Lifeboat Foundation

Sometimes there are slightly different versions, or sequences of genes. There are several versions of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene, for example. One of them, called APOE4, has been linked to a much higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, and carriers often have worse forms of the disease compared to carriers of other forms like APOE3. There are immune cells in the brain called microglia that help protect the brain from damage and harm. But when APOE4 is expressed, microglia seem to start to cause inflammation, and misfolded proteins to form in the brain, which can lead to serious problems. The findings have been reported in Cell Stem Cell.

In this work, the researchers developed a mouse model that could generate the human APOE4 protein in their brains. Next, the investigators eliminated microglia from these mouse brains. The formation of two misfolded proteins that are hallmarks of Alzheimer’s diseases: amyloid and tau, was halted.

Summary: Autism-linked SHANK3 gene mutations disrupt not only neurons but also oligodendrocytes, essential for producing myelin, which insulates nerve fibers. This damage reduces brain signal efficiency and impairs behavior.

Using gene therapy, researchers successfully repaired these cells in a mouse model, restoring their function and myelin production. They validated their findings with human-derived stem cells, confirming similar impairments and repair mechanisms.

This discovery highlights a significant role for oligodendrocytes in autism and opens the door for innovative treatments targeting myelin dysfunction. The study underscores both the biological complexity of autism and the promise of genetic therapies for intervention.

Can therapy rewire the brain? For individuals struggling with both depression and obesity, a new Stanford Medicine study says yes—when the therapy is the right fit. Researchers found that cognitive behavioral therapy focused on problem-solving reduced depression symptoms in a third of participants and altered their brain activity in ways that could predict longer-term benefits. The findings have been published in Science Translational Medicine.

Depression affects millions of people worldwide and becomes particularly challenging to treat when paired with obesity, a condition that complicates recovery and worsens outcomes. Previous research has suggested that brain regions associated with cognitive control—areas responsible for regulating emotions and behaviors—might influence how individuals respond to therapy.

This study aimed to determine whether a therapy specifically designed to engage these brain circuits could lead to sustained improvements in depression symptoms, particularly in individuals with comorbid depression and obesity. The researchers also investigated whether early changes in brain activity could predict long-term therapeutic success, paving the way for more personalized treatment strategies.

It’s been more than three decades, but still there are only two treatments for a stroke: either rapid use of a clot-busting medication called tPA or surgical removal of a clot from the brain with mechanical thrombectomy. However, only 5% to 13% percent of stroke cases are actually eligible for these interventions.

“We need to be persistent with our research to find a new therapy for stroke,” says Rajkumar Verma, M.Pharm., Ph.D., assistant professor, Department of Neuroscience at UConn School of Medicine working in cross-campus collaboration with Professor Raman Bahal Ph.D. of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the UConn School of Pharmacy. “Stroke research is hard and challenging to do. But without trying we won’t make progress. We need to keep trying. UConn is determined to keep trying.”

In addition to being life-threatening, stroke is the major cause of long-term disability worldwide.

Injectable magnetoelectric nanodiscs may activate neurons in localized brain regions when stimulated by a weak external magnetic field, say MIT scientists.

Cognitive neuroscientists at Trinity College Dublin have published new research describing a brand new approach to making habit change achievable and lasting.

This innovative framework has the potential to significantly improve approaches to personal development, as well as the clinical treatment of compulsive disorders (for example obsessive compulsive disorder, addiction, and eating disorders).

The research was led by Dr. Eike Buabang, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the lab of Professor Claire Gillan in the School of Psychology, has been published as a paper titled “Leveraging cognitive neuroscience for making and breaking real-world habits” in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences.

Life is a series of small events: making morning coffee, letting the dog out, opening a laptop, letting the dog back in. Add them all up and you have a full day. Our brains are committed to observing and processing the events that make up our daily lives, said Jeff Zacks, the Edgar James Swift Professor in Arts & Sciences and chair of the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences. “Knowing where events begin and where they end is crucial to understanding the world,” Zacks said.

In a pair of new papers, Zacks and other researchers in Arts & Sciences and the McKelvey School of Engineering explore this key process of human cognition.

Zacks led a study that trained computer models to observe more than 25 hours of video of people performing simple, everyday tasks such as cleaning a kitchen or cooking a meal before making predictions about what happens next. The study came to a surprising conclusion: The computer models were most accurate when they responded to uncertainty. When the model was especially unsure about what would happen next, it would reset and reassess the scene, an approach that improved its overall comprehension.

A new study demonstrates that even simple single-cell organisms, such as ciliates and amoebae, exhibit habituation, a basic form of learning previously thought to be exclusive to more complex beings.

This revelation not only changes our understanding of cellular capabilities but also opens up possibilities for applications in cancer immunology, suggesting that our immune cells might be reprogrammed to better recognize and attack cancer cells.

A dog learns to sit on command. A person tunes out the steady hum of a washing machine while engrossed in a book. The ability to learn and adapt is a cornerstone of evolution and survival.

These invisible signals could be the key to it all.