Lifeboat Foundation

You can’t peer very far down into a well or below the surface of the ocean before things go dark—light does not penetrate to such depths. Though the brain is far from bottomless, neuroscientists face the same lack of light when they try to study living deep-brain structures. This is especially frustrating given that optogenetics, a method for manipulating genetically tagged brain cells with light, has exploded in popularity over the past decade. “Optogenetics has been a revolutionary tool for controlling neurons in the lab, and hopefully someday in the clinic,” says Thomas McHugh, research group leader at the RIKEN Brain Science Institute in Japan. “Unfortunately, delivering light within brain tissue requires invasive optical fibers.”

McHugh and colleagues now have a solution for sending light to new depths in the brain. As they report in Science on February 9, upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) can act as a conduit for laser light delivered from outside the skull. These nanoparticles absorb near-infrared laser light and in turn emit visible photons to areas that are inaccessible to standard optogenetics. This method was used to turn on neurons in various brain areas as well as silence seizure activity and evoke memory cells. “Nanoparticles effectively extend the reach of our lasers, enabling the ‘remote’ delivery of light and potentially leading to non-invasive therapies,” says McHugh.

In optogenetics, blue-green light is used to turn neurons on or off via light-responsive ion channels. Light at these wavelengths, however, scatters strongly and is at the other end of the spectrum from the near-infrared light that can penetrate deeper into brain tissue. UCNPs composed of elements from the lanthanide family can act as a bridge. Their ‘optogenetic actuation’ turns low-energy near-infrared laser light into blue or green wavelengths for control of specifically labeled cells. Though such bursts of light deliver considerable energy to a small area, temperature increases or cellular damage were not observed.

Continue reading “Nanoparticles Enable Non-Invasive Optogenetic Control of Brain Cell Activity With Near-Infrared Light” »

Major psychiatric disorders like autism, schizophrenia and bipolar appear to have more in common than we thought they did. A new study finds that they have important similarities at a molecular level.

And understanding the molecular basis of major disorders such as autism, schizophrenia and bipolar is hopeful, because it could help in developing better treatments for them.

These psychiatric disorders are diagnosed by how a patient behaves. There are no clear signs on a brain “that you can see with your eyes or most microscopic techniques,” says Dan Geschwind, a professor of neurogenetics at UCLA. His team’s findings were published in Science this week.

Continue reading “Major Psychiatric Disorders Have More In Common Than We Thought, Study Finds” »

Autism, schizophrenia, bipolar, depression and alcoholism have similar molecular signatures in the brain.

A team of researchers at UC San Diego and San Diego State University has developed a pair of “4D goggles” that allows wearers to be physically “touched” by a movie when they see a looming object on the screen, such as an approaching spacecraft.

The device was developed based on a study conducted by the neuroscientists to map brain areas that integrate the sight and touch of a looming object and aid in their understanding of the perceptual and neural mechanisms of multisensory integration.

But for the rest of us, the researchers said, it has a more practical purpose: The device can be synchronized with entertainment content, such as movies, music, games and virtual reality, to deliver immersive multisensory effects near the face and enhance the sense of presence.

The research paves the way for brain implants that would translate the thoughts of people who have lost power of speech.

Ian Sample, science correspondent.

New research from the University of Southern California has shed light on how the decline of the brain’s vascular system precedes the build-up of the plaques and tau tangles associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

A leaky blood-brain barrier sets the scene for dementia

Traditionally, many researchers have focused their efforts on the amyloid and tau proteins that accumulate in the brain and are typical of Alzheimer’s disease progression. However, the researchers in this new study suggest that the problem begins before this due to a leaking blood-brain barrier [1].

Continue reading “Failure of the Blood-Brain Barrier Proceeds Dementia” »

It’s been a fruitful month in the fields of life extension and medical science. Here’s an executive summary of the January reports on longevity science, life-extension treatments, telomeres, Alzheimer’s disease and various medical advances.

In brief: An executive summary of the January reports on longevity science, life-extension treatments, telomeres, Alzheimer’s disease and various medical advances. [This article first appeared on the website LongevityFacts.com. Author: Brady Hartman. ]

It’s been a fruitful month, with advancements in life-extension treatments, longevity science, telomere dynamics, dementia and various medical advances.

Continue reading “The life extension and medical discoveries of January (Monthly article summary)” »

Part II of the Bioquark Inc. show on Grognostics — https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/grognostics/e/53166919?autoplay=true