How traumatic brain injury (TBI) mechanistically contributes to neurodegenerative disease remains poorly understood. Marco et al. find that therapeutic viral vector-based delivery of VEGFC recuperates meningeal lymphatic drainage deficits post-TBI and protects against severe development of tauopathy, neurodegeneration, and cognitive decline in the PS19 mouse model of tauopathy.
The human brain is a fascinating and complex organ that supports numerous sophisticated behaviors and abilities that are observed in no other animal species. For centuries, scientists have been trying to understand what is so unique about the human brain and how it develops over the human lifespan.
Recent technological and experimental advances have opened new avenues for neuroscience research, which in turn has led to the creation of increasingly detailed descriptions of the brain and its underlying processes. Collectively, these efforts are helping to shed new light on the underpinnings of various neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders.
Researchers at Beijing Normal University, the Changping Laboratory and other institutes have recently set out to study both the human and macaque brain, comparing their development over time using various genetic and molecular analysis tools. Their paper, published in Nature Neuroscience, highlights some key differences between the two species, with the human pre-frontal cortex (PFC) developing slower than the macaque PFC.
A new study suggests that dementia may be driven in part by faulty blood flow in the brain. Researchers found that losing a key lipid causes blood vessels to become overactive, disrupting circulation and starving brain tissue. When the missing molecule was restored, normal blood flow returned. This discovery opens the door to new treatments aimed at fixing vascular problems in dementia.
Of course, many people are familiar with the impressive mental abilities of the corvid family (crows, ravens, magpies, and jays), but even everyday avians like pigeons and chickens, would score surprisingly high on Newen and Montemayor’s consciousness scale. In one experiment known as the “mirror-audience test,” roosters were placed in an enclosure with a barrier separating them. When the shadow of a bird of prey was projected overhead, the test rooster warned its fellow conspecific (member of the same species), and when it was alone, it did not. Interestingly, when a mirror was placed in the enclosure to replace the previously see-through barrier, the test rooster did not warn its conspecific partner, even though the animal remained on the other side of the mirror, suggesting that the rooster was able to differentiate itself from other members of its own species.
“The presented results add to the growing body of evidence that consciousness may be present in many parts of the animal kingdom, across species that are phylogenetically distant from each other and have remarkably different brain structures,” the authors wrote. “Consciousness should not be deemed as an ‘all-or-nothing’ cognitive function but rather as a graded and multi-dimensional process.”
For over a century, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has been considered irreversible. Consequently, research has focused on disease prevention or slowing, rather than recovery. Despite billions of dollars spent on decades of research, there has never been a clinical trial of a drug for AD with an outcome goal of reversing disease and recovering function.
Now, a research team from University Hospitals, Case Western Reserve University, and the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center has challenged this long-held dogma in the field. They tested whether brains already badly afflicted with advanced AD could recover.
The study, led by Kalyani Chaubey, Ph.D., from the Pieper Laboratory, is published in Cell Reports Medicine.
A new study published in Applied Psychology provides evidence that the belief in free will may carry unintended negative consequences for how individuals view gay men. The findings suggest that while believing in free will often promotes moral responsibility, it is also associated with less favorable attitudes toward gay men and preferential treatment for heterosexual men. This effect appears to be driven by the perception that sexual orientation is a personal choice.
Psychological research has historically investigated the concept of free will as a positive force in social behavior. Scholars have frequently observed that when people believe they have control over their actions, they tend to act more responsibly and helpfully. The general assumption has been that a sense of agency leads to adherence to moral standards. However, the authors of the current study argued that this sense of agency might have a “dark side” when applied to social groups that are often stigmatized.
The researchers reasoned that if people believe strongly in human agency, they may incorrectly attribute complex traits like sexual orientation to personal decision-making. This attribution could lead to the conclusion that gay men are responsible for their sexual orientation.
