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Category: biotech/medical – Page 3

Vagus nerve’s right branch plays a key role in digestive signaling

After years of work, cognition and neuroscience doctoral student Hailey Welch is—for the first time—the lead author of a study published in an academic journal, a paper appearing in Cell Reports, which examined the role of the vagus nerve’s branches in digestive signaling.

The goal of Welch’s research is to learn more about the ’s role in the forming of dietary habits. The vagus nerve includes left and right branches. Earlier research in the Motor and Habit Learning Lab of Dr. Catherine Thorn, associate professor of neuroscience in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences and the corresponding author of the Cell Reports study, indicates that those two sides have different functions.

“We know that the vagus nerve transmits information about the nutritional and reward aspects of food from the gut to the brain,” Welch said. “What we are discovering is that such reward signaling is lateralized—mainly right-sided.”

Quantifying the intensity of emotional response to sound, images and touch through skin conductance

When we listen to a moving piece of music or feel the gentle pulse of a haptic vibration, our bodies react before we consciously register the feeling. The heart may quicken and palms may sweat, resulting in subtle electrical resistance variations in the skin. These changes, though often imperceptible, reflect the brain’s engagement with the world.

A recent study by researchers at NYU Tandon and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published in PLOS Mental Health explores how such physiological signals can reveal cognitive arousal—the level of mental alertness and emotional activation—without the need for subjective reporting.

The researchers, led by Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering Rose Faghih at NYU Tandon, focused on skin conductance, a well-established indicator of autonomic nervous system activity. When are stimulated, even minutely, the skin’s ability to conduct electricity changes.

Tabletop particle accelerator could transform medicine and materials science

A particle accelerator that produces intense X-rays could be squeezed into a device that fits on a table, my colleagues and I have found in a new research project.

The way that intense X-rays are currently produced is through a facility called a . These are used to study materials, drug molecules and biological tissues. Even the smallest existing synchrotrons, however, are about the size of a football stadium.

Our research, which is published in the journal Physical Review Letters, shows how tiny structures called carbon nanotubes and could generate brilliant X-rays on a microchip. Although the device is still at the concept stage, the development has the potential to transform medicine, and other disciplines.

Scientists Use “Supercentenarian Longevity Gene” to Slow Rapid Aging Disease

Researchers discovered that a longevity gene from centenarians can reverse heart damage linked to progeria, suggesting a new approach to treating rapid and age-related heart aging.

A major advancement has been made in understanding a rare genetic disorder that causes children to age prematurely. Scientists from the University of Bristol and IRCCS MultiMedica identified “longevity genes” found in people who live beyond 100 years, which appear to protect the heart and blood vessels during aging. Their study suggests these genes could potentially reverse the damage caused by this fatal condition.

Understanding progeria and its effects.

Co-translational protein aggregation and ribosome stalling as a broad-spectrum antibacterial mechanism

Protein biosynthesis is a major target of existing antibiotics that inhibit the efficiency or fidelity of the bacterial ribosome. Here, the authors show that a synthetic peptide displays bactericidal activity through a different mechanism, inducing co-translational aggregation of nascent peptidic chains.

New ultrasound technique could help aging and injured brains

Scientists at Stanford have created a non-invasive ultrasound method of brain cleansing that boosted the survival rate of mice after stroke by activating natural detoxification mechanisms. The technology, accidentally discovered during experiments with the blood-brain barrier, stimulates microglial immune cells to dispose of toxic waste and improves the circulation of cerebrospinal fluid. The method opens the way to treating the consequences of strokes and injuries without drugs.

A non-invasive, drug-free ultrasound method helps cleanse the brain and reduce inflammation, potentially offering a radically simple new approach to treating neurological diseases.

Scientists Map the Brain’s Construction From Stem Cells to Early Adolescence

This herculean effort could help scientists unravel the causes of neurodevelopmental disorders. In one study, led by Arnold Kriegstein at the University of California, San Francisco, scientists found brain stem cells that are potentially co-opted to form a deadly brain cancer in adulthood. Other studies shed light on imbalances between excitatory and inhibitory neurons—these ramp up or tone down brain activity, respectively—which could contribute to autism and schizophrenia.

“Many brain diseases begin during different stages of development, but until now we haven’t had a comprehensive roadmap for simply understanding healthy brain development,” said Kriegstein in a press release. “Our map highlights the genetic programs behind the growth of the human brain that go awry during specific forms of brain dysfunction.”

Over a century ago, the first neuroscientists used brain cell shapes to categorize their identities. BICAN collaborators have a much larger arsenal of tools to map the brain’s cells.

Enzyme provides promising path to degenerative joint diseases cure

Degenerative joint diseases like osteoarthritis and intervertebral disk degeneration are conditions that affect millions of people worldwide, leading to pain and reduced mobility. These diseases remain incurable because current treatments manage symptoms rather than addressing the root cause.

A Yale study published in the journal Bone Research found that cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2) is an important enzyme. It plays a key role in inflammation and cartilage breakdown. The study suggests that cPLA2 could be a possible target for treating joint diseases.

Immune reactions found behind human rejection of transplanted pig kidneys

Researchers have uncovered and then overcome an obstacle that has led to the failure of pioneering efforts in xenotransplantation, in which an animal kidney is transplanted into a human.

More than 800,000 Americans have late-stage kidney disease, yet only 3% receive a transplant each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. To boost the supply of available organs, experts are exploring the use of genetically modified pig kidneys.

The genetic changes are meant to keep the from recognizing the animal organ as foreign and attacking it to cause rejection. However, recipients’ immune reactions can still lead to organ damage and failure after the surgery.

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