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Category: neuroscience

Feedback neurons based on perovskite memristor with nickel single-atom engineered reduced graphene oxide cathode

Scientists have long looked to the human brain as the ultimate blueprint for computing, seeking to build “neuromorphic” systems that process information with the same efficiency and flexibility as our own neurons. However, replicating the brain’s complex ability to both excite and inhibit signals—essentially “talking” and “listening” simultaneously—has proven difficult with standard hardware.

The problem? Perovskites are often too chaotic. Tiny charged particles called ions tend to zip around inside the material too quickly, making the device’s behavior hard to control. Additionally, the “bottlenecks” (barriers) where the electricity enters the device often cause lopsided performance, preventing the smooth, bidirectional communication required for advanced brain-like tasks.

Li et al. report feedback neurons based on perovskite memristors with a nickel single-atom modified reduced graphene oxide cathode. The device successfully implements an unsupervised learning network with over 50% clustering accuracy and cooperative learning for solving NP-hard combinatorial optimisation problem.

A neuron subtype-specific role of MEK-ERK signaling in axon survival via transcriptional regulation of Nmnat2

Yue et al. find the subtype-specific regulation of Nmnat2 transcription by Raf-MEK-ERK in DRG neurons, while cortical and spinal neurons use a MEK-independent mechanism. This context-dependent axon survival paradigm helps explain differential MEKi vulnerability of PNS and CNS neurons, indicating Nmnat2 as a potential target to counteract MEKi-induced neuropathy.

Android mental health apps with 14.7M installs filled with security flaws

Several mental health mobile apps with millions of downloads on Google Play contain security vulnerabilities that could expose users’ sensitive medical information.

In one of the apps, security researchers discovered more than 85 medium-and high-severity vulnerabilities that could be exploited to compromise users’ therapy data and privacy.

Some of the products are AI companions designed to help people suffering from clinical depression, multiple forms of anxiety, panic attacks, stress, and bipolar disorder.

People with synesthesia experience distinct thematic patterns in their dreams

From the article:

The thematic analysis revealed that synesthete dreams systematically differed from control dreams in four distinct categories. People with synesthesia were more likely to describe dreams involving digital life. This theme included references to scrolling, screens, computer accounts, and routine technology use.

Synesthetes also reported more dreams centered on interpersonal regret. This theme featured scenarios involving guilt, moral conflict, missed opportunities, and urgent apologies. The scientists note that this aligns with the heightened emotional reactivity and memory retention frequently observed in people with synesthesia.

The third prevalent theme in synesthete dreams was diverse worlds. This category included shifting environments, cultural settings, and complex or dystopian landscapes. Because synesthetes tend to score high in openness to experience, they may possess a more flexible cognitive style that supports the construction of richly detailed and varied dream settings.

Finally, the violent conflict theme appeared more often in the dreams of synesthetes. This theme involved fictional threats, horror imagery, and words associated with intense physical clashes. The researchers suggest that individuals with enhanced memory abilities, a common trait in synesthesia, might be more likely to incorporate intense waking experiences into their dreams.

Do waking perceptual traits influence our sleep? New research indicates that people with synesthesia have unique dream patterns, providing evidence that our individual brain structures actively shape our imagination long after we fall asleep.

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First evidence of a ‘critical priority’ fungal pathogen becoming more deadly when co-infected with tuberculosis

Cryptococcus neoformans is one of four fungi classified as “critical priority” on the WHO’s Fungal Pathogens Priority List, which was published in October 2022 following decades of research and calls for fungal pathogens to be classified alongside their bacterial and viral counterparts.

The fungus infects people through inhalation of spores or yeast cells in the environment, first colonizing the lungs and can then spread to the brain. In 2020, an estimated 112,000 deaths were associated globally to fungal meningitis caused by C. neoformans.

Increasing evidence shows that co-infection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, together with C. neoformans, is a grave public health concern, increasing the risk of death significantly compared to fungal infection alone.

Neuronal networks in the dorsal hippocampus causally regulate rescue behavior in mice

Dos Santos Correa et al. show that exposure to a stressful context promotes the acquisition of rescue behavior in mice and that the dorsal hippocampus is required for this learning. Calcium imaging reveals synchronized neuronal ensembles in the dHPC that mechanistically support successful prosocial rescues.

Oxytocin reverses anxiety-like behavior after three months of isolation in mice

Periods of prolonged social isolation have long been associated with difficult emotions and, in some cases, with the emergence of psychiatric symptoms, such as depression, anxiety, and difficulties connecting with others. Some past psychology studies have suggested that chronic isolation during adolescence, the critical stage between childhood and adulthood, can disrupt the structure and functioning of a brain region known as the prefrontal cortex (PFC).

The PFC is known to play a critical role in various mental functions, including decision-making and the regulation of emotions. Disruptions to this brain region could thus explain the emotional and social difficulties experienced by many people after long periods of isolation.

Researchers at University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and other institutes recently carried out a study involving mice that investigated the potential of oxytocin (OXT), a hormone released when bonding or cuddling with others, as a therapeutic target for the mental health symptoms arising from chronic isolation. Their findings, published in Translational Psychiatry, suggest that this hormone could reverse some of the adverse effects of prolonged isolation.

The shingles vaccine may reduce your dementia risk—here’s why

Shingles, a viral rash, can be incredibly painful. Vaccination can help prevent the infection, but new research is showing the shingles vaccine may also have another benefit: protection against the development of dementia. With more than 40 percent of Americans estimated to develop dementia at some point in their lives, this discovery could have groundbreaking implications for our health. But what explains the link between the shingles vaccine and reduced dementia risk?

Recent research is part of a growing body of evidence that vaccination against shingles—and potentially other infections—can help prevent and delay the progression of dementia.

A bonobo’s imaginary tea party suggests apes can play pretend

The findings add to a growing body of work suggesting that ape minds can imagine scenarios beyond the “here-and-now,” a skill once thought to be unique to humans. Human children begin playing pretend as early as 12 months old and master the ability to build imaginary worlds by age 3. Many high-level thinking tasks are possible only because we can imagine things that aren’t really there.

The study centered on Kanzi, a remarkable bonobo who could communicate using word-linked symbols called lexigrams. Amalia Bastos, a comparative psychologist at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, first met him in 2023. “We were starstruck by Kanzi,” she says.

During their first meeting, the bonobo used his lexigram-studded board to ask Bastos and a colleague to chase each other. Bastos noticed that even though they only pretended to play, Kanzi still enjoyed watching them. This kick-started a series of make-believe tests that Bastos and Christopher Krupenye, a psychologist at Johns Hopkins University, designed for Kanzi.

In the first of these tests, Kanzi sat at a table with two glasses. An experimenter pretended to pour a glass of “juice” — Kanzi’s tipple of choice — into both cups from a see-through empty jug. The experimenter then poured the nonexistent contents of one cup back into the jug, before asking Kanzi which cup still held the “juice.” Kanzi guessed correctly 68 percent of the time, significantly above chance, the researchers report.

The guesses, Bastos says, may not have been definitive evidence of Kanzi’s internal imagination. “Kanzi is an old bonobo. Maybe his vision isn’t very good. Maybe he thinks that there’s real juice in these things,” she says.

The researchers retested Kanzi to see if he could identify real from fake juice. They presented him with two cups: one containing orange juice and an empty one that they filled with pretend juice. When asked which cup he wanted, Kanzi picked the real juice nearly 80 percent of the time, suggesting he had little issue identifying his reward. A third test that mimicked the first, but with pretend grapes rather than juice, again suggested Kanzi understood where pretend food was located.

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