurons and blood vessels in penumbral areas. How neurons and blood vessels cooperate to achieve blood-brain barrier repair remains unclear. Here, we reveal crosstalk between ischemic penumbral neurons and endothelial cells (ECs) mediated by circular RNA originating from oxoglutarate dehydrogenase (CircOGDH). METHODS: We analyzed clinical data from patients with acute ischemic stroke to explore the relationship between CircOGDH levels and hemorrhagic transformation events. In addition, a middle cerebral artery occlusion and reperfusion mouse model with neuronal CircOGDH suppression was used to assess endothelial permeability.

Scientists had a mouse watch ‘The Matrix’ and ‘Star Wars’ — and then built the largest brain ’connectome‘ ever

Using advanced microscopes that capture brain cell anatomy and activity, a portion of a mouse’s brain was mapped and rendered into a 3D atlas that creates new possibilities for neuroscience.

An at-home smell test could pave the way for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease

When it comes to early detection of cognitive impairment, a new study suggests that the nose knows. Researchers from Mass General Brigham have developed olfactory tests—in which participants sniff odor labels that have been placed on a card—to assess people’s ability to discriminate, identify and remember odors. They found that participants could successfully take the test at home and that older adults with cognitive impairment scored lower on the test than cognitively normal adults.

Results are published in Scientific Reports.

“Early detection of cognitive impairment could help us identify people who are at risk of Alzheimer’s disease and intervene years before memory symptoms begin,” said senior author Mark Albers, MD, Ph.D., of the Laboratory of Olfactory Neurotranslation, the McCance Center for Brain Health, and Department of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Understanding disrupted motivation in Parkinson’s disease through a value-based decision-making lens

Neurobehavioural disturbances such as loss of motivation have profound effects on the lives of many people living with Parkinson’s disease (PD), as well as other brain disorders. The field of decision-making neuroscience, underpinned by a plethora of work across species, provides an important framework within which to investigate apathy in clinical populations. Here we review how changes in a number of different processes underlying value-based decision making may lead to the common phenotype of apathy in PD. The application of computational models to probe both behaviour and neurophysiology show promise in elucidating these cognitive processes crucial for motivated behaviour. However, observations from the clinical management of PD demand an expanded view of this relationship, which we aim to delineate. Ultimately, effective treatment of apathy may depend on identifying the pattern in which decision making and related mechanisms have been disrupted in individuals living with PD.

Neural stem cells outside the brain: Discovery opens new paths for regenerative medicine

For decades, scientists assumed that neural stem cells (NSCs) only occur in the brain and spinal cord. A new international study, led by Hans Schöler of the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine in Münster, has now refuted this assumption and discovered a new type of neural stem cell outside the central nervous system (CNS) that opens up enormous possibilities for the development of therapies for neurological diseases. The study is published in the journal Nature Cell Biology.

In 2014, an article titled “Stimulus-triggered fate conversion of into pluripotency” was published in Nature. This publication initially caused quite a stir because it opened up a simple way to obtain . The induction of pluripotent stem cells without the need for viral vectors, as Shinya Yamanaka had done and for which he received the Nobel Prize, would have been too good to be true.

Although the laboratory of Schöler at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, like many others, tried to repeat the experiment that described the “stimulus-triggered acquisition of pluripotency” (STAP) based on treating somatic cells with low pH. However, the generation of pluripotent cells failed regardless of the culture conditions and tissues used—and the corresponding paper was eventually retracted several months after publication.