Lifeboat Foundation

Mind In Vitro Platforms: Versatile, Scalable, Robust, and Open Solutions to Interfacing with Living Neurons.

Neurons intricately communicate and respond to stimuli within a vast network, orchestrating essential functions from basic bodily processes to complex thoughts. Traditional neuroscience methods, relying on in vivo electrophysiology (within a living organism), often have difficulty addressing the complexity of the brain as a whole.

An alternative approach involves extracting cells from the organism and conducting studies on a culture dish instead (in vitro), providing researchers with enhanced control and precision in measuring neural processes.

Continue reading “Researchers design new open-source technology for interfacing with living neurons” »

Summary: A new study identified a crucial link between anxiety disorders and the brain receptor TACR3, as well as testosterone. This groundbreaking research found that rodents with high anxiety had low TACR3 levels in the hippocampus, a key area for learning and memory.

Notably, the study showed that testosterone deficiency-related anxiety could be addressed by targeting TACR3. This discovery opens new therapeutic possibilities for treating anxiety disorders, especially in individuals with hypogonadism.

With anaesthetics and brain organoids, we are finally testing whether quantum effects can explain consciousness. We may have misunderstood this long-derided idea, says George Musser.

Three years old boy with reassuring development had presented to the Pediatric Neurology clinic with a referral due to a large head. Occipito-frontal circumference was more than 97th centile with an unremarkable neurological examination. MRI brain exhibited an acute on chronic large right frontoparietal subdural hematoma with prominent mass effect. Consequentially, the hematoma was evacuated by the neurosurgeon. Postoperative recovery stayed satisfactory. Hematology workup showed normal coagulation and clotting factors levels. Whole exome sequencing (WES) study revealed heterozygous variant c.5187G>A p.(Trp1729• in gene FBN1 — pathogenic for Marfan syndrome. However, this variant has not yet been reported in association with cerebral arteritis/intracerebral bleed. On follow-up, the child remained asymptomatic clinically with static head size.

The study hypothesizes that ‘pre-digested’ foods contributed to the development of larger brains. The large, capable human brain is a marvel of evolution, but how it evolved from a smaller primate brain into the creative, complex organ of today is a mystery. Scientists can pinpoint when our evolutionary ancestors evolved larger brains, which roughly tripled in size as human ancestors evolved from the bipedal primates known as Australopithecines.

Short, toxic RNAs kill brain cells and may allow Alzheimer’s to develop.

In a new article published in the journal Nature Reviews Neuroscience, researchers make the case that the human brain also develops a cellular template soon after birth which defines who we are and how we perceive the world.

For centuries, a prevailing theory in philosophy has asserted that at birth the human mind is a blank slate. More recently, the same notion has also held sway in the field of neurobiology, where it is commonly held that neural connections are slowly created from scratch with the accumulation of sensory information and experience.

Eventually, the theory goes, this allows us to create memories in space and time and to then learn from those experiences.

Continue reading “Re-frame of mind: Do our brains have a built-in sense of grammar?” »

This story is part of a series on the current progression in Regenerative Medicine. This piece discusses advances in Alzheimer’s therapy.

In 1999, I defined regenerative medicine as the collection of interventions that restore normal function to tissues and organs damaged by disease, injured by trauma, or worn by time. I include a full spectrum of chemical, gene, and protein-based medicines, cell-based therapies, and biomechanical interventions that achieve that goal.

An emerging combination of focused ultrasound therapy with a recently approved medication could be our best treatment for Alzheimer’s disease to date. In the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Ali Rezai and colleagues from West Virginia University describe an approach to reduce cerebral amyloid-beta load, a biomarker for neurodegeneration, in patients with Alzheimer’s. While in its preliminary stages, the combination treatment can potentially help thousands, if not millions, suffering from the disease in the near future.

Low mental health associated with worse outcomes after total hip arthroplasty suggests a new study published in the Archives of Orthopaedic and Trauma Surgery.

Poor mental health is difficult to recognize and as a result, its association with recovery from total joint arthroplasty is difficult to assess. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between overall mental health scores and outcomes in the early postoperative period following unilateral total hip arthroplasty (THA). This is a retrospective review of prospectively collected data involving 142 patients who underwent primary unilateral THA. Independent variables included patient demographics and preoperative Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS), Global Physical Health (GPH) and Global Mental Health (GMH) and Hip Disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score, Joint Replacement (HOOS JR) scores as well as diagnoses of depression or anxiety.