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The process by which memories are formed in the hippocampus region of the brain is complex. It relies on a precise choreography of interactions among neurons, neurotransmitters, receptors and enzymes. A new mouse study led by researchers has identified an intricate molecular process involving gene expression in the neurons that appears to play a critical role in memory consolidation. The new study focuses on the central adrenergic system. The ability to pay attention, which is essential in learning and memory, is controlled by the central adrenergic system in the brain. To understand the components critical for memory, the researchers looked...

Extra virgin olive oil may have positive effects on individuals with mild cognitive impairment, according to a recently completed study by Amal Kaddoumi. Her findings suggest compounds found in olive oil impact brain health and improve the blood-brain barrier. Kaddoumi utilized 25 participants experiencing mild cognitive impairment in her study that included consuming 30 milliliters, or about three tablespoons, of olive oil per day for six months. Thirteen participants consumed extra virgin olive oil, or EVOO, and 12 consumed refined olive oil, or ROO. EVOO is rich in phenols, a class of organic compounds containing a hydroxyl group and a...

Researchers have provided important molecular understanding of how injury may contribute to the development of a relatively rare but often aggressive form of brain tumor called a glioma. The UCL team have now identified a possible mechanism to explain this link, implicating genetic mutations acting in concert with brain tissue inflammation to change the behavior of cells. Professor Parrinello said, "Normally astrocytes are highly branched, but we found that without p53 and only after an injury the astrocytes had retracted their branches and become more rounded. They weren't quite stem cell-like, but something had changed. So we let the mice...

Sad news Monday evening—actor Tom Sizemore’s representative reported that his doctors have “informed his family that there is no further hope and have recommended end-of-life decision” after he suffered a brain aneurysm last week in Los Angeles.

Researchers led by Prof. Neta Erez identified and characterized a new mechanism that facilitates the formation of brain metastases and found that impairing this mechanism significantly reduced the development of brain metastases in mice. Brain metastases are one of the deadliest forms of cancer metastasis. The researchers show that Lipocalin-2 (LCN2) is a key factor in inducing neuroinflammation in the brain. Moreover, the researchers found that high LCN2 levels in patients' blood and brain metastases from several types of cancer are associated with disease progression and reduced survival. LCN2 is a secreted protein that functions in the innate immune system...

Trauma from environmental and climate disasters can cause long-term changes in cognitive functioning, according to research published Wednesday in the journal PLOS Climate. Researchers from the University of California San Diego and California State University used existing data from survivors of the 2018 Camp Fire, the deadliest wildfire in California history. In the 2023 study, researchers found that among a subset of people directly exposed to the fire, electroencephalography (EEG) scans showed noticeable differences in brain activity and cognitive function. ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT Study: Trauma from climate disaster can change brain function BY ZACK BUDRYK - 01/20/23 1:53 PM ET...

Scientists have uncovered a mysterious network of brain connections that is linked to ... schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, addiction, OCD and anxiety — that share this underlying circuitry... Some "nodes" in the circuit have been linked to psychiatric disorders in the past, while others...are instead linked to key aspects of cognitive function, like selective attention and sensory processing... The team pinpointed brain regions where gray matter had atrophied, or shrunk, in the context of psychiatric disorders. [T]he disorders still had something in common: the tangled network of wires that runs between all these pockets of atrophy in the brain. The...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) attempted to defend President Biden’s proposed ban on gas stoves in a viral Twitter spat Tuesday — only to be heckled herself by snarky social media users. “Did you know that ongoing exposure to NO2 from gas stoves is linked to reduced cognitive performance,” the Bronx and Queens lawmaker tweeted in response to Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) vowing to “NEVER” give up his gas stove. But the congresswoman’s attempted clap-back backfired, as detractors — mainly politicians and conservative activists — were quick to pile on. “Is this an attack on @GordonRamsey,” joked Max Avery, a former...

After the experience of Covid-19, many people may be sensitive to reports of a rare disease surfacing anywhere in the world. So it won’t help matters that a South Korean man has recently passed away due to something known by the scary name of “brain-eating amoeba”. He was the first case reported in the country. Man had stayed in Thailand for 4 months In a press release on Monday (26 Dec), the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said the case had returned to South Korea after staying in Thailand for four months. He was a man in his...

A research team has linked the mutation that causes Huntington's disease to developmental deficits in the brain's oligodendrocyte cells that are caused by changes in metabolism. They found that high doses of thiamine and biotin can restore normal processes. OL cells generate the insulating coating around neurons, called myelin. The study provides detailed insight into the entire process of how these changes in the genes that regulate cell metabolism impair development of OLs, as well as the therapeutic value of treating HD with high doses of thiamine and biotin. Thiamine and biotin are both B vitamins and are involved in...

