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Alzheimer’s disease is marked by the gradual degeneration of nerve cells, resulting in memory and cognitive decline. A research team at KU Leuven and VIB investigated the molecular sequence driving this cellular breakdown, discovering specific inhibitors that can prevent nerve cell loss in various mouse models of the disease.

The findings open up new research avenues in the search for therapies that could halt or prevent the accumulation of brain damage occurring in Alzheimer’s.

Alzheimer’s disease, the leading cause of dementia, affects over 55 million people worldwide. The disease is characterized by the buildup of amyloid-beta plaques and tau protein tangles in the brain, which disrupt cell communication and lead to the widespread death of nerve cells. The consequences of this massive cell loss are the heartbreaking cognitive decline and memory loss for which the condition is well known.

Our brains—and specifically, our brain cells—are commonly known to store memories. However, a team of scientists has discovered that cells from other parts of the body also play a role in memory, opening new pathways for understanding how memory functions and creating potential for enhancing learning and treating memory-related conditions.

“Learning and memory are generally associated with brains and brain cells alone, but our study shows that other cells in the body can learn and form memories, too,” explains New York University ’s Nikolay V. Kukushkin, the lead author of the study, which appears in the journal Nature Communications.

Continue reading “Mind-Blowing Discovery: Scientists Discover That Memories Are Not Only in the Brain” »

When learning is spaced in time, memory is enhanced, but so far this was only observed in neural systems. Here, the authors show that non-neural cells, including kidney cells, also show a spaced effect in terms of transcriptional responses.

Researchers from the University of Montpellier, the University of Zurich, Naturhistorisches Museum Bern, and other institutions have found that breed function and behavior correlate with relative endocranial volume (REV) in domestic dogs.

Domestic dogs exhibit variations of morphologies and cognitive abilities, a diversity rooted in centuries of domestication and selective breeding for functional attributes. Historically, mammals have shown a trend toward larger brains to support advanced cognition, a pattern that appears disrupted in domestic dogs.

Despite having, on average, 20% smaller brains relative to their wild ancestral counterpart, the gray wolf, domestic dogs often demonstrate a range of equivalent cognitive skills, challenging some conventional assumptions about brain size and intelligence.

Water, a molecule essential for life, exhibits unusual properties—referred to as anomalies—that define its behavior. Despite extensive study, many mysteries remain about the molecular mechanisms underlying these anomalies that make water unique. Deciphering and replicating this distinctive behavior across various temperature ranges remains a significant challenge for the scientific community.

Now, a study presents a new theoretical model capable of overcoming the limitations of previous methodologies to understand how water behaves in extreme conditions. The paper, featured on the cover of The Journal of Chemical Physics, is led by Giancarlo Franzese and Luis Enrique Coronas, from the Faculty of Physics and the Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology of the University of Barcelona (IN2UB).

The study not only broadens our understanding of the physics of water, but also has implications for technology, biology and biomedicine, in particular for addressing the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and the development of advanced biotechnologies.

Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, and their collaborators have identified a novel compound called BHB-Phe, which is naturally produced by the body. Published in the journal Cell, their findings reveal that BHB-Phe regulates appetite and body weight by interacting with neurons in the brain.

Until now, BHB has been known as a compound produced by the liver to be used as fuel. However, in recent years, scientists have found that BHB increases in the body after fasting or exercise, prompting interest in investigating potential beneficial applications in obesity and diabetes.

Scientists have shown that in a direct cellular reprogramming scenario, neurons are produced almost exclusively by a rare subtype of multipotent cells. Their findings, they claim, change our understanding of reprogramming, but not everyone agrees [1].

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In the world of cellular reprogramming, the two most well-known realms are pluripotent reprogramming, in which somatic cells are thrown back all the way into pluripotency, and partial reprogramming, in which these cells are rejuvenated without making them lose their cellular identity.

Summary: Adolescents are known for making less optimal, noisy decisions, but a recent study reveals that these tendencies decrease with age and are linked to improvements in complex decision-making skills. Researchers found that decision noise, or variability in choices, mediates age-related gains in goal-directed behaviors and adaptability.

Adolescents may rely on less efficient strategies due to limited cognitive resources, which makes them more susceptible to emotional and motivational influences. These findings shed light on the computational mechanisms behind developmental shifts in decision-making and open avenues for understanding neurodevelopmental disorders.

Researchers from Johns Hopkins University have recently discovered several prominent biomarkers that allow for the early diagnosis of dementia and/or mild cognitive impairment (MCI). In a recently published article, evidence has been presented that patients with diabetes type 2 exhibited more changes to their brains than healthy controls, including the shrinking of certain brain areas. These changes occurred earlier in life, and some of the patients developed MCI sooner than others.

The Older Controls at Risk for Dementia (BIOCARD) study is a long-term trial which has been conducted for the past 27 years with the goal of determining how medical conditions and other factors might be impacting cognitive function and perhaps even affecting the biological age of the brain as a whole. BIOCARD was originally a National Institutes of Health initiative, which began in 1995 and later continued at Johns Hopkins University from 2015 to 2023. The cohort consisted of 185 participants, with an average age of 55 years and normal cognitive function.

The trial subjects received routine brain scans and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tests for 20 years, in order to measure changes in brain structures and levels of proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists have been increasingly using CSF to attempt to uncover early signs of neurodegenerative disease, since it is a minimally-invasive procedure which is inexpensive and widely available.