New research reveals how tiny electrical gates in the brain, known as NMDA receptors, control learning, memory, and neuron survival.
Category: neuroscience – Page 14
Novel molecular mechanisms shape neuron identity in retinal cells
A recent study led by Tiffany Schmidt, Ph.D., associate professor of Ophthalmology and of Neurobiology in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, has discovered previously unknown cellular mechanisms that shape neuron identity in retinal cells, findings that may improve the understanding of brain circuitry and disease. The study is published in Nature Communications.
Schmidt’s laboratory studies melanopsin-expressing, intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells (ipRGCs), a type of neuron in the retina that plays a key role in synchronizing the body’s internal clock to the daily light/dark cycle.
There are six subtypes of ipRGCs—M1 to M6—and each expresses a different amount of the protein melanopsin, which makes the ipRGCs directly sensitive to light. However, the mechanisms which give rise to each ipRGCs subtype’s unique structural and functional features have previously remained elusive.
Why Some 80-Year-Olds Have the Memory of 50-Year-Olds
For 25 years, scientists have studied “SuperAgers”—people aged 80 and above whose memory rivals those decades younger. Research reveals that their brains either resist Alzheimer’s-related plaques and tangles or remain resilient despite having them.
These individuals maintain a youthful brain structure, with a thicker cortex and unique neurons linked to memory and social skills. Insights from their biology and behavior could inspire new strategies to protect cognitive health into late life.
For the past 25 years, researchers at Northwestern Medicine have been examining people aged 80 and older, known as “SuperAgers,” to uncover why their minds stay so sharp.
Fruit flies offer new insights into how Alzheimer’s disease risk genes affect the brain
Scientists have identified hundreds of genes that may increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease but the roles these genes play in the brain are poorly understood. This lack of understanding poses a barrier to developing new therapies, but in a study published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI) at Texas Children’s Hospital offer new insights into how Alzheimer’s disease risk genes affect the brain.
“We studied fruit fly versions of 100 human Alzheimer’s disease risk genes,” said first author Dr. Jennifer Deger, a neuroscience graduate in Baylor’s Medical Scientist Training Program (M.D./Ph. D.), mentored by Drs. Joshua Shulman and Hugo Bellen.
“We developed fruit flies with mutations that ‘turned off’ each gene and determined how this affected the fly’s brain structure, function and stress resilience as the flies aged.”
Attention lapses due to sleep deprivation coincide with a flushing of fluid from the brain, research reveals
Nearly everyone has experienced it: After a night of poor sleep, you don’t feel as alert as you should. Your brain might seem foggy, and your mind drifts off when you should be paying attention.
A new study from MIT reveals what happens inside the brain as these momentary failures of attention occur. The scientists found that during these lapses, a wave of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flows out of the brain—a process that typically occurs during sleep and helps to wash away waste products that have built up during the day. This flushing is believed to be necessary for maintaining a healthy, normally functioning brain.
When a person is sleep-deprived, it appears that their body attempts to catch up on this cleansing process by initiating pulses of CSF flow. However, this comes at a cost of dramatically impaired attention.
Sam Altman Reportedly Developing Noninvasive Brain Interface to Rival Elon Musk’s Neuralink
A new report suggests Sam Altman is building a brain interface using sound waves, potentially rivaling Elon Musk’s Neuralink.
Drugs approved for treating pain may also reduce bone cancer growth
Peripheral afferent neurons—nerves that send signals from all areas of the body to the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord)—are known to infiltrate and grow within malignant bone tumors called osteosarcomas, often accompanied by severe pain.
In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a multicenter research team led by Johns Hopkins Medicine reports that two analgesic drugs, bupivacaine and rimegepant, which are used to inhibit the formation and functioning of these neurons, not only relieve tumor-associated pain in laboratory mice, but also slow the unchecked growth of the cancer.
“Our findings suggest that these two medications—already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration [FDA] for relieving nerve pain [bupivacaine] and migraines [rimegepant]—might one day be repurposed as anti-tumor therapies,” says study lead author Sowmya Ramesh, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher in pathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.