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Category: neuroscience – Page 80

Chronic pain and mental well-being linked to IBS risk: Genetic study identifies modifiable factors

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a prevalent and debilitating gastrointestinal disorder affecting approximately 5%–10% of the global population. Characterized by abdominal pain, bloating, and altered bowel habits, IBS imposes a significant burden on quality of life and health care systems worldwide.

Despite its prevalence, the exact pathogenesis of IBS remains elusive, and effective prevention strategies are lacking. Di Liu and colleagues conducted a comprehensive Mendelian randomization (MR) study—an approach that uses genetic variants as instrumental variables to infer causality.

The study integrates Mendelian randomization (MR) and multiresponse MR (MR2) analyses to distinguish genuine causal relationships from shared or spurious associations. The research is published in the journal eGastroenterology.

High fried food consumption impacts anxiety and depression due to lipid metabolism disturbance and neuroinflammation

When zebrafish are relocated to a new environment, they seek protection by diving and staying at the safety home, until they feel safe enough to explore the unfamiliar environment (26). The swimming trajectories showed that zebrafish in the control group can swiftly explore and adapt to the novel environment, but chronic exposure to acrylamide reduces the ability to adapt to the unfamiliar environment (Fig. 3 A). Visualized heatmaps showed significant changes in swimming trajectories of zebrafish in the acrylamide exposure groups compared with those in the control group (Fig. 3 B). Furthermore, we found the swimming time and distance ratios in Zone 1 exhibited a dose-dependent decreasing trend in acrylamide exposure groups. Chronic exposure to acrylamide (0.5 mM) significantly decreased both swimming time and distance in Zone 1 and increased those in Zone 2 (Fig. 3 C and D). We recorded the novel object exploration test to visualize the behavioral alteration between the control and each acrylamide-treated group (Movie S3). The movie displays that zebrafish in the control group could swiftly explore and adapt to the novel environment, but chronic exposure to acrylamide reduced the ability to adapt to the unfamiliar environment, which indicated that acrylamide induces anxiety-and depressive-like behaviors by reducing exploration ability of zebrafish.

Moreover, the social preference test was used to assess sociality of zebrafish. Since the zebrafish are a group preference species, they frequently swim by forming a school and swim closely to one another (27). In the current social preference test, representative radar maps and visualized heatmaps exhibited significant changes of preference in swimming trajectories of zebrafish in acrylamide exposure groups compared to those in the control group, indicating that chronic exposure to acrylamide remarkably impairs the sociality of zebrafish (Fig. 3 E–G). For detailed parameters of behavioral trajectories, chronic exposure to acrylamide (0.5 mM) significantly increased both swimming time and distance ratios in the left zone and decreased those in the right zone (Fig. 3 H and I). Notably, chronic exposure to acrylamide (0.5 mM) significantly elevated traversing times and number of crossing the middle line (Fig. 3 J and K).

Deep brain regions link all senses to consciousness, study finds

A Yale-led study shows that the senses stimulate a region of the brain that controls consciousness—a finding that might inform treatment for disorders related to attention, arousal, and more.

Humans perceive and navigate the world around us with the help of our five senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. And while scientists have long known that these different senses activate different parts of the brain, a new Yale-led study indicates that multiple senses all stimulate a critical region deep in the brain that controls consciousness.

The study, published in the journal NeuroImage, sheds new light on how works in the brain and may fuel the development of therapies to treat disorders involving attention, arousal, and consciousness.

Psilocybin better preserves depressed patients’ emotional response to music than standard drug, study finds

Depression is among the most widespread mental health disorders worldwide, typically characterized by persistent feelings of sadness, a lack of interest in daily activities and dysregulated sleep and/or eating habits. There are now a wide range of pharmacological treatments for depression, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), tricyclic antidepressants and atypical antidepressants.

In recent years, some research groups have been exploring the potential of alternative treatments for depression that rely on psychedelic compounds, such as . Psilocybin is a compound naturally found in more than 100 species of mushrooms, which can influence the mood and perceptions of those who ingest it.

Researchers at Imperial College London’s Center for Psychedelic Research recently carried out a study aimed at better understanding the effects of psilocybin treatment on the processing of and the experience of emotions, comparing them to those of escitalopram, a widely used SSRI.

Abstract: For several years, researchers have known that hyperactivity of a subset of neurons located in the hypothalamus, called AgRP neurons, is common in mice with diabetes

“These neurons are playing an outsized role in hyperglycemia and type 2 diabetes,” said UW Medicine endocrinologist Dr. Michael Schwartz, corresponding author of the paper.

To determine if these neurons contribute to elevated blood sugar in diabetic mice, researchers employed a widely used viral genetics approach to make AgRP neurons express tetanus toxin, which prevents the neurons from communicating with other neurons.

Unexpectedly, this intervention normalized high blood sugar for months, despite having no effect on body weight or food consumption.

Conventional wisdom is that diabetes, particularly type 2 diabetes, stems from a combination of genetic predisposition and lifestyle factors, including obesity, lack of physical activity and poor diet. This mix of factors leads to insulin resistance or insufficient insulin production.

Until now, scientists have traditionally thought the brain doesn’t play a role in type 2 diabetes, according to Schwartz.

The paper challenges this and is a “departure from the conventional wisdom of what causes diabetes,” he said.

The new findings align with studies published by the same scientists showing that injection of a peptide called FGF1 directly into the brain also causes diabetes remission in mice. This effect was subsequently shown to involve sustained inhibition of AgRP neurons.

Continue reading “Abstract: For several years, researchers have known that hyperactivity of a subset of neurons located in the hypothalamus, called AgRP neurons, is common in mice with diabetes” | >
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