Lifeboat Foundation

The College of Psychiatrists of Ireland Evolution and Psychiatry Special Interest Group welcomed Dr Randolph M Nesse to present a talk titled “Why hasn’t natural selection eliminated mental disorders: Knowing the five reasons improves clinical care as well as research” during their meeting on Friday, 4 February 2022.

The Special Interest Group is open to all College members and Psychiatry trainees.

Continue reading “What hasn’t natural selection eliminated mental disorders?” »

Psychedelic drugs were a hot topic at this year’s Society for Neuroscience meeting. Researchers hope the drugs can help people with disorders like depression and PTSD.

Unprecedented views of the interior of cells and other nanoscale structures are now possible thanks to innovations in expansion microscopy. The advancements could help provide future insight into neuroscience, pathology, and many other biological and medical fields.

In the paper “Magnify is a universal molecular anchoring strategy for expansion microscopy,” published Jan. 2 in the journal Nature Biotechnology, collaborators from Carnegie Mellon University, the University of Pittsburgh and Brown University describe new protocols for dubbed Magnify.

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Findings underline the importance of a strength-based rather than a deficit-based focus on aging and older adults.

What are the keys to “successful” or optimal aging? A new study followed more than 7,000 middle-aged and older Canadians for approximately three years to identify the factors linked to well-being as we age.

They found that those who were female, married, physically active, and not obese and those who had never smoked, had higher incomes, and who did not have insomnia, heart disease or arthritis, were more likely to maintain excellent health across the study period and less likely to develop disabling cognitive, physical, or emotional problems.

The heterogeneity of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) makes it a versatile platform for a broad range of homeostatic processes, ranging from calcium regulation to synthesis and trafficking of proteins and lipids. It is not surprising that neurons use this organelle to fine-tune synaptic properties and thereby provide specificity to synaptic inputs. In this review, we discuss the mechanisms that enable activity-dependent ER recruitment into dendritic spines, with a focus on molecular mechanisms that mediate transport and retention of the ER in spines.

The consistency and vulnerability of the brain is demonstrated along with the clear and glistening pia and arachnoid and the tough dura. The cushioning function of the CSF is stressed and the features are pointed out on the ventral surface. The uncus and temporal lobes are normal with arteries free of atherosclerosis.

This is 2 of a series of 26 videos to be viewed in the suggested order or intermixed with other curricular materials. The entire series can be accessed here:
https://neurologicexam.med.utah.edu/adult/html/brain-dissections.html.

Continue reading “The Normal Unfixed Brain: Neuroanatomy Video Lab — Brain Dissections” »

The motor cortex controls the voluntary movement of muscles. It remains largely unclear why its electrical or magnetic stimulation can alleviate therapy-resistant chronic pain—albeit unreliably. An interdisciplinary research group at the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg (MFHD) has now tracked down the underlying mechanisms and nerve pathways in mice.

The scientists showed that certain nerve pathways of the motor cerebral cortex are indirectly connected to the emotion centers in the brain, process both pain-related information and emotions by direct activation, and thus reduce the sensation of pain. Consequently, the team not only defines a new brain circuit for neurostimulation in pain therapy, but also brings the brain’s own reward system into focus as a starting point for future treatments. The results are now published in the journal Science.

The research was conducted within the framework of CRC1158 “From Nociception to Chronic Pain,” whose spokesperson is Professor Dr. Rohini Kuner, Director of the Institute of Pharmacology at the MFHD.

National University of Singapore researchers advanced the first step towards real-time, remote and wireless mind control of metamaterials.

Mini brains grown in a lab from stem cells spontaneously developed rudimentary eye structures, scientists reported in a fascinating 2021 paper.

On tiny, human-derived brain organoids grown in dishes, two bilaterally symmetrical optic cups were seen to grow, mirroring the development of eye structures in human embryos. This incredible result could help us to better understand the process of eye differentiation and development, as well as eye diseases.

“Our work highlights the remarkable ability of brain organoids to generate primitive sensory structures that are light sensitive and harbor cell types similar to those found in the body,” said neuroscientist Jay Gopalakrishnan of University Hospital Düsseldorf in Germany in a 2021 statement.