A mountain of small things
I live under its shadow. I suspect most of you do too. It is the great mountain of small things. Every year, it grows a little taller, a little more imposing, a little more daunting. The higher it gets, the bigger the shadow it casts: a malignant darkness that pervades our lives, one that becomes ever more difficult to breach. So much so that it has become the norm for many of us to live entirely in the gloom. We no longer ask why it has come to this, even though we barely glimpse the light that warmed us in the past. Here, we stand trembling, our energy for innovation sapped, our motivation to focus on research drained. T...
Source: Brain - March 1, 2024 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
A machine learning approach for gene prioritization in Parkinson ’s disease
This scientific commentary refers to ‘Machine learning nominates the inositol pathway and novel genes in Parkinson’s disease’ by Yuet al. (https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awad345). (Source: Brain)
Source: Brain - March 1, 2024 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Would you believe your own consciousness?
(Source: Brain)
Source: Brain - March 1, 2024 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Cortical microstructural imaging from diffusion MRI: towards sensitive biomarkers for clinical trials
This scientific commentary refers to ‘Diffusion MRI tracks cortical microstructural changes during the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease’ by Spotornoet al. (https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awad428). (Source: Brain)
Source: Brain - February 26, 2024 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Deep brain stimulation: a tale of two targets … and closing the loop
This scientific commentary refers to ‘At home adaptive dual target deep brain stimulation in Parkinson disease with proportional control’ by Schmidtet al. (https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awad429). (Source: Brain)
Source: Brain - February 13, 2024 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Graphs and the idiographic brain
This scientific commentary refers to ‘Integrating direct electrical brain stimulation with the human connectome’ by Colettaet al. (https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awad402). (Source: Brain)
Source: Brain - February 12, 2024 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Was Broca wrong?
Ever since its inception in the 1860s it has been controversial. Broca ’s proposal that there exists in the left inferior frontal gyrus the faculty that co-ordinates articulated language1 has always drawn criticism. Some of these concerns have been discussed at length within the pages of this journal. They include the alternative, contemporaneous view of Hughlings Jackson who was reluctant to consider that there might be a faculty of language in the brain. Jackson wondered instead whether lesions that might affect the outputs of the basal ganglia are responsible for compromised expression —verbal or written.2 (Source: Brain)
Source: Brain - February 1, 2024 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
The historical context of migraine stigma
The social and psychological stigma of disease can be profound. William Young, awarded joint runner-up of the Brain Essay Competition 2023, discusses how for people with migraine, this stigma can be a huge burden which excludes and disenfranchises them from many areas of normal life. (Source: Brain)
Source: Brain - February 1, 2024 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Alzheimer proteopathic tau seeds are biochemically a forme fruste of mature paired helical filaments
AbstractAggregation prone molecules, such as tau, form both historically well characterized fibrillar deposits (neurofibrillary tangles) and recently identified phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) extract species called proteopathic seeds. Both can cause normal endogenous tau to undergo templated misfolding. The relationship of these seeds to the fibrils that define tau-related diseases is unknown. We characterized the aqueous extractable and sarkosyl insoluble fibrillar tau species derived from human Alzheimer brain using mass spectrometry andin vitro bioassays. Post-translational modifications (PTMs) including phosphorylatio...
Source: Brain - January 18, 2024 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Are we entering the ‘Tau-lemaic’ era of Parkinson’s disease?
This scientific commentary refers to ‘Nigrostriatal tau pathology in parkinsonism and Parkinson’s disease’ by Chuet al. (https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awad388). (Source: Brain)
Source: Brain - January 8, 2024 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Transcriptomics reveals CSF cellular composition in multiple sclerosis but detects no viral RNA
This scientific commentary refers to ‘Expression profiling of cerebrospinal fluid identifies dysregulated antiviral mechanisms in multiple sclerosis’ by Banet al. (https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awad404). (Source: Brain)
Source: Brain - January 5, 2024 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Continued dysfunction of capillary pericytes promotes no-reflow after experimental stroke in vivo
AbstractIncomplete reperfusion of the microvasculature ( ‘no-reflow’) after ischaemic stroke damages salvageable brain tissue. Previousex vivo studies suggest pericytes are vulnerable to ischaemia and may exacerbate no-reflow, but the viability of pericytes and their association with no-reflow remains under-exploredin vivo.Using longitudinalin vivo two-photon single-cell imaging over 7 days, we showed that 87% of pericytes constrict during cerebral ischaemia and remain constricted post reperfusion, and 50% of the pericyte population are acutely damaged. Moreover, we revealed ischaemic pericytes to be fundamentally i...
Source: Brain - December 28, 2023 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Pore-forming neurons: a new paradigm of pyroptotic cell death in HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder
This scientific commentary refers to ‘Caspase cleavage of gasdermin E causes neuronal pyroptosis in HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder’ by Fernandeset al. (https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awad375). (Source: Brain)
Source: Brain - December 22, 2023 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
Diffusion MRI tracks cortical microstructural changes during the early stages of Alzheimer ’s disease
In this study, changes over time in cortical mean diffusivity, derived using diffusion tensor imaging, were investigated in a large cohort (n = 424) of non-demented participants from the Swedish BioFINDER study. Participants were stratified following the A β/tau (AT) framework. The results revealed a widespread increase in mean diffusivity over time, including both temporal and parietal cortical regions, in Aβ-positive but still tau-negative individuals. These increases were steeper in Aβ-positive and tau-positive individuals and robust to the incl usion of cortical thickness in the model. A steeper increase in mean dif...
Source: Brain - December 21, 2023 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
At home adaptive dual target deep brain stimulation in Parkinson ’s disease with proportional control
AbstractContinuous deep brain stimulation (cDBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) or globus pallidus is an effective treatment for the motor symptoms of Parkinson ’s disease. The relative benefit of one region over the other is of great interest but cannot usually be compared in the same patient. Simultaneous DBS of both regions may synergistically increase the therapeutic benefit. Continuous DBS is limited by a lack of responsiveness to dynamic, fluctuatin g symptoms intrinsic to the disease. Adaptive DBS (aDBS) adjusts stimulation in response to biomarkers to improve efficacy, side effects, and efficiency. We combined ...
Source: Brain - December 21, 2023 Category: Neurology Source Type: research