(SNIP) Over the last 70 or so years, declaring death has gotten progressively messier. Scientific advances such as ventilators and life support have made it harder and harder to find the line between being a person and being a body. Now, mind-blowing experiments in pigs, and the development of a souped-up life-support system called OrganEx, are reinvigorating a decades-old debate about how our lives end. (SNIP) Yale neurobiologist Nenad Sestan researches genes that control how neurons grow and form connections in the developing brain. To perform these studies, he orders slices of tissue from brain banks around the world. Eight...

Now, using a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, a team from Yale University in the US may have figured out why the patches of protein seem relevant without necessarily being directly responsible. "We found that hundreds of axons develop [swelling] around each amyloid deposit," Yale University neurobiologist Peng Yuan and colleagues write in their paper. They found the swelling is formed by a buildup of lysosomes – little bin-bag-like compartments created by cells to break down waste and contain it until it can be removed. These lysosomes clump into spheroid structures along the axons of brain cells – the long...

While previous studies have linked commercial dietary supplements like nicotinamide riboside (NR), a form of vitamin B3, to benefits related to cardiovascular, metabolic and neurological health, new research has found NR could actually increase the risk of serious disease, including developing cancer. The team led by Elena Goun discovered high levels of NR could not only increase someone's risk of developing triple-negative breast cancer, but also could cause the cancer to metastasize or spread to the brain. Once the cancer reaches the brain, the results are deadly because no viable treatment options exist at this time, said Goun, who is...

A large stroke trial has shown that intensive blood pressure lowering after clot removal worsens recovery, stopped early due to the significance of the findings. Professor Craig Anderson said the rapid emergence of this effect suggested the more aggressive approach was compromising the return of blood flow to the affected area. "Our study provides a strong indication that this increasingly common treatment strategy should now be avoided in clinical practice," he said. Around 85 percent of strokes are ischemic strokes, caused by the loss of blood flow to an area of the brain due to a blockage in a blood...

President Joe Biden kicked off a speech on the economy Friday with a classic brain-freeze moment. “Let me start off with two words — Made in America,” he said, using three words in front of a sign that read “Made in America.” “Made in America,” he repeated, without correcting his mistake. “That’s not hyperbole, I’m not joking about that as you know

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is associated with a greater capacity for selective and sustained attention in adolescents, while alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is associated with lower impulsivity, according to a study. The results confirm the importance of having a diet that provides sufficient amounts of these polyunsaturated fatty acids for a healthy brain development. During adolescence, important structural and functional changes occur in the brain, especially in the prefrontal area, which plays a major role in controlling attention. On the other hand, omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids are known to be critical for proper brain development and function. The most abundant fatty acid...

Realistic bear defense drills can help prepare gun owners for actual situations. The success of Eli Dicken in stopping a mass murder in the early stages, with excellent marksmanship at a claimed 40 yards, has engendered a plethora of people creating and executing some form of a “Dicken Drill” of ten shots at 40 yards.There have been a number of “bear defense” exercises, usually arranged to simulate a worst-case scenario. I know of one such scenario, as it was related to me, by the inventor/trainer who ran it for a major agency.The “bear” ran on a cart, as I recall,...

Brain tumor glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a disease for which 30% of adults diagnosed survive one year after diagnosis, and only 3% of patients live longer than five years. GBM surgery is assisted by the use of fluorescent photosensitiser (PS) drugs. One such PS is Protoporphyrin IX (PpIX), a metadrug of exogenously administered 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA). PpIX can precisely guide GBM resection as its prodrug 5-ALA very specifically accumulates in GBM lesions due to structural and functional differences in the vicinity of the GBM tumors. Scientists have found that apart from being a photosensitive drug, 5-ALA is also a potent...

According to the largest study of its type, brain scans of individuals obtained as they engaged in different activities or even did nothing accurately indicated whether they were politically conservative or liberal. .... snip...

Brain scans of people taken while they performed various tasks – and even did nothing – accurately predicted whether they were politically conservative or liberal, according to the largest study of its kind.Researchers found that the “signatures” in the brain revealed by the scans were as accurate at predicting political ideology as the strongest predictor generally used in political science research, which is the ideology of a person’s parents. . . . In fact, even when participants were asked to sit quietly and think of nothing in particular, the resulting scans showed a relationship to political ideology, said co-author James...