Lifeboat Foundation

Maintenance of mRNA and protein localization in motor neurons is a potential therapeutic avenue for Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), report researchers from The Francis Crick Institute and the University College London (UCL). A new study shows how the extensive changes in mRNA and protein in ALS motor neurons are linked to mutations in an ATPase called VCP. These mutations may contribute to the mislocalization of RNA binding proteins (RBPs) that tend to clump together and the redistribution of the mRNAs they are bound to. Inhibition of VCP partly restored mRNA and protein localization and other ALS phenotypes. These results show how RBP mislocalization and mRNA redistribution in motor neurons are linked to ALS and how VCP inhibition could be used as a treatment.

The study “Nucleocytoplasmic mRNA redistribution accompanies RNA binding protein mislocalization in ALS motor neurons and is restored by VCP ATPase inhibition” was published today in Neuron.

“For the patients I see, it’s devastating that there aren’t yet impactful treatments available for ALS,” said Rickie Patani, PhD, senior group leader of the Human Stem Cells and Neurodegeneration Laboratory at the Crick, professor at UCL, and consultant neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology. “This research represents a shift in our thinking about what causes ALS—it doesn’t involve abnormal movement of just a few proteins, but the abnormal localization of hundreds of proteins and mRNAs. This opens new avenues for research and potential therapies.

It’s said the way to one’s heart is through the stomach, but it looks like the way to a healthy brain is by dropping a deuce regularly. According to new research presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Amsterdam this week, chronic constipation appears to be linked to worsening cognitive abilities, likely due to an imbalance of gut bacteria causing inflammation.

While the study has yet to be peer-reviewed, it emphasizes a link between cognition and the microbiome — microorganisms like bacteria, viruses, and fungi living rent-free in and on our bodies — that hasn’t gone unnoticed. There’s still a whole lot we don’t know about the microbiome, but what we do know suggests these microscopic houseguests can be manipulated to improve our own health.

To offset cognitive decline, it could be as simple as a daily probiotic, says Mashael Aljumaah, a doctoral student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and North Carolina State University. In findings presented Monday at the American Society for Nutrition in Boston, Aljumaah and her colleagues at UNC and Kent State University in Ohio found that for older adults, a daily probiotic containing gut-friendly Lactobacillus rhamnosus helped improve mild cognitive impairment by resetting the imbalance in gut bacteria.

Researchers have transplanted cells capable of forming specialized brain support cells into mice brains and found that they not only competed with and replaced unhealthy cells but aged ones, too. The findings open the door to developing an effective treatment for a range of conditions like multiple sclerosis, ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, autism and schizophrenia.

‘Glial cells’ is an umbrella term for the cells that are a support system to nerve cells (neurons). Progenitor cells are descendants of stem cells that can differentiate into specific cell types, and, in the case of glial cells, human glial progenitor cells (hGPCs) differentiate into subtypes, including astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, specialized for particular functions.

Astrocytes comprise most of our central nervous system cells, providing support and protection for neurons, transporting nutrients and removing waste. Oligodendrocytes lay down and maintain the lipid-rich, insulating wrapping called myelin around some axons, the part of the neuron that connects with another neuron and allows the transmission of nerve impulses.

Neuroscientists proceed as if thoughts and feelings account for very little. Consciousness eludes efforts to map its flow.

Modern life replaced spirituality with goal-setting — and it’s making us depressed. Here’s how to win back your happiness.

“The new research program, led by Associate Professor Adeel Razi, from the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health, in collaboration with Melbourne start-up Cortical Labs, involves growing around 800,000 brain cells living in a dish, which are then “taught” to perform goal-directed tasks. Last year the brain cells’ ability to perform a simple tennis-like computer game, Pong, received global attention for the team’s research.”

Monash University-led research into growing human brain cells onto silicon chips, with new continual learning capabilities to transform machine learning, has been awarded almost $600,000 AUD in the prestigious National Intelligence and Security Discovery Research Grants Program.

According to Associate Professor Razi, the research program’s work using lab-grown brain cells embedded onto silicon chips, “merges the fields of artificial intelligence and synthetic biology to create programmable biological computing platforms,” he said.

Continue reading “Research to merge human brain cells with AI secures national defence funding” »

Researchers identified a brain region that can create sensations of weightlessness or falling, and it could help develop new forms of anesthesia.

How useful a memory is for future situations determines where it resides in the brain, according to a new theory proposed by researchers at HHMI’s Janelia Research Campus and collaborators at UCL.

The theory, published in Nature Neuroscience, offers a new way of understanding systems consolidation, a process that transfers certain memories from the hippocampus —where they are initially stored—to the neocortex—where they reside long-term.

Under the classical view of systems consolidation, all memories move from the hippocampus to the neocortex over time. But this view doesn’t always hold up; research shows some memories permanently reside in the hippocampus and are never transferred to the neocortex.

Watch more interviews on the mystery of consciousness: https://t.ly/zGDTU

Consciousness is what we can know best and explain least. It is the inner subjective experience of what it feels like to see red or smell garlic or hear Beethoven. Consciousness has intrigued and baffled philosophers. To begin, we must define and describe consciousness. What to include in a complete definition and description of consciousness?

Continue reading “Russ Hurlburt — What is Consciousness?” »