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Category: biotech/medical – Page 7

Disappointment alters brain chemistry and behavior

From work meetings to first dates, it’s essential to adjust our behavior for success. In certain situations, it can even be a matter of life or death. So how do we switch our behavior when situations change? Published in Nature Communications, neuroscientists describe the neural basis of behavioral flexibility in mice, with insights which may help us understand a wide variety of diseases and disorders, from addiction to obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) to Parkinson’s disease.

“The brain mechanisms behind changing behaviors have remained elusive, because adapting to a given scenario is very neurologically complex. It requires interconnected activity across multiple areas of the brain,” explains a co-author. “Previous work has indicated that cholinergic interneurons—brain cells that release a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine—are involved in enabling behavioral flexibility. Here, we were able to use advanced imaging techniques to see neurotransmitter release in real time and delve into the fundamental mechanisms behind behavioral flexibility”

In their investigations, the researchers trained mice in a virtual maze, teaching them the correct route to receive a reward. They then switched the route, leading to an unexpected loss of reward for the mice, and observed the effects of this disappointing change using two-photon microscopy.

Molecular difference in autistic brains may explain signaling imbalance

Yale School of Medicine (YSM) scientists have discovered a molecular difference in the brains of autistic people compared to their neurotypical counterparts.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition associated with behavioral differences including difficulties with social interaction, restrictive or intense interests, and repetitive movements or speech. But it’s not clear what makes autistic brains different.

Now, a study in the American Journal of Psychiatry has found that the brains of autistic people have fewer of a specific kind of receptor for glutamate, the most common excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain. The reduced availability of these receptors may be associated with various characteristics linked to autism.

AI-powered knowledge graph links heart images to genes and drug predictions

Knowledge graphs are a powerful tool for bringing together information from biological databases and linking what is already known about genes, diseases, treatments, molecular pathways and symptoms in a structured network. Until now, they have lacked detailed, individual-level information about how the affected organ actually looks and functions.

The latest research, led by postdoctoral researcher Dr. Khaled Rjoob and group leader Professor Declan O’Regan from the Computational Cardiac Imaging Group at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences, has advanced this technology by adding imaging data to a knowledge graph for the first time. CardioKG provides a detailed view of the heart’s structure and function which dramatically improves the accuracy of predicting which genes are linked to disease and whether existing drugs could treat them.

The work is published in the journal Nature Cardiovascular Research.

Stiffer colon could signal risk of early-onset colorectal cancer

Increased stiffness of the colon, spurred by chronic inflammation, may encourage the development and progression of early-onset colorectal cancer (CRC), a study co-led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers suggests. The findings, published in Advanced Science, could lead to new ways to prevent and treat this deadly subset of CRC.

“We consider this study a significant advancement toward identifying those at risk of early-onset CRC and finding new ways to treat them,” said Emina Huang, M.D., M.B.A., Professor of Surgery in the Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery and Executive Vice Chair of Research for Surgery at UT Southwestern. She is also Professor of Biomedical Engineering and in the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center.

UT Southwestern partnered with researchers from The University of Texas at Dallas on the study.

Variations of Severely Reduced Myocardial Flow Reserve in PET Myocardial Perfusion Imaging

Severely reduced myocardial flow reserve in cardiac positron emission tomography is a diagnostic challenge. 🫀☢️ This JACCIMG iPIX lays out the full differential—from 3-vessel coronary artery disease to artifacts—to spot the patterns, avoid the pitfalls, and not miss the diagnosis.

The Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) stands as a leading global resource for impactful cardiovascular research, delivering essential peer-reviewed articles and crucial clinical practice guidelines. Gain access to authoritative medical content and vital CME resources designed to advance cardiovascular medicine and improve heart patient outcomes.

Brain immune cells may drive more damage in females than males with Alzheimer’s

More than 7 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease, and two-thirds of them are women, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. The O’Banion Lab at the Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rochester has long been studying this disease and is looking more closely at the differences between male and female brains.

“It is well documented that males and females are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at different rates,” said M. Kerry O’Banion, MD, Ph.D., professor of Neuroscience and Neurology. “But we still do not have a great understanding of why this is the case. We can only improve any possible treatment or prevention of this disease if we know the why, when, and where these differences are occurring.”

Antibiotic resistance forecast to kill 39 million people by 2050

According to the most comprehensive study to date, the global death toll from antibiotic resistance is expected to reach 1.9 million people annually by 2050.

Read this great article at.

The number of people worldwide directly killed by antibiotic resistance will rise to 1.9 million a year by 2050, according to the most comprehensive study so far.

By Michael Le Page

AI model forecasts speech development in deaf children after cochlear implants

An AI model using deep transfer learning—the most advanced form of machine learning—has predicted spoken language outcomes with 92% accuracy from one to three years after patients received cochlear implants (implanted electronic hearing device).

The research is published in the journal JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery.

Although cochlear implantation is the only effective treatment to improve hearing and enable spoken language for children with severe to profound hearing loss, spoken language development after early implantation is more variable in comparison to children born with typical hearing. If children who are likely to have more difficulty with spoken language are identified prior to implantation, intensified therapy can be offered earlier to improve their speech.

Modified tau thwarts aggregation in neurodegenerative disease—while retaining its biological function

A designer version of the tau protein, developed by a team led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers, maintains its biological function while resisting aggregation, a pathological trait linked to neurodegenerative diseases called tauopathies.

These findings, reported in Structure, could lead to new treatments for conditions including Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and progressive supranuclear palsy.

“This is the first step toward creating a molecule that could, in principle, replace a protein that’s pathogenic (disease-causing) while still retaining its normal function,” said study leader Lukasz Joachimiak, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Center for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases and of Biochemistry and Biophysics at UT Southwestern.

New Brain Signal Predicts Alzheimer’s Years Before Diagnosis

Scientists at the Carney Institute for Brain Science have discovered specific patterns of electrical signals in the brain that may help forecast whether a person will go on to develop Alzheimer’s disease. Using a specialized tool designed to examine the electrical signals produced by neurons, sci

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